It feels like the history, culture and attitude towards the Inca is constantly changing.
Locals tell tales of a benevolent and powerful group who was one with nature and gracious even in times of war, while others that of barbarians stuck in the bronze age who engaged in inhumane sacrifices for imaginary deities.
It is almost impossible to know the whole truth as what we know now is solely based on tales passed down from generation to generation, warped as they go from mouth to mouth.
All we can do now is make estimations on what could have been the truth based on the ruins that were left behind.
For example, the documentary ‘Ghosts of Machu Picchu” told us that the lost city was declared to be the last city of the Incan empire when it was discovered by a European archeologist; but a couple of years later it was realized that it was in fact not…
I thought that I had the full picture of what the true Machu Picchu story was after viewing the documentary and confidently strolled into the tourist infested “hidden city”. We met the tour guide and while showing us the remains of the construction in the site, he told us that the real story is that it was an ancient college campus built to train the future leaders of the Inca empire…. What?? Now how do I know what to believe?
The Spanish did an excellent job at erasing Incan culture and turning it into urban legend. Just like any urban legend people often make up their own version despite what scientists, historians or archeologists say. After all of this he said she said, I take everything I learn about the Inca with a grain of salt.
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