Using ancient DNA, researchers unravel the mystery of Machu Picchu
Using ancient DNA, researchers unravel the mystery of Machu Picchu October 1, 2015 Using ancient DNA, researchers unravel the mystery of Machu Picchu Credit: Sophie Muir Dramatically perched on an Andes mountain ridge some 8,000 feet above sea level in Peru, Machu Picchu is a visual wonder and a technical masterpiece. The worlds largest meeting on multiphysics simulation and application design "It is breathtaking," said Brenda Bradley, an associate professor of anthropology at the George Washington University. The Inca built the site's 15th-century ruins without mortar, fitting the blocks of stone so tightly together that you still cannot fit a piece of paper between them. The design included steeped, agricultural terraces to boost planting space and protect against flooding. But despite its distinction as one of the most iconic and important archeological sites in the world, the origins of Machu Picchu remain a mystery. The Inca left no record of why they built the site or how they used it before it was abandoned in the early 16th century. "There is a longstanding debate about what the function of Machu Picchu was because it is so unique and unusual as an Inca site," Dr. Bradley said. "It is too big to be a local settlement. And it's too small and not the right structure to have been an administrative center for the Inca Empire." Now, Dr. Bradley and a team of researchers will be the first to analyze the genomes of the skeletal remains from more than 170 individuals buried at the site. The team's other members include Lars Fehren-Schmitz from the University of California, Santa Cruz and Yale University's Richard Burger and Lucy Salazar. By sequencing the skeletons' ancient DNA, the researchers hope to better understand the functional role of Machu Picchu and its residents, as well as patterns of diversity, migration and labor diaspora in the Inca Empirethe largest in pre-Columbian America. Yale explorer Hiram Bingham launched a study of the "lost city of the Incas" in the summer of 1911. His work included excavating Machu Picchu and bringing human bones and other objects, like ceramics and jewelry, back with him to the United States. The artifacts remained at the Yale Peabody Museum in New Haven until 2012, when, after years of negotiations, the bones and relics were sent back to Peru. The Peru-Yale University International Center for the Study of Machu Picchu and Inca Culture houses the bones and relics. The museum, in Cusco about 45 miles from Machu Picchu, is open to the public and includes more than 360 items from Dr. Bingham's original excavation. Before returning the skeletons to their home country, Dr. Bradleywho was a Yale faculty member at the timeand her colleagues scrambled to collect DNA samples from the ancient bones. Next, with a recent National Science Foundation grant, the researchers will use cutting-edge methods to sequence nuclear, mitochondrial and Y-chromosome DNA from the samples. Dr. Fehren-Schmitz will conduct the initial analysis, and Dr. Bradley will attempt to replicate the results in her lab. "With ancient human DNA, you always have to worry about contamination," Dr. Bradley said. "If you replicate the experiment in a different lab with different researchers, and you find the same results, that is the gold standard." The researchers will then compare the results of the genetic analysis with previous data from Machu Picchu in order to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the site. The prevailing hypothesis among researchers is that Machu Picchu was a so-called "royal retreat"akin to what Camp David is for the White Housewhere Inca Emperor Pachacuti would have visited and held diplomatic meetings, Dr. Bradley explained. The archeology indicates that people who resided there were likely crafts specialists brought in from locations throughout the empire to work at the site. "They were probably very skilled people who came from far and wide to play very specific roles. That's what we predict," she said. "We can now look at the DNA to see if that is true." The genetic analysis will test this hypothesis by showing the relationships among the ancient people, whether they are from the same ancestral lines and locations, said Dr. Fehren-Schmitz, who has analyzed the genomes of many different populations throughout South America. This information also will help to put Machu Picchu in the context of the larger Inca Empire. "I'm interested in local processes and how increases in social complexity and social change influence genetic diversity," he said. "One thing that makes Machu Picchu so interesting is the idea that actually the population buried there doesn't reflect just a local population." The researchers said the wealth of genomic data they plan to collect also would provide an interesting look at how colonialism affected people living in the Andes. Since the skeletons from Machu Picchu represent a pre-Spanish conquest population, they can compare those genetics to post-colonial DNA. "Colonialism introduced disease and likely wiped out a lot of genetic diversity," Dr. Bradley said. "This is a chance to look at genetic diversity before that happened."
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It's amazing that 500 plus years after they were built, a piece of paper will not fit between the stones.
Some engineering feat.
You'd think science writers would have discovered that amazing western invention called the paragraph ... but apparently that is too much to ask .
The more they find out about the Inca people, more and more of the mystery will come to light RW.
They just recently found a ''lost city'' in Central American..I hope to post an article on it soon.
Yeah, I know, those science guys can't even match their socks.
Other than that, what do you think of the article?
I didn't see a link for the article . Could you supply one so that I know what name to avoid in the future ?
Apparently it was inspired by Brenda Bradley, an associate professor of anthropology . Like many things women do it lacks structure . Running together all your thoughts in one large jumble makes it necessary to do mind reading to ascertain her meaning .
petey, stick with the article. If you need to complain about women, write your own frickin' article and bitch all you want on it.
I still don't see a link ...
Here is the link petey.
You'll see that it is well formatted...Seems that Brenda is much more adept at writing than you are at goggling information.
BTW, shit happens at times when article are ''cut and pasted''...
Thanks . Now I can put in some time on it . If you were the one who removed the formatting then I apologize for the comment about females.
Dear Friend Kavika: This is interesting.
Please keep us in the loop, as more information becomes available.
The most ancient DNA for study where I live is in thebeef on Kimmelwick au jus at Jays' Diner.
As far as it can be determined, that dates back 70,000 +years. Almost as long as the last time they cleaned the coffee pots there.
E.
I know that the Inca are gone-- officially wiped off the face of the globe. But, what if, there were a few, here and there, that survived their apocalypse... What if there are descendants of these people, living not far away...
I think this would be utterly fascinating, and I look forward to learning more!
I know that I will never get there, to see it. I couldn't climb that high, for one thing, and even riding a donkey, I'd need another donkey to ride beside me, carrying all my oxygen tanks, in that altitude. BUT, just thinking about going there is exciting.
If I could go there, I would like to make an offering to honor the people who built the site and lived there. Somehow leaving no trace of my being there, nor to bother anything. Something to dream about!
Clean coffee pots are the bane of good coffee niijii....We don't call it, ''black water medicine'' for nothing.
I will post whatever follow up is done Enoch.
Funny, my dear friend! I love you very much!
I think I have something in my refrigerator that dates back 70,000 years...
In the interest of promoting non-violence and peace, harmony, and understanding, I will make no comment about how that statement makes me feel.
One more straw of hate on Petey's back, and he may go 'postal'...
Don't worry about me . I am learning how to walk on egg shells . Also now that I know the lack of formatting was due to Kavika I apologized . That should be enough for reasonable people .
At night, sometimes, when I can't sleep, I try to imagine what it would be to go someplace, unfettered by my existing body, and see it, alive and with me trying to fit in... I have these little running scenarios-- one in Elizabethan England. How could I help them, without being burned at the stake? One about 8000 years ago, with early civilization... I imagine the wildlife I would see, the means of survival.
As long as I am unfettered by this existing body, I can go anywhere, and, within the limits of my knowledge, I can help them. This means, I don't have to take all this medicine... Sometimes, I get so involved in the "day dream", I dream of where I'm going. yeah, I'm nuts, but it beats lying there and stewing over things I can't help.
Now, I can try to go to Machu Pichu...
Hmmmmm, another thought!
I love that one can go anywhere, in our imagination!
Petey, I'm NOT being hateful! Are you having a bad day? Did you tangle with someone on another article?
Sometimes, you seem to get really snarky, and we can't figure out why-- It just "comes"... Like when a cat rubs, rubs, rubs against your hand, and then bites you, for no reason.
I'm not trying to be at all offensive. I like you! I'm hoping that you have a better day, the rest of the day!