Quick Summary: The Incas built Machu Picchu in the 15th century as a royal estate, traditionally credited to the emperor Pachacuti. Radiocarbon dates published in Antiquity in August 2021 show people living there from about 1420 to 1532, roughly two decades before the 1438 accession date long used to date it. It was never a "lost city": local farmers and the Peruvian Agustín Lizárraga knew it before Hiram Bingham was guided up on 24 July 1911, and the objects Bingham shipped to Yale went back to Cusco in 2011 and 2012. This guide is for visitors who want the history straight, with settled facts kept apart from open questions; for the practical overview, start with Machu Picchu: All You Need to Know.
Who Built It and When
For most of the 20th century the date came from Spanish chronicles. They say Pachacuti seized power in 1438 and then conquered the lower Urubamba Valley, so scholars placed the building of Machu Picchu after 1440, perhaps as late as 1450 (Yale, 2021). That baseline goes back to the archaeologist John Rowe's reading of 16th-century documents in the 1940s.
In August 2021 a team led by the Yale archaeologist Richard Burger published the first large set of AMS radiocarbon dates for the site in Antiquity. They dated bone and teeth from 26 people buried in four cemeteries that Bingham's team excavated in 1912. The site was occupied from about 1420 to 1532.
- Established: Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca site, as UNESCO's World Heritage listing also says.
- Revised: people were living there by about 1420, so "built in 1450" is out of date.
- Still open: whether Pachacuti took power before 1438 or the chronicles are off in other ways. The authors say the results matter for Inca chronology as a whole.
The bones do not reveal the builders: the people buried there show little sign of heavy labour, so the researchers read them as the estate's retainers. No document we found names the workforce.
What It Was For: A Royal Estate
The mainstream view is that Machu Picchu was a country palace on an estate belonging to Pachacuti. John Rowe argued it from 16th-century documents in a 1990 article in Histórica, and Burger and Lucy Salazar built on it, as John Verano sets out in a study the Ministry of Culture republished in 2020.
A July 2023 genetic study in Science Advances analysed DNA from 34 people buried there, believed to be retainers serving the royal family, and found ancestries from across the Inca Empire and Amazonia.
One caution: the documentary link to Pachacuti is indirect. The Ministry of Culture historian Donato Amado Gonzales notes that a 1568 declaration of lands belonging to Inca Yupanqui (Pachacuti) does not actually name Picchu, although it is often cited as proof (Amado Gonzales, Cusco culture office). The estate reading is the best-supported one, but it is an interpretation, not a deed.
Bingham's own theories have not aged well. In Inca Land (1922) he suggested the site might be "Vilcabamba Viejo", home to the Virgins of the Sun, or Tampu-tocco, the legendary birthplace of the first Incas. The Virgins idea leaned on George Eaton's 1916 count of 109 women to 26 men among the skeletons. Verano's re-examination found 60 women and 39 men among those he could sex with confidence: not a mainly female population.
What Did the Incas Call It?
Probably not Machu Picchu. In a paper published online in August 2021 in Ñawpa Pacha, Amado Gonzales and the archaeologist Brian Bauer argue the town was called Picchu, or more likely Huayna Picchu, after the rocky peak closest to it (University of Illinois Chicago). Machu Picchu is the larger mountain to the south. Their evidence:
- Land records: a 1714 survey describes the "Pueblo Antiguo del Ynga Nombrado Guainapiccho", the old Inca town named Huayna Picchu.
- A 1904 atlas: it mentions an Inca town called Huayna Picchu, seven years before Bingham arrived.
- Bingham's trail: he heard of ruins called Huayna Picchu in Cusco in 1911 and again in 1912, but took the name from Melchor Arteaga, who wrote "Macho Pischo" in Bingham's field journal (ScienceAlert, 2022).
- A late 16th-century Spanish account: local people considered returning to a site they called Huayna Picchu.
Status: a strong argument, not a settled fact. Nobody plans to rename the site; as Amado Gonzales told NPR in March 2022, it is now "Machu Picchu to the world".
How It Was Abandoned
The radiocarbon dates end around 1532, about the time of the Spanish conquest, and UNESCO dates the abandonment to the conquest too. No document records when the last people left or why. Our reading: a royal estate existed to serve a royal court, and once that court collapsed nobody was left to supply and staff it.
The idea that the Spanish never knew of it is too simple. Tribute assessments from 1548 to 1580 list the native town of Piccho, whose first encomendero (the Spaniard granted its tribute) was Hernando Pizarro, according to Amado Gonzales. By 1595 only four Indigenous residents remained, and at the request of Augustinian priests they were moved to Ollantaytambo. UNESCO credits the palace's isolation and the vegetation that covered it for its survival.
Who Knew About It Before 1911
- Landowners: property sales in 1776, 1782 and 1849 list plots named Machupiccho and Guaynapiccho (Amado Gonzales).
- Explorers: around 1875 the French explorer Charles Wiener heard at Ollantaytambo of ruins at "Huaina-Picchu or Matcho-Picchu" but never reached them, as Bingham recounts in Inca Land.
- A treasure hunter: on 16 June 1887 the German Augusto R. Berns got a permit to dig at Inca sites in the Urubamba and La Convención provinces. Amado Gonzales argues he knew Machu Picchu; we found no evidence he dug there.
- Agustín Lizárraga: he lived by the San Miguel bridge below the ruins and reached them in July 1902 (Andina). A Bingham photograph shown by the park's director in 2011 has "julio 1902" written on the Temple of the Three Windows (Andina, 2011). Bingham's book calls him the first modern Peruvian to write his name on the walls, though it dates his first visit to 1904.
- Farming families: when Bingham arrived, the Richarte and Álvarez families had been farming the terraces for four years.
Bingham, Yale and the Return of the Collection
Hiram Bingham taught Latin American history at Yale and had no training in archaeology (Linda Hall Library). On the wet morning of 24 July 1911, Melchor Arteaga, who leased land at Mandor Pampa, agreed to guide him up for one sol, which Bingham put at three or four times the local daily wage. Sergeant Carrasco, his Peruvian gendarme escort, went too.
His real contribution was publicity and study. In 1912, with Yale and National Geographic support, his team cleared the site and excavated the burial caves, and National Geographic gave its April 1913 issue to his report (National Geographic). Between 1912 and 1916 he shipped to Yale over 4,000 artefacts excavated with Peruvian government authorisation (University of Geneva case note). The road back:
- 1918 and 1920: Peru formally asked for the objects; Yale returned some in 1921 and kept the most significant.
- 2008: after a 2007 deal fell through, Peru sued Yale in a US federal court on 5 December.
- 23 November 2010: Peru and Yale signed a memorandum agreeing on the return, after the intervention of US Senator Christopher Dodd.
- 2011 and 2012: shipments in March 2011, December 2011 and November 2012 (Yale). Counts range from over 4,000 artefacts to more than 35,000 pieces and fragments (The World), depending on how fragments are counted.
The collection is now in the Museo Machu Picchu at the Casa Concha in Cusco.
Timeline: From the 1400s to 2026
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| About 1420 | Earliest radiocarbon-dated burials; occupation runs to about 1532 |
| 1438 | Pachacuti takes power, according to the Spanish chronicles once used to date the site |
| 1548 to 1580 | Tribute records list the town of Piccho |
| 1714 | A land survey names "the old Inca town named Guainapiccho" |
| July 1902 | Agustín Lizárraga's visit |
| 24 July 1911 | Melchor Arteaga guides Bingham up; two farming families live on the terraces |
| 1912 | Yale and National Geographic expedition clears the site and excavates burials |
| April 1913 | National Geographic devotes an issue to Bingham's report |
| 8 January 1981 | Peru creates the Historic Sanctuary of Machupicchu, 32,592 hectares (SERNANP) |
| 1983 | UNESCO inscribes it as a mixed cultural and natural World Heritage site |
| 2007 | Voted one of the New Seven Wonders (New7Wonders) |
| 2010 to 2012 | Yale agrees to return the Bingham collection (23 November 2010); it reaches Cusco in three shipments |
| August 2021 | The radiocarbon study and the Huayna Picchu name study are published |
| July 2023 | DNA study describes a diverse community of royal retainers |
| 1 June 2024 | Visits move to three circuits and ten routes (Ministry of Culture) |
| 23 March 2026 | SERNANP approves the sanctuary's 2026–2031 Master Plan |
What Is Settled and What Is Still Argued
| Question | Settled | Still argued |
|---|---|---|
| When | 15th-century Inca site, occupied about 1420 to 1532 | What the earlier dates mean for Pachacuti's reign |
| Who | An Inca royal project; the dead were retainers from across the empire | Whether Pachacuti himself ordered it; who did the building |
| Purpose | Not a convent of "Virgins of the Sun" | Royal estate: best supported, but indirectly documented |
| Name | "Machu Picchu" attached to the ruins from 1911 | Whether the Incas called it Huayna Picchu or Picchu |
| Abandonment | Occupation ends around the Spanish conquest | Exactly when and why the last residents left |
| Before Bingham | Known to farmers, landowners and Lizárraga | Whether Berns dug there; who erased Lizárraga's writing |
What This History Means for What You See
Our position: drop the "lost city" story and see Machu Picchu as a working royal country house staffed by people from across the empire. The Bingham-discovery angle is overhyped; the place is not.
- First visit: book Circuit 2, which takes in the urban core as well as the classic view. Our circuit comparison shows what each route skips.
- The terraces: farmland that kept working; families were growing crops on them in 1911.
- The objects: see the returned Yale collection at the Casa Concha, an easy add-on to a walk through Cusco's historic centre. The small site museum sits by the old Puente Ruinas at km 112 of the railway, below the citadel (see our Aguas Calientes guide); confirm hours locally.
- Guide patter: "built in 1450", "the Virgins of the Sun" and "the Spanish never knew" are outdated or overstated.
- The modern chapter: 2026 caps of 5,600 visitors a day in high season and 4,500 otherwise are covered in our State of Machu Picchu 2026 report.
FAQ
Who built Machu Picchu?
The Incas, as a royal estate traditionally credited to the emperor Pachacuti. No document names the workforce, and the people buried there were retainers serving the estate, not builders.
When was Machu Picchu built?
In the 15th century. Radiocarbon dates published in 2021 show people living there by about 1420, roughly two decades before the 1438 date long used. Guides that say 1450 are out of date.
Did Hiram Bingham discover Machu Picchu?
No. Farmers lived on its terraces, the land had changed hands for centuries, and Agustín Lizárraga visited in 1902. Bingham, guided there on 24 July 1911, made it world-famous.
What was Machu Picchu used for?
Most scholars read it as a country palace on Pachacuti's royal estate, staffed by retainers from across the empire. The documentary link to Pachacuti is indirect, so treat it as the best-supported interpretation.
What was Machu Picchu's original name?
Possibly Huayna Picchu or simply Picchu, according to a 2021 study citing a 1714 land record and a 1904 atlas. It remains an argument, and there are no plans to rename the site.
Why was Machu Picchu abandoned?
Occupation ends around 1532, about the time of the Spanish conquest, and no document records why. Our reading is that a royal estate lost its purpose once the court that ran it collapsed.
Where are the artefacts Bingham took to Yale?
Back in Cusco. Yale returned the collection in March 2011, December 2011 and November 2012, and it is shown at the Museo Machu Picchu in the Casa Concha.
Was Machu Picchu home to the Virgins of the Sun?
No. That idea rested on a 1916 count of 109 women to 26 men among the skeletons. A modern re-examination found 60 women and 39 men among those sexed with confidence.
When did Machu Picchu become a World Heritage Site?
In 1983, as a mixed cultural and natural site. Peru had created the Historic Sanctuary on 8 January 1981.
Limitations
This history reflects research and official sources read as of October 2026. New radiocarbon or DNA work may shift dates, and the name debate is open. Lizárraga's 1902 date, the artefact counts and Berns's activities rest on few sources, and some papers were read through abstracts and official summaries. Museum hours and visitor caps can change at short notice. Work-around: before your visit, check the Ministry of Culture's Machu Picchu site for current circuits and museum hours.