Peru dispute has long, murky past
Fate of Incan artifacts found by Hiram Bingham in 1911 may be decided in court
Hike a mere half-mile up Hillhouse Avenue, take a right on Sachem Street, and a mysterious world 3,500 miles away suddenly emerges: the ancient Inca society at Machu Picchu, Peru.
Unassumingly sandwiched between plain classroom buildings, the Yale Peabody Museum, home to the exhibit, features an epic photo of rolling canyons and ancient clay homes. An Inca Aryballos for holding corn beer sits in a glass case. Three Sapa Incans are dressed in colorful robes. An eerie whisperer utters over the PA system in Quechua, the native Incan language.
On the dark wall, a photograph of...
Peru should be grateful to Hiram Bingham. Although he never "discovered" Machu Picchu, Bingham's 1911 expedition, and the publicity surrounding it, makes Machu Picchu the number one tourist destination today. Without the tourist industry, Peru is in serious financial difficulty.