Pisac and Its Inca Ruins
Pisac (in Quechua, P’isaq, “partridge”) is a town and archaeological site in the upper Sacred Valley of the Urubamba, located approximately 32 kilometers northeast of Cusco, at an elevation of approximately 2,972 meters. The site is one of the most extensive Inca complexes in the region: a fortress on a mountain ridge, a long sequence of agricultural terraces, a cemetery of the Inca elite on the cliff opposite, the foundations of imperial buildings, and a famous Intihuatana stone, all within a single ridge-and-valley landscape. It is conventionally dated to the mid-fifteenth century and is attributed to the reign of the ninth Sapa Inca, Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui. The modern town of Pisac, founded by the Spanish in the 1570s, lies at the base of the archaeological site and retains a colonial church, a famous Sunday market, and a series of colonial buildings that incorporate Inca foundations.
The hilltop fortress
The principal archaeological remains of Pisac occupy a ridge that rises approximately 500 meters above the valley floor and commands a view of the upper Sacred Valley and the surrounding peaks. The ridge is divided into a number of platforms, each of which carries buildings of varying size and function. The principal buildings include a sequence of ceremonial structures, residential buildings, storehouses, and a system of defensive walls that follows the natural contours of the ridge. The buildings are constructed in the imperial style of polygonal granite, with trapezoidal doorways and niches, and they are similar in form to the buildings of Cusco and Machu Picchu.
The fortress is conventionally interpreted as a royal estate and as a defensive structure guarding the approach to the Sacred Valley from the north. The defensive walls are built of large polygonal blocks and are pierced by several gateways, the most important of which is the Amaru Punku gate on the south side of the ridge. The fortress includes a sequence of residential and ceremonial buildings on the upper platform, and a series of storehouses on the lower platform, and the principal buildings are aligned to the cardinal directions and to the surrounding peaks.
The fortress has been the subject of detailed archaeological work by the Peruvian Ministry of Culture, with the support of international projects, including a long-running collaboration between the Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco and the University of Texas at Austin. The work has clarified the construction sequence of the site, identified the principal building types, and refined the dating of the principal structures. The fortress is now protected as part of the Parque Arqueológico de Pisac, and the site is open to the public.
The agricultural terraces
The agricultural terraces of Pisac are among the most extensive in the Sacred Valley. The terraces are built on the slopes of the mountain below the fortress, on a series of platforms that follow the contours of the hillside, and they include more than 30 levels of terraces in the most extensive group. The terraces are constructed in the standard imperial form, with a polygonal retaining wall, a layer of large stones for drainage, a layer of q’illpa (volcanic or glacial material) to retain moisture, and a top layer of cultivated soil.
The terraces are integrated with a sophisticated system of irrigation canals that bring water from the upper slopes of the mountain to the agricultural land. The Pisac canal, which begins at a spring on the slopes of the Pisac mountain, is approximately 6 kilometers long and is built of polygonal stones with a fine lining of clay or sandy soil. The canal is still in use, and the water continues to flow through the channels and to irrigate the terraces in much the same way as it did in the imperial period.
The terraces of Pisac are still in use today and produce maize, potatoes, quinoa, and a range of other crops. The agricultural production of the terraces supports the local population, and the terraces are an important part of the modern agricultural economy of the region. The terraces are also an important element in the cultural identity of the community, and the Pisac terraces have been the subject of detailed study by Peruvian and international researchers.
The cemetery of the Inca elite
The cemetery of Pisac, sometimes called the Tankaray cemetery, is located on the opposite side of the valley from the fortress, on a steep cliff that overlooks the river. The cemetery contains hundreds of burials in deep crevices and caves in the cliff face, and the burials have been the subject of archaeological excavation and study since the 1960s. The burials are dated to the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, and they include a number of richly furnished tombs of the Inca elite.
The tombs contain a wide range of grave goods, including ceramics, textiles, metalwork, and the mummified bodies of the deceased. The most famous of the burials, sometimes called the “Princess of Pisac,” is a richly furnished tomb of an Inca noblewoman, with a ceremonial dress of finely woven textiles, a gold mask, and a series of ceramic and metal offerings. Few Inca-period burials have been so thoroughly documented: the Tankaray cliff remains a primary source for the material culture of the imperial elite.
The cemetery was originally excavated by the Peruvian archaeologist Luis Valcárcel in the 1920s, and it has been the subject of further study by a number of researchers, including the high-altitude archaeologist Constanza Ceruti and the American anthropologist Brian Bauer. The burials have been dated to the late imperial period, and the cemetery is interpreted as a burial ground of the Inca elite, possibly associated with the royal family of the imperial capital.
The Intihuatana
The Pisac Intihuatana is a carved stone on a hilltop platform above the fortress, similar in form to the Intihuatana stone of Machu Picchu. The stone is a roughly rectangular block of granite, with a flat upper surface and a series of carved features that align with the solstices and the equinoxes. The Intihuatana is interpreted as an astronomic observation point and as a ritual focus of the cult of the sun, and it is one of the most photographed monuments in the site.
The astronomical function of the Pisac Intihuatana has been the subject of detailed study. Mariusz Ziółkowski’s measurements show that the upper surface aligns with the rising and setting sun at the June and December solstices. The alignments are consistent with those documented at other Inca ceremonial sites, including the Coricancha in Cusco and the Intihuatana of Machu Picchu, and they support the interpretation of the Intihuatana as an instrument of solar observation.