ASABE Technical Library - Abstract

Click on “Download PDF” for the PDF version or on the title for the HTML version.
If you are not an ASABE member or if your employer has not arranged for access to the full-text, view access and subscription options

MACHU PICCHU ANCIENT AGRICULTURAL POTENTIAL

Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org

Citation:  Applied Engineering in Agriculture. 13(1): 39-47. (doi: 10.13031/2013.21587) @1997
Authors:   K. R. Wright, R. M. Wright, M. E. Jensen, A. Valencia Z.
Keywords:   Machu Picchu, Evapotranspiration, Inca soils, Ancient precipitation, Agricultural terraces, Quelccaya ice cap, Inca agriculture

The authors used agricultural engineering techniques to determine the food production potential of the agricultural terraces of the 16th century Inca royal retreat of Machu Picchu, Per. The ancient climate was estimated using modern climatological records coupled with long-term historic annual ice accumulation data from the Quelccaya ice cap. Field studies were performed to determine that the Machu Picchu terraces were not irrigated, and therefore precipitation was the sole water supply for crop production. Water requirements of two typical Inca crops, maize and potatoes, were analyzed to judge the adequacy of the precipitation to sustain plant production.

Using the Penman-Monteith method for monthly evapotranspiration for each of the two crops, annual potential nutrient production at Machu Picchu was computed using common kilocalorie equivalents. The authors found that the Machu Picchu agricultural terraces alone could not have supported the nutrient needs of the approximately 1,000 people who inhabited the ancient royal estate of Inca ruler Pachacuti. The agricultural engineering techniques used for this finding are generally appropriate to help determine food production capabilities of other ancient sites.

(Download PDF)    (Export to EndNotes)