TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 A REAL-LIFE INDIANA JONES CHAPTER 2 BUILDINGS AND RELICS CHAPTER 3 PEOPLE CHAPTER 4 DOWNFALL CHAPTER 5 PRESERVATION GLOSSARY READ MORE CRITICAL THINKING USING THE COMMON CORE INTERNET SITES INDEX
CHAPTER ONE A REAL-LIFE INDIANA JONES By day Hiram Bingham III worked as a history professor But outside the classroom he was a man on a mission The world would soon know him as an explorer and an adventurer Bingham was known mostly for his fascination with Latin American history Then in 1911 he organized an expedition to Peru He knew the country’s thick jungle hid lost cities and secrets One of those secrets was the fortress where the native Incas had their last battle with Spanish invaders Bingham knew this would be an important discovery if he could find it expedition a journey with a goal such as exploring or searching for something
BINGHAM’S DISCOVERY Most people say that Hiram Bingham discovered Machu Picchu But Machu Picchu couldn’t really be discovered because Peruvians always knew it was there Today when someone says that a person discovered a place it sometimes means that the person rediscovered the place and made it famous This more informal definition holds true in the case of Bingham discovering Machu Picchu Hiram Bingham
ARCHAEOLOGICAL FACT In the Incan language Machu Picchu means Old Mountain or Old Peak The large peak that towers over Machu Picchu is Huayna Picchu This means Young Peak or Young Mountain THE INCAN EMPIRE The Incan Empire was the biggest empire ever to exist in either North or South America At its height it stretched about 2,500 miles 4,000 kilometers along the west coast of South America This is almost as long as the United States is wide The empire included parts of modern-day Peru Colombia Bolivia Chile Argentina and Ecuador empire a large territory ruled by a powerful leader
