|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
The natural setting |
|
|
Flora and fauna |
|
|
Owing to the natural beauty and the original, harmonious influence of the Incas on the landscape, but also to the fact that it is found in an area where preservation is possible, the site and its surroundings have been declared a natural and cultural park which has been incorporated into the protected areas of the world that UNESCO has registered as a World Heritage Site.
The sanctuary of Machu Picchu is in the middle of forests and has few flat spaces, so that in order to cultivate, it had to be deforested and terraces constructed. According to recent studies, apart from maize, coca was also sown on the terraces surrounding the citadel. By the same token, fruit could be cultivated and tubers of the kind still sown in the zone today, including yuca and sweet potato.
|
|
|
|
The park of Machu Picchu is made up of diverse species of trees, ferns, grasses, mosses, and underbrush plants. Together with the pisonay tree and the alder, a leafy tree very popular all over the Peruvian highlands, we also can find several species of conifers and wide-leaved trees which can reach several meters in height. Orchids occupy a very special place, given that throughout the park there are more than 50 varieties of this flower.
This hot, wet forest environment, constantly covered by fog and rain was not a propitious place for domesticated Andean camelids, which belong rather to cold, dry climates. Nevertheless, since these animals were consistently linked to the Incas, their presence there is unquestionable given that they should cover the frequent transport of goods between Cuzco and Machu Picchu. Their bones have been found in the exhumed tombs in the site and there is evidence that lets us also assume they were part of the people's food. Together with these bones have also been found those of two other domestic Andean animals, the cuy, cavy or guinea pig and the dog, Canis inga pecuarius that was one of the Andean breeds that looked like the collie and which was perhaps linked to the grazing of camelids.
|
|
|
pag. 1 - 2
| | |
