Sacsahuaman

Sacsahuaman, the hill overlooking the city of Cuzco, Peru, from the northwest. An important Huaca or oratory in Inca times, Sacsahuaman, which in Quechua means "hill of the hawk," was believed to represent the head of the puma that was reproduced in the ground plan of Inca Cuzco. Elaborate construction projects, probably beginning in the time of Pachacuti, transformed Sacsahuaman into the largest megalithic structure in the ancient Americas. The most impressive portion of the ruins that still stand is composed of three walls of zigzag design laid in Inca polygonal stonework. Some of the individual stones in this wall have been calculated to weigh as much as 60 tons. Above these walls, on the crest of the hill, originally stood three towers that were razed by the Spanish during the Conquest. The function of Sacsahuaman has never been definitely established. Probably it served multiple functions during Inca times, including religious, military, and royal residence. It also symbolized Inca resistance to the Spanish invaders until it fell to Juan Pizarro in 1536. Today it still holds meaning for Cuzco's current residents. Near this site, Inti Raymi, the Inca festival in honor of the winter solstice, is celebrated annually on June 24th.

See alsoArchaeology; Incas, The.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Sources on Sacsahuaman include Graziano Gasparini and Luise Margolies, Inca Architecture (1980); and Vincent R. Lee, "The Building of Sacsahuaman," in Nawpa Pacha 24 (1986): 49-56.

Additional Bibliography

Angles Vargas, Víctor. Sacsayhuaman, portento arquitectónico. Lima: INDUSTRIALgráfica, 1990.

Hemming, John; photos by Edward Ranney. Monuments of the Incas. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1990.

Palomino Díaz, Julio. Intiwatanas y números: Ciencia del pasado andino. Cuzco: Municipalidad del Qosqo, 1994.

                                    Gordon F. McEwan