“El Mirador de Inkaraqay” is a small structure located on the northern slope of the Waynapicchu mountain. The architectural remains that are still preserved on the site, consist of three parallel walls built perpendicular to the steep slope of the hill. The carefully executed stone masonry is padded with slightly sunken joints. This type of masonry is characteristic of buildings of great importance and prestige. There are two sets of niches at the back of the main wall. In the middle and northernmost niche there are observation holes.
Analysis of the construction process allows the hypothesis to be postulated that the entire wall was planned according to the appropriate hole locations and orientations.
The method of making the observation holes is of particular importance and has been especially well defined in the case of the north niche.
Behind the wall with the niches, there is a narrow corridor. Its back wall is built directly into the side of the hill. The masonry was made from rectangular lithic elements placed in a horizontal pattern. This wall must have had a plaster as it was a common practice in Inca architecture, especially in the case of constructions with prestigious ceremonial functions. It could be of importance to facilitate observations of the sun's rays passing through the hole in the north niche.
The architectural analysis shows that they could have had no other function than observation. " (Astete et al. 2017)
The site was discovered in 1982 by the anthropologist Fernando Astete Victoria. Due to its exceptional nature, the site was selected for further investigation.
After the preliminary work carried out by the Park team in 2012, the research was continued in the years 2013 - 2019 by a Polish-Peruvian-Italian team, with the support of the 3D Scanning and Modeling Laboratory of the University of Science and Technology from Wrocław, which was responsible for documentation on the 3D laser scanning technology of this facility. It was determined that the holes were used to track the sunrise over the Yanantin summit during the June solstice. Furthermore, the heliacal rise of the Pleiades could also be traced through both orifices. It should be noted at this point, that the observation of the heliacal rise of the Pleiades was of great importance for the pre-Hispanic Andean communities, including the Incas. The appearance of this group of stars was used to forecast the harvest in the next season.
The site was investigated with the use of remote sensing methods (LIDAR and GPR). The spatially limited prospecting excavations lead to the conclusion that construction of the building was probably never completed. The original partially preserved access path was first investigated to determine whether the object has been isolated or has been placed on a communication path that extends further down.
Articles:
https://www.academia.edu/35318682/Discovery_of_an_inca_precise_astronomical_observatory_at_el_Mirador_de_Inkaraqay_Machu_Picchu_-EL_DESCUBRIMIENTO_DEL_OBSERVATORIO_ASTRON%C3%93MICO_INCA_DEL_MIRADOR_DE_INKARAQAY
https://www.academia.edu/36857626/F._A._Victoria_M._Zi%C3%B3%C5%82kowski_J._Ko%C5%9Bciuk_On_Inca_astronomical_instruments_the_observatory_at_Inkaraqay_El_Mirador_National_A
External pages:
https://www.polskieradio.pl/7/5098/Artykul/2328696,Inti-Raymi-Jak-obchodzi-sie-Swieto-Slonca
