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	By Peter FrostPhotographs by Gordon Wiltsie Could this mountain stronghold also have been the home of an earlier, as yet unknown people? An expedition probes the intriguing ruins of Cerro Victoria. Get a taste of what awaits you in print from this compelling excerpt. As our horses climbed the steep, dusty trail, I wondered who was weariest, the humans or the animals. The horses were stumbling on the slippery rocks and the mules had that mean glint in their eyes—but then, so did we. When photographer Gordon Wiltsie's horse gave a shuddering sigh and actually laid down beneath him, I decided it was the animals. We had footslogged three days, sometimes leading our mounts, sometimes riding, to get to this remote valley in the Vilcabamba mountains of southern Peru. Plodding in a long, unruly train of mules and horses—42 pack and 9 saddle—our animals had bolted, strayed, and sometimes thrown us, but we needed them. They were carrying enough gear and supplies to last us a month in the field. Nine of us—archaeologists, explorers, journalists, and a cartographer—had started our journey in Cusco, the old Inca capital. We were joined at the small town of Huancacalle by a dozen wranglers and their animals, who would help us reach our goal, Cerro Victoria, a 12,746-foot (3,885-meters) peak in the southern Vilcabamba Range, where in 2001 our team had found a previously unknown Inca settlement, Qoriwayrachina.  Remnants of the settlement, whose name is Quechua for "where wind was used to refine gold"—referring to nearby mines—were scattered over 16 square miles (41 square kilometers) of steep slopes. They included the remains of more than 200 structures: circular dwellings, agricultural storehouses, roads, funeral towers, cemeteries, and ceremonial platforms. Although the ruins lack the grandeur of the lost city of Machu Picchu, 22 miles (35 kilometers) to the northeast, they raise new questions about the Inca, whose royalty had withdrawn to the Vilcabamba region in 1537 to wage stubborn warfare against the Spanish. Had Qoriwayrachina been a refuge for followers of Manco Inca and his sons, the last Inca kings? Was it also a supply center, channeling food and precious metals to Choquequirau, the Inca retreat one valley farther south? Was it built by a previous culture in this steep, forbidding place—and if so, why? Get the details of story in the pages of National Geographic magazine.
	Machu Picchu: Unveiling the Mystery of the Incas A major traveling exhibit in the USA 2004-2005

Hiram Bingham at Machu Picchu.

The Expedition was led by Yale archaeologist Hiram Bingham (who later became the governor of Connecticut!). He excavated hundreds of objects that tell the story of everyday life at Machu Picchu and, by agreement with the Peruvian government, these materials became part of the Peabody Museum’s collections. Many of these objects will be on view to the public for the first time. Together with the 11,000 photographs Bingham took, they form a unique scientific, historic and artistic resource that enables us to reconstruct the daily life of Machu Picchu at its zenith 500 years ago.

One of the 11,000 photographs from the Yale Peruvian Expeditions.

Co-curated by Curator of Anthropology Professor Richard Burger and Curatorial Affiliate and Peruvian archaeologist Lucy Salazar, this exhibition invites visitors to travel into the past, first to Machu Picchu with the 1911 Yale Peruvian Scientific Expedition, and then further back to the late 15th century when this Inca country palace was a bustling community with an important religious, political and social role in the Inca empire. The exhibition has many interactive components, including replicas of the house of the Inca king and an ancient Inca road, a curator’s tour of the Inca palace complex, and an interactive laboratory that shows how archaeologists in the 21st century interpret the 15th century.

Filled with stunning panoramic photographs and the finest surviving examples of Inca art on loan from Peru, Europe and other major U.S. collections, this exhibition is not to be missed.