The Intihuatana is located at the archaeological site Pisac located in Machu Picchu located in Peru. It is a ritual stone. It is associated the astronomic clock. The astronomic clock is the calendar of the Inca's. It was built somewhere between 2100-2300BC.
In the late 16th century the Viceroy Fransisco de Toledo and the clergy destroyed the Intihuatana's which they could find. They did this because they believed that the Incas' religion was a blasphemy. They also believed the Intihuatana's religious significance could be a political liability. The Pisac Intihuatana was found intact by Bingham in 1911. This proved that the Spanish conquerors had not found it.
The Intihuatana is located at 3,300–3,400 meters near the town of Písac in the Urbamba Valley. It was one of several components of Bingham's Sacred Plaza. The others are the High Priest's House, the Sacristy, and two temples. These temples are the Principal Temple and the Temple of Three Windows. The intihuatana is reached by a stairway behind the Principal Temple.
The Pisac Intihuatana was carved at the top of a natural pyramid's summit. It is characterized by odd shapes which defy interpretation, and incomplete descriptions of its purpose in Inca chronicles. Featuring a serpent at its top, an upright stone column tilts thirteen degrees north and was originally surmounted by a round disc. Other features include a granite block resembling a large dining room table resembling a carved shelf, bench, meditation seat, or altar and a base displaying similarities to the rectangular four station stones base.
Used to tell the time it was aligned with four important mountains the sun's position during the winter solstice. The Inca believed the stone held the sun in its place along its annual path in the sky. At midday on November 11 and January 30 the sun stands almost above the pillar, casting no shadow at all. On June 21, the stone is casting the longest shadow on its southern side and on December 21, a much shorter one on its northern side. The base is said to be in the shape of a map of the Inca Empire but most archaeologists disagree.
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