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Archeologists say temple may predate Incan empire

Archeologists in Peru have discovered the ruins of an ancient temple, roadway and irrigation systems at a famed fortress overlooking the Inca capital of Cuzco, officials involved with the dig said on Thursday.

The temple on the periphery the Sacsayhuaman fortress includes 11 rooms thought to have held mummies and idols, lead archeologist Oscar Rodriguez said.

The team of archeologists that made the discoveries believe the structures predated the Inca empire but were then significantly developed and expanded.

"It's from both the Inca and pre-Inca cultures, it has a sequence," said Washington Camacho, director of the Sacsayhuaman Archeological Park. "The Incas entered and changed the form of the temple, as it initially had a more rustic architecture."

Archeologists are still waiting for carbon dating tests, but Camacho said their calculations about the facilities' age are supported by historical references such as ceramics and construction style.

The Inca empire, based in the ancient city of Cuzco, flourished along the western edge of South America during the 1400s, prior to the arrival of the Spanish in the next century.

Today, Cuzco is Peru's main tourism hub and a launching point for visitors to the jungle-shrouded ruins of Machu Picchu, 60km northwest.

The ruins lie some 1,500m from zigzagging walls of the Sacsayhuaman fortress, alongside an enormous rock formation believed to be one of the fortress' burial mounds.

"The temple is one of the most important in the Sacsayhuaman site," Camacho said.
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