Steven R. Gullberg, Ph.D.

Coordinator for Archaeoastronomy

College of Professional and Continuing Studies
University of Oklahoma
Norman, Oklahoma, USA

Chair, International Astronomical Union Working Group for

Archaeoastronomy and Astronomy in Culture

[email protected]
© Steven R Gullberg
Astronomy was an integral part of Andean mythology and
creation, and was at the very heart of the Incas’ religion and
agriculture.

The Incas proclaimed themselves to be the children of the

Sun. They worshipped it and viewed their emperor as being
the Sun’s direct descendant.
The civilization of the Incas was built upon cultures that
had preceded them such as the Huari, Nasca, and Chavin.

Their period of dominance, lasting only a century, was far

too short to independently develop such advanced forms of
religion, social structure, construction, and astronomy.

The Incas were adept assimilators of knowledge, both what

was available at the time of their empire’s inception, as well
as that of the many tribes conquered during their reign.
The Emperor, Pachacuti, his son, and grandson successively
built the largest empire ever known in the Americas, 4800
km from Chile to Columbia.

They established armies in fortresses at distant stations with

the infrastructure of roads and storehouses that was
necessary to support them.

Temples and shrines were constructed as a part of exerting

state control over its subjects, as well as pilgrimage centers
designed to reinforce the legitimacy of royal rule over the
populace.
The Incas made solar worship the official religion of their
empire.

Pachacuti imposed it across the realm, maintaining that he

was the son of the Sun and his wife the daughter of the
Moon. The Incas venerated the Sun, the Inca, and his
predecessors.

The ruling Inca was the central figure in solar worship,

supporting the assertion that he was the descendant of the
Sun.
Inca claims for legitimacy were based upon this assertion
that the Inca royalty were direct descendants of the Sun.

Demonstrations of that genealogical link with the Sun could

occur during public festivals when the Sun would rise on
the horizon at a location predicted by the Emperor and
priests, the most likely times being identifiable elements of
the solar cycle.
Pachacuti instituted a ritual calendar that was measured by
the position of the Sun on the horizon.

Religious and agricultural ceremonies and festivals were

celebrated and served to reinforce the legitimacy of the
emperor and the ruling elite.

Rituals marked times for planting and harvesting, as well as

major religious celebrations of the Sun.

Examples of prominent festivals were those of Inti Raymi at

the June solstice, Capac Raymi at the December solstice, Inti
Raymi at the March Equinox, and Coya Raymi at the
September equinox.
Inti Raymi was the Inca’s solar festival at the time of the June
solstice and it is still celebrated in Cusco today.

Garcilaso wrote that the feast of Inti Raymi was the most
important one of the year.

It was a festival for the masses that brought many pilgrims to

Cusco. It was an elaborate ritual that took place over many
days where thanks were given to the Sun and prayers said for
the crops.
Capac Raymi was another festival of the Sun, in this case at
the time of the December solstice.

This was a celebration of crop germination and the start of a

new season.

It also was important as the annual time for young Inca

adolescents to undergo their rituals of coming-of-age. Capac
Raymi was principally celebrated by the nobility rather than
the masses.
Since the Sun was the primary deity of the Incas, it is
reasonable that many huacas (shrines) were associated with
solar worship.

In the early 16th Century there were over 400 huacas in the
Cusco Valley.

Most were destroyed by the Spaniards, but those that

remain primarily were the huacas that had been designed
in rock.
Many huacas were orientated to the June solstice sunrise,
while others pointed to the Sun at December solstice.

Light tubes or cave openings allowed altars to be

illuminated at specific times while other orientations guide
the eye to the horizon on significant solar dates.

Pillars were set on hills to mark the passage of the Sun on

the horizon as a calendar.
The Incas learned the cycles of solstices and equinoxes and
used this knowledge as a key component of their annual
crop management activities.
In a practical sense this knowledge was put to work via
horizon astronomy as the Incas marked the passage of
sunrises and sunsets on their horizons in order to keep time
for agriculture and religion.

Ultimately these celestial orientations were integrated into

their temples and huacas, as well as other constructs such as
solar pillars built more specifically for astronomical
purposes.
The Incas used solar pillars to mark time passage for purposes of
crop management and religious festivals. All were destroyed in
an extirpation effort led by Catholic priests following the Spanish
conquest.

Beyond Cusco, however, two solar pillars overlooking the

modern village of Urubamba escaped the Spanish purge. Field
research has verified, when viewed from a large granite boulder
in the center of the Huayna Capac’s palace, Qwespiwanka, that
they mark the position of the rising Sun at June solstice.

Additionally, from the same boulder and in the direction of the

December solstice sunrise, are located stone structures on the
summit of Cerro Unoraqui.
Andean tradition links the equinoxes with fertility,
September, in the Spring, when the soil is first prepared for
planting, and in March, the Fall, when maize was harvested.
While zenith passage took place overhead and not on the
horizon, in their system of horizon astronomy the Incas
included observations of the position of sunrise on the two
days of zenith passage, in our calendar on February 13th and
October 30th.

This horizon position could then be used to determine the

date of nadir, or the anti-zenith Sun.

Vertical towers, such as the Sunturhuasi in Cusco, were used

to facilitate the observation of the Sun or Moon at zenith.
Anti-zenith passage occurs in Cusco each August 18th and
April 26th and coincides with the planting and harvest of
maize, times of Inca ceremony and celebration.

Maize-related agricultural festivals would likely be associated

with anti-zenith observances.
Spaniards attempted to define Andean astronomy in European
terms familiar to them, failing to fully realize that the Incas
viewed the cosmos from a different perspective.

While European astronomy followed a zodiac that centered

around the ecliptic, the Incas oriented their sky with the Milky
Way.
The Milky Way at times will be viewed as rising in the
southeast, passing through the zenith, and setting in the
northwest.

Twelve hours later the horizon positions have shifted and the
band of stars rises instead from the northeast, traveling again
through the zenith, but now setting in the southwest.

This 24-hour rotation cycle creates two zenith-intersecting

intercardinal axes that divide the celestial sphere into four
observable quarters.
At the time of the December solstice, when the Sun rises at 114°
on the Cusco horizon, the evening positioning of the band of the
Milky Way lies similarly to the southeast. During the June
solstice sunrise at 064° the Milky Way is situated in like fashion
in the northeast.

Times of the solstices are the only ones when the Sun rises and
travels with the Milky Way. Inca cosmology recognizes that
both the celestial river and the sun rise together at the dry
season’s beginning in June and the rainy season’s start in
December and sometimes uses this in correlation to explain the
seasonal intensity of the sun, which feeds upon the powerful
waters.
The Inca ordered their sky by this celestial quadripartition, in
contrast with the use of the ecliptic for reference by ancients
such as the Babylonians.

This gave the Incas a nearly 90° difference in their perspective

of the heavens and the cosmological constructs that were
developed accordingly.
Inca cosmology viewed the Milky Way as a river flowing across
the night sky in a very literal sense. They saw earthy waters as
being drawn into the heavens and then later returned to earth
after a celestial rejuvenation.

The earth was thought to float in a cosmic ocean and when the
“celestial river’s” orientation was such that it dipped into that
ocean the waters were drawn into the sky. The Milky Way is
therefore an integral part of the continuing recycling of water
throughout the Quechua universe.
The Incas believed the waters of the celestial river to have
originated with the Sun.

The Vilcanota River flows southeast to northwest through the

Sacred Valley, past Machu Picchu and beyond. Its waters are
thought to rise into the Milky Way, and once having traveled its
celestial course, fall again to the Earth as rain. The Milky Way is
said to be a heavenly reflection of the Vilcanota.
The Milky Way provided visual inspiration for several themes
of Inca cosmology. The Incas recognized dark constellations, or
the shapes of beings formed by dark clouds in the visible band of
the galaxy.

The Incas saw great cosmological characters meant to guide

them in their daily lives.
The dark constellations of the Incas stretch across nearly 150° of
the Milky Way’s expanse. Most are animals that figure
prominently in Andean cosmology and myth.

The Spanish chronicler Polo de Ondegardo found the Incas to

believe that the animal constellations were responsible for the
procreation and augmentation of their animal counterparts on
the Earth.
Numerous examples of Inca astronomy are explored in this
paper.

Astronomy was thoroughly interwoven throughout many

facets of Inca society.
● 5 Research Trips ● 19 sites Cusco Region
● 29 research sites ● 7 sites Sacred Valley Region
● 3 sites Machu Picchu Region
Kenko Grande Tambomachay
Kenko Chico Sacsahuaman
Mesa Redonda Mollaguanca
Tetecaca Sapantiana
Patallacta Rumiwasi Bajo
Kusilluchayoc Rumiwasi Alto
Lacco Kusicallanca
Huaca Solar Horizon Tipon
Lanlakuyok Saihuite
Puca Pucara
The cave of Tambomachay is associated with an
Inca platform and staircase. The cave opening looks
out on a bearing of 135° while the platform more
directly faces the December solstice sunrise at 114°.
The city of Cusco was laid out in the shape of a puma with
Sacsahuaman serving as its head and its zigzagged andesite
ramparts as teeth.

The site also features a constructed circular depression.

Sacsahuaman has been called a temple of the Sun and certain

carved seats are aligned to the southeast for the December
solstice sunrise.

The orientation of Cusco with Sacsahuaman southwest and

above it ensured the June solstice sun would first strike the
head of the city’s puma before illuminating its body.
Puca Pucara is located at the top of a small hill along the
road to Pisac and consists of several structures and a
fountain.

Entry to the main part of the compound is through a pair of

double-jambed doorways connected by a corridor.

The doors and corridor are oriented 090°/270° on an axis

that also aligns with the fountain.

Puca Pucara is situated such that when viewed from the

upper platform the June solstice sun will rise over a distinct
notch in the horizon ridgeline on a bearing of 065°.
● Limestone outcropping
● Carved in situ
● Two sucancas (gnomons)
● Effects of light and
shadow
● June solstice sunrise
● “The Awakening of the
Puma”
● Cave within Kenko Grande
● Altar and three stairs
● June solstice
● Sunlight climbs the stairs
●Limestone outcropping
●Light-tube
●Directed at altar
●Crescent moon

Lacco with Nevado Ausengate

● Northeast Cave opening
oriented June solstice
sunrise- adjacent cave
not developed
● Illuminates altar and cave
interior
●Temple of the Sun
●Light-tube/Altar
●Zenith sun
● Limestone outcropping
● Two carved circles
● Carved seats
● Alignments for solstice and
equinox horizon events

June Solstice Sunrise

● Terraces and fountains
● Intihuatana
● Elite/non-elite viewing of
the June solstice sunset
In Saihuite the axis between the
horizon points of the June solstice
sunrise and December solstice
sunset dominates the upper sector
of the complex.

The Principal Stone lies with

the adjacent structure on the
axis of the June solstice
sunrise and December
solstice sunset.
Niche and corridor aligned for the
June solstice sunrise.
Niche and corridor aligned for the
June solstice sunrise.
Chinchero
Pisac
Quespiwanka
Cerro Pumahuachana
Cerro Unoraqui
Choquequilla
Ollantaytambo
Intihuatanas, or “hitching places of the sun,” are found at
Machu Picchu, the Urubamba River, and Tipon and likely
were places of solar worship.

In Pisac the intihuatana is a large, partially carved rock in

the temple group that is enclosed by a semi-circular
masonry wall adjoining a straight masonry wall in the form
of the letter “D”.

It displays a stone gnomon on its flat upper surface within

the walled enclosure. The gnomon aligns with a nearby
peak in the 065° direction of the June solstice sunrise.
The Intihuatana of Pisac
Immediately to the east of the Intihuatana is another
enclosed rock which appears to be an observing
platform, or usnu. It opens on the southeastern horizon
toward the 114° direction of the December solstice
sunrise.
While the Intihuatana could be considered as a temple of
the Sun, to its west is a structure called the Temple of the
Moon. The temple could be illuminated by moonlight,
but there are no obvious orientations.
● Sixteen towers once on Cusco
horizon
● Beyond Cusco 2 survive near
Urubamba on Cerro Saywa
● Mark rising Sun at June solstice
when viewed from palace of
Huayna Capac
● Validate chronicles of Cusco
pillars
The white granite boulder
of Quespiwanka in front
of a modern chapel
The orientation of Cerro Unoraqui as viewed across Cerro
Pumahuachana from Quespiwanka in the direction (C) of the
December solstice sunrise. (B) is the direction of the June
solstice sunrise and (A) the June solstice sunset
● DSSR view from white granite
boulder at Quespiwanka
● View across Cerro Pumahuachana
● Pillars on 4377m summit
● North/South alignment
● Walls & terraces oriented N/S & E/W
● South determined by gnomon
● North, East & West established
geometrically
● Titikaka & Chinkana on 065/245
degree axis of JSSR/DSSS
Titikaka and the direction of December
solstice sunset as viewed from
the top of Chinkana.
Salt ponds

No supportable astronomy
Muyu A
As part of his estate of Chinchero, Topa Inca, fashioned
three natural sinkholes into a remarkable set of terraced
basins.

A major break-through in the understanding of Moray

came from the hydrological analysis of the Wright
Paleohydrological Institute. Their work established that
the basins could not have functioned as irrigated
agricultural lands.

Water channels were designed to feed water to drop

structures near the southern end of the basins, but water
would have had to flow uphill to reach the northern
portions of the terraces.
Wright and colleagues have concluded that the basins were
primarily designed for ceremony and ritual.

The shaped basins could have been "inverted" huacas,

animated by the water flowing into them.

Ceremonies intended to encourage rainfall may have taken

place when water was released from the reservoirs above
the basins.

A dramatic public ceremony may also have occurred on the

days of the zenith sun, when terraces would cast no
shadows and the light of the Sun would pass directly into
the Earth and Pachamama.
Celebrations at June solstice are indicated by the nine linear
terraces, which are aligned with the moving shadow of the
rising sun, a remarkable engineering feat.

The smallest of the muyus, D, above the terraces, appears to

have been ceremonially important as a site for observing
June solstice sunrise. The line to June solstice sunrise crosses
the Ceremonial Platform. Sunrise occurs slightly to the
south of Cerro Chicón.
June Solstice Sunrise shadows on the linear terraces of Moray
Pachacuti conquered and razed the original settlement
at Ollantaytambo and built his own personal estate,
which included a ceremonial center containing
massive stonework, elaborate stone carvings, and a
water shrine with water channels and fountains.
The most striking feature when first approaching
Ollantaytambo is a magnificent set of 17 stone terraces that
ascend the hillside.

The extensive terraces of Pumatillis face out to the rise of the

December solstice sun and, in the opposite direction, face in
toward and frame nicely the June solstice sunset.
What is sometimes known as Ollantaytambo’s Temple of the
Sun was extensively damaged by the Spanish in their purge of
indigenous religion, however a foundation and a wall of six
monoliths survives. The wall faces the Pinkuylluna mountain,
which from this location is close to the orientation of the rise of
the June solstice sun.
The Pinkuylluna mountain lies
opposite Ollantaytambo to the
northeast and aligns with the June
solstice sunrise as viewed from the
Temple of the Sun.

The mountain exhibits two

structures and a face on its side.
Pinkuylluna mountain
While the Temple of the Sun was the primary site for
ceremony in Ollantaytambo’s hanan, or upper, sector, the
Incamisana was its ceremonial counterpart in the lower hurin
sector.

Horizontal gnomons project a distinct shadow effect.

The Incamisana
The horizontal gnomons of the
Incamisana
On the December solstice
at local noon the shadow
of one of the gnomons is
said to reach down and
“insert” itself to fill a
carved triangular notch in
the base below.
● Associated with
Ollantaytambo
● Cave opens to
December solstice
sunrise
● Black granite huaca
faces inward with
carving similar to
the Fountain of the
Nuestros
Machu Picchu
River Intihuatana
Llactapata
 ●Llactapata
●River Intihuatana
●Machu Picchu
●JSSR-DSSS Axis
●Equinox Axis

Machu Picchu, Llactapata, and the River Intihuatana

● Principal Temple
● Temple of Three Windows
● Semi-circular platform
● JSSR-DSSS Axis
Carvings called The Mortars, located within a building
in the Eastern Urban Sector, are two carved shallow
basins situated on a floor surrounded by walls and
are oriented such that on the day of an equinox mid-
morning sunlight will pass thru an adjacent window
(to the right of the mortars) and cast a reflection off
the water within the northern mortar basin.

The two mortars are aligned approximately north and

south with respect to one another.
In the Eastern Urban Sector lies a cave called the Intimachay. It
has been said that this cave was constructed to observe sunrise
at the time of the December solstice and the festival of Capac
Raymi.

A tunnel-like horizontal light-tube was oriented to admit sunlight

to the cave for about 10 days before and after the solstice. It
was aligned so as to cast a shaft of light to the back of the cave
during this period. The window did not function to illuminate the
cave, but instead was aligned precisely with the December
solstice sunrise

According to Cobo, Capac Raymi was a festival celebrated by

the nobility that included ceremonies of passage to manhood for
young Inca noblemen. A site such as this could have played a
role.
South of the Intimachay is the Temple of the Condor where designers
carved a head in stone while incorporating in situ rock as wings in the
site’s overall visual image of a condor, the creature that represented
Hanan Pacha, their world above.

Zuidema argued that the Inca were interested in the timing of the region’s
anti-zenith passages of the sun, occurring on April 26th and August 18th,
the two days that the sun is at nadir for the latitude of Cusco.

The Temple of the Condor’s cave is oriented to the anti-zenith sunrise with
a true azimuth of 074°, and therefore could have played a role in
associated ceremonies if such festivities took place.

As the Sun rises on or near days of the anti-zenith, or nadir, its rays pass
between two external structures, illuminate the condor stone, and extend
beneath the boulder to the stairs at the cave’s entrance.
Contains a carefully fitted rock wall that includes a window open to the horizon
positions of the June solstice sunrise and the heliacal rise of the Pleiades.
The Gran Caverna includes the Temple of the Moon and is located far below the
peak of Huayna Picchu on its northwest face.
● Northwest face Huayna
Picchu ● Lower cave door and
● Upper cave 5 double- windows open to
jamb niches June solstice sunset
Machu Picchu, Llactapata, and the River Intihuatana
●Overlooks Machu Picchu 5 km
●Rediscovered 2003
●Aligned for June solstice
sunrise & Pleiades rise
●Overlooks Machu Picchu 5 km
●Rediscovered 2003
●Align June solstice sunrise &
Pleiades rise – El Niño
June solstice sunrise
● Urubamba River canyon
● Carved granite
● Between Machu Picchu
& Llactapata
● Platform, steps, fountain,
basins, cave
● Hiram Bingham 1911
● Urubamba River canyon
● Carved granite
● Between Machu Picchu &
Llactapata
● Platform, steps, fountain,
basins, cave
 ●Llactapata
●River Intihuatana
●Machu Picchu
●JSSR-DSSS Axis
●Equinox Axis
●Ceremonial
Complex

Machu Picchu, Llactapata, and the River Intihuatana

Huaca Astronomical Orientations in the Cusco Region
Huaca Astronomical Orientations in the Sacred Valley and
Machu Picchu Regions
Percentages of Astronomical Alignments per Huaca Category

Percentages of Astronomical Alignments per Huaca Category

Findings show that the Inca landscape most definitely is filled with
examples of astronomy used in their culture. Examples of light and
shadow effects throughout the year, especially at times of the solstice,
equinox, zenith and anti-zenith suns, were found at many sites.

Regarding the 8 primary solar horizon events, those at the solstices

were most prominent. June solstice sunrise occurred most often, but
December solstice sunrise was a close second.

Two of the Inca’s primary annual festivals occurred at these two times
of the year.

Astronomy was thoroughly interwoven throughout Inca society.

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