Remote Sensing the Mysteries of Ollantaytambo

Look closely: many mysteries are contained in this photograph of Ollantaytambo, Peru. I took it “from the hip” during my visit to the ancient city. Only recently, while magnifying photos like this, did I discover several details that I overlooked while on site. Remote sensing at its simplest – through a telephoto lens!    

(Above) View of Ollantaytambo, looking north.

The original “wide shot” photo shows portions of Ollantaytambo’s spiritual, military, and agricultural sectors. I’ve “zoomed in” on various aspects of the image to create four, more detailed, shots. 

You Make Your Own Path

Okay, I admit it: I’ve taken a strange and winding path over the last few years, and now I’m totally obsessed with Andean history. When I started researching the Incas, my goal was to establish a foundation for writing a sequel to Chaturanga. But one thing led to another and now I’m making videos and posting about ancient architecture, mythology, metaphysics, and geocosmic alignments.

(Above) Standing next to the Machu Picchu's Sun Gate (Intipunku), overlooking the mysterious "lost city of the Incas."

What happened, you ask? Consuming books and delving back through ancient texts, I’m both shocked and fascinated by how little we truly know about our past. The linear version of history that I was taught in school – largely based upon huge assumptions, yet which I accepted without a second thought – is rapidly being disrupted by new discoveries and theories. The more I learn about ancient Peru (and its counterparts around the world), the more I appreciate that history is, indeed, a vast and mysterious frontier for the modern-day explorer.

Llaqtallaqtayoc: A Little-Known Ruins in the Sacred Valley of Peru

In southern Peru’s Sacred Valley, on a mountain west of the ancient city of Ollantaytambo, lie the ruins of several stone structures. The original name and purpose are not known, but this site may predate the Inca Empire. Its proximity to the ancient rock quarry of Cachiqata has inspired a theory that these buildings once served as an administrative office, or perhaps as a school for masons. Long before the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the 1530s, Andean stoneworkers may have come here to learn the arts of toolmaking, stone-splitting and shaping, as well as methods for transporting and setting these gigantic blocks. In this video, I explore what is left of this complex and how it may have supported construction activities at Cachiqata and Ollantaytambo.

My guide explained that this site is known by two names. The first, Llaqtallaqtayoc, means “big place” or “big town.” However, judging by the small size of this ruins, that name doesn’t seem to apply, unless it’s actually a reference to nearby Ollantaytambo. Or maybe the name had been altered over many centuries. Was it originally called “Llaqta camayoc,” which is Quechua for “village administrator,” in reference to its role as the quarry’s administrative office?