【简译】马丘比丘（Machu Picchu）

Machu Picchu is an Inca settlement located in the High Andes of Peru in the Urubamba Valley, north of Cuzco. The site, perched high above the Urubamba River, has been variously described as a fortress, imperial retreat and ceremonial precinct. It was founded by Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui in c. 1450 CE, had capacity for around 1,000 residents at its peak, and ranked amongst the most sacred of all sites for the Inca. Following the collapse of the Inca empire, Machu Picchu was abandoned and forgotten, only to be rediscovered in 1911 CE by the explorer Hiram Bingham. Machu Picchu is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

          马丘比丘是位于秘鲁安第斯山脉高地库斯科北部乌鲁班巴山谷的印加人定居点。该遗址位于乌鲁班巴河顶端，有多种描述，如堡垒、帝国避难所和仪式场所。它由帕查库蒂·印加·尤潘基 (Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui) 于公元 1450 年左右建立，在鼎盛时期可容纳约 1000 名居民，是印加人最神圣的地方之一。印加帝国崩溃后，马丘比丘被遗弃，直到1911年才被探险家海勒姆·宾厄姆 (Hiram Bingham) 重新发现。马丘比丘被联合国教科文组织列为世界遗产。

遗址曾经的用途

Machu Picchu (meaning 'old hill') was an imperial estate founded by and belonging to Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, the Inca ruler, in the mid-15th century CE. The ownership of the site was later passed to Pachacuti's successors. On its rediscovery by the explorer Hiram Bingham in 1911 CE (although local residents in the valley had always known of the site's existence) it was claimed as the last capital of the Incas. However, this proved to be untrue when the actual final capital was discovered at Vilcabamba, further downstream in the Urubamba Valley.

          马丘比丘（意为“古老的山”）是一座皇家庄园，由印加统治者帕查库蒂·印加·尤潘基 (Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui) 在 15 世纪中叶创建并独占其中。该遗址的所有权后来传给了帕查库蒂的继任者。当探险家海勒姆·宾厄姆 (Hiram Bingham) 于 1911 年重新发现它时（尽管山谷里的居民一直都知道它的存在），它被宣布为印加人最后的首都。然而，当在乌鲁班巴山谷更深处的比尔卡班巴发现真正的首都时，这一说法被证明是错误的。

Another hypothesis concerning the site posed by early historians was that Machu Picchu was a fortress and the strong walls, large towers, and dry moats were cited in support of this theory. The need for fortification perhaps sprang from a series of severe droughts which made the competition for resources fierce. This would also explain why the site was not occupied for very long as when the water situation improved the necessity for such citadel sites declined. Once again though, further study has revealed that most of the architecture was designed for religious purposes and the fortifications may well have been put in place to ensure only a select few could enter this sacred site. In further support of this interpretation, a road was discovered which linked the site to several residential settlements dotted along the valley. The most likely purpose of Machu Picchu, then, was as a sacred site, probably to the sun god Inti and with the additional purpose of reminding the recently conquered local population of the power and might of Pachacuti and the Inca empire centred at its capital Cuzco. The site was abandoned by the Inca shortly before Pizarro and the Spanish conquistadors arrived. The invaders never reached Machu Picchu, though, and the site would remain unknown to the wider world for 400 years.

          早期历史学家对该遗址提出的另一个假设是，马丘比丘是一座堡垒，其坚固的城墙、高大的塔楼和干涸的护城河被用来支持这一理论。对防御工事的需求也许源于一系列严重的干旱，这使得对资源的竞争非常激烈。这也可以解释为什么该遗址没有被占领很长时间，因为当水的情况改善后，对这种城堡遗址的需求就会下降。不过，进一步的研究再次表明，大部分建筑都是为宗教目的而设计的，设置防御工事很可能是为了确保只有少数人可以进入这个神圣的地方。为了进一步支持这种解释，人们发现了一条道路，它将该遗址与沿山谷分布的几个居民点连接起来。因此，马丘比丘最可能的目的是作为一个圣地，是为了纪念太阳神“因蒂”；还有一个目的是提醒最近被征服的当地居民注意帕查库蒂和以其首都库斯科为中心的印加帝国的权力和威慑力。在皮萨罗和西班牙征服者到达前不久，印加人就放弃了这个地方。不过，入侵者从未到达过马丘比丘，四百年来，马丘比丘一直不为世人所知。

建筑材料与设计

Machu Picchu is a fine example of the Inca practice of shaping architecture around the natural terrain. Ridges were made into plateaus for building upon and slopes were terraced using stone bulwarks. Further, constructions were made to aesthetically blend with their surroundings. For example, the profile of the Sacred Rock actually mimics one of the mountain peaks behind it. Finally, very often windows and doorways were deliberately positioned to capture the best views of the surrounding mountains.

           马丘比丘是印加人围绕自然地形塑造建筑的一个典范。山脊变成了可以建造建筑的高原，斜坡上建有石质舷墙。此外，这些建筑的设计也是为了将它们与周围环境融为一体。例如，圣岩的轮廓模仿了它背后的一座山峰。最后，窗户和门经常被刻意放置，以捕捉周围群山的最佳景观。

Rock was a material the Incas had special reverence for. Stone was even thought of as a living substance and in the Inca language (Quechua) the word for it translates as 'to begin'. Stone was shaped with great skill and natural rock outcrops were moulded to suit various purposes. For example, below the Torreón (Observatory), a room was carved out of a natural cleft in the rock and used as a temple to the sun god Inti. The Intihuatana Stone ('Hitching Post of the Sun'), also known as the intiwatana, sitting at the highest point of the sacred complex, was carved with great care into a device for astronomical observations and made a tangible link between the earth and sky. The carved stone pillar on top of the polygonal stone base was used like a sundial to record the movements of the sun and, during solstices, priests symbolically tied the sun to the earth using a cord.

          印加人对石头怀有特殊的崇敬之情。它甚至被认为是一种有生命的物质，在印加语（盖丘亚语）中，石头被翻译为“开始”。石材加工技术精湛，天然岩石露头的形状适合各种用途。例如，在Torreón（天文台）下面，有一个房间是从岩石的天然裂缝中凿出的，用作太阳神因蒂的神庙。Intihuatana Stone（“太阳的钩柱”），也称为intiwatana，它位于神圣建筑群的最高点，经过精心雕刻，使其成为天文观测装置，并在大地和天空之间建立了有形的联系。多边形石底座上的雕刻石柱被用作日晷，记录太阳的运动，在至日期间，祭司们象征性地用绳子将太阳与大地绑在一起。

The site of Machu Picchu is composed of two distinct areas: a central complex of closely packed buildings arranged around a central square and a series of western terraces. The structures on the east and southern sides were likely residential and follow a pattern of single-roomed dwellings with an enclosed patio. However, the exact function of most of the buildings at the site is not known for certain. Many of the buildings display the great rock carving and masonry skills of the Inca. The buildings use locally quarried granite, one of the hardest stones, which was cut with great precision and then finished when in position to produce walls of blocks so well fitted together that mortar was not necessary. The irregular lines of blocks also create a pleasing aesthetic effect and make the structures highly resistant to earthquakes.

          马丘比丘遗址由两个不同的区域组成：一个由紧密围绕中央广场的建筑群和一系列西边的露台排列。东侧和南侧的建筑可能是住宅，遵循带有封闭庭院的单间住宅的模式。然而，该地点大多数建筑物的确切功能尚不清楚。许多建筑展示了印加人精湛的石雕和砖石技艺。这些建筑使用了当地开采的花岗岩，这是最坚硬的石头之一，它们被非常精确地切割，然后在就位后进行加工，形成了由石块组成的墙壁，这些石块被很好地安装在一起，因此不需要使用砂浆。砖块的不规则线条也创造了一种赏心悦目的美学效果，并使结构具有高度的抗震性。

典型建筑

Amongst the most impressive structures at the site both for its size and unusual curved masonry is the D-shaped tower known as the Torréon, mentioned above. The single window of the tower was aligned with the Pleiades stars as they appeared in the 15th century CE and the building's astronomical purpose is further evidenced by the presence of a stone protruding from the floor which may have been used to plot the sun on the June solstice. The Temple of the Three Windows is another impressive example of fine stone work and was also used as an astronomical observation post. The many administrative kallanka buildings also employed fine stone blocks made to fit perfectly together. These buildings also had stone pegs protruding from their gables to which a thatched roof would have been attached. Another type of building is the prison-like structures which may have been used to house captured nobles until a ransom was paid. The complex also has a cavern structure and a sacrificial stone block sculpted into the form of a condor.

           该遗址最令人印象深刻的建筑之一，无论是其规模还是其不寻常的弧形石雕，都是上面提到的 D 形塔楼，即托雷翁 (Torreon)。塔中唯一的窗户与公元 15 世纪出现的昴宿星团的星星对齐，并且该建筑的天文用途通过从地面突出的一块石头来证明，该石头可用于标记六月至日的太阳。三窗神殿是另一个令人印象深刻的精美石雕作品的例子，也被用作天文观测站。许多行政性的Kallanka建筑也采用了精美的石块，使之完美地结合在一起。这些建筑物的山墙末端还突出有石钉，上面附有茅草屋顶。另一种类型的建筑是类似监狱的结构，可能是用来关押被俘的贵族，直到对方支付赎金为止。该建筑群还设有洞穴结构和雕刻成秃鹰形状的祭祀石块。

Water was supplied to the site via 14 natural springs whose waters were collected and re-located via 16 cut-stone channels. Another curious feature is the stone steps which lead from Machu Picchu up to the small retreat Huayna Picchu (meaning 'young hill'), perched on a rock outcrop. Some graves have been excavated at the site but these typically belong to individuals of lower rank such as administrative staff resulting in a paucity of high value grave goods, and there are a peculiarly large proportion of female remains. Pottery finds have offered some clues to daily life at the site and derive from four separate locations, amongst which is the Chuma blackware.

          马丘比丘的水由14个天然泉水供应，这些泉水通过16条石刻渠道收集和转移。另一个奇怪的特征是从马丘比丘通向位于岩石露头上的小型瓦伊纳比丘避难所（意思是“年轻的山”）的石阶。该遗址已发掘出一些坟墓，但这些坟墓通常属于级别较低的个人，如普通行政人员，因此高价值的墓葬物品很少，而且女性遗骸的比例特别高。陶器的发现为该遗址的日常生活提供了一些线索，这些陶器来自四个不同的地方，其中包括Chuma黑陶器。

Excavations and reconstruction are ongoing at Machu Picchu, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and despite its remote location it continues to draw tourists from around the world having safely secured its status as one of the most recognisable and photographed ancient sites in the world.

          马丘比丘的挖掘和重建工作正在进行中，现在已经成为联合国教科文组织的世界遗产，尽管它地处偏远，但仍然吸引着来自世界各地的游客，保证了它作为世界上最容易识别和拍摄的古代遗址之一的地位。

参考书目：

Baudin, L. Daily Life of the Incas. Dover Publications, 2011.

D'Altroy, T.N. The Incas. Blackwell, Oxford, 2012

Howard, C. Pizarro & the Conquest of Peru. Cassel, London, 1968

Jones, D.M. Mythology of the Incas. Southwater, 2014.

Jones, D.M. The Complete Illustrated History of the Inca Empire. Lorenz Books, 2012.

Mason, J.A. The Ancient Civilizations of Peru. Penguin Books, 1988.

Moseley, M.E. The Incas and Their Ancestors. Thames & Hudson, 2001.

原文作者：Mark Cartwright

          驻意大利的历史作家。他的主要兴趣包括陶瓷、建筑、世界神话和发现所有文明的共同思想。他拥有政治哲学硕士学位，是《世界历史百科全书》的出版总监。

原文网址：https://www.worldhistory.org/Machu_Picchu/