After 100 Years, A Correction: Study Says It's Huayana, Not Machu Picchu
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The study has been based on the notes of explorer Hiram Bigham, who rediscovered Machu Picchu in 1911.
Machu Picchu, one of the more famous archaeological sites in the world, has been called the wrong name for 100 years, a new study had claimed. The symbol of the Inca Empire sits in the Andean jungle in Peru, South America. It is believed to have been built in the 15th century.
A recently-published study has claimed that the Incans called the city Huayna Picchu. A report on the story has been written by Donato Amado Gonzales and Brian S Bauer, and published inÑawpa Pacha: Journal of the Institute of Andean Studies. While Gonzales is a historian in Peru's Ministry of Culture, Bauer is associated with the Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Chicago.
CNN spoke to Emily Dean, professor of anthropology at Southern Utah University in Cedar City, who explained that Huayna translates to "new or young," while Picchu means "mountain peak" in the Indigenous Quechua language. “Machu means old, so we've been calling it old mountain peak,” she added.
According to the report, re-published after correcting several errors in the August issue, said that the city was originally built in 1420 but abandoned after the Spaniards conquered the Incans. It was hidden in the Andes mountains until American explorer Hiram Bigham rediscovered it in 1911.