Introduction Historical context The natural setting About the disoccupation when discovered Description of Machu Picchu Wayna Picchu and the temple of the moon Wayna Picchu, the "young mountain" The temple of the Moon Reconstructing the past The productive activities Wayna Picchu and the temple of the moon The temple of the Moon Although the landscape and the few remains of buildings and terraces situated on top of the mountain are worthy of esteem for themselves, there is no doubt that that the set of caverns on the north slope, with their back to the sanctuary, is a spectacular monument. The caverns are perched on the cliffs of the Cordillera, virtually over the Urubamba River, which runs several hundred feet down in the depths of the canyon which surrounds the mountain as it changes its south - north course in the opposite direction to form a sort of great scroll. Many of the caverns have been embellished by man and converted into chambers probably destined for burials. The more notable ones are known as the Temple of the Moon. Actually this name is arbitrary, just like many the many names by which the other sectors of Machu Picchu are known. And it is that here there did not even have to be a temple, even though the forms and location of the caverns announce a ceremonial rather than domestic administrative or military function. Several of the caverns are interconnected. There is a very large cavern on the route which comes up from Mandorpampa. It is a cavern stationed under a large rock, similar in a way to that of the royal mausoleum or the Crypt of the Condor. It is some 7 m wide, 12 m long and 2.5 m high, and the earth floor is flat. Over this is another similar one and both are associated with covered corridors, stairs and intermediary passages. The caverns have been conditioned with much care: the internal walls are of fine masonry and present luxurious details, such as niches with triple jambs and altars carved into the rock. Apart from the royal and the condor mausoleums, these are the most outstanding. In the excavations performed by Bingham's team, on the northern and eastern slopes, about five caves were found that were occupied presumably for keeping mummified bodies. Lamentably, the caves that were associated with the Temple of the Moon do not still contain remains, which were probably looted. Those that remained were poorly finished and just hid broken ceramics. They were crevices rather than caves.