Inca city found in Peru jungle. From The Guardian:
A team of explorers have found an Inca city, lost for centuries in the Peruvian jungles despite being within sight of the key religious centre at Machu Picchu.
Using infra-red aerial photography to penetrate the forest canopy, the team led by Briton Hugh Thomson and American Gary Zeigler located the ruins at Llactapata, 50 miles (80 km) northwest of the ancient Inca capital Cusco.
"This is a very important discovery. It is very close to Machu Picchu and aligned with it," Mr Thomson told Reuters.
The site was first mentioned by explorer Hiram Bingham, the discoverer of Machu Picchu, in 1912. But he was vague about its location, and the ruins have lain undisturbed ever since.
After locating the city from the air, the expedition hacked through the jungle to reach it, 3,000 metres (9,000 ft) up the side of a mountain.
They found stone buildings, including a solar temple and houses covering several square kilometres in the same alignment with the June solstice sunrise as Machu Picchu, which was a sacred centre. Not only was Llactapata probably a ceremonial site, excavations show it might also have acted as a granary and dormitory for its sacred neighbour, Mr Thomspon said. [continue]
Related news articles:
Ruins show ‘lost city’ of the Incas was part of vast complex. - The Independent
Explorers find lost Inca city near Machu Picchu - The Scotsman
Explorers rediscover Inca city near Machu Picchu - Sydney Morning Herald
Explorers find the lost ruins of sacred Inca city - The Telegraph
Explorers uncover Incan 'lost city' - BBC, June 2002
Peru's new Machu Picchu - BBC, March 2002
About Machu Picchu:
Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu - unesco.org
Machu Picchu photos - culturefocus.com
Machu Picchu Library - machupicchu.org
A walk to Machu Picchu - Mirabilis.ca, January, 2003
Machu Picchu Under Threat From Pressures of Tourism - nationalgeographic.com