Pikillaqta

The settlement of Pikillaqta is located in the hills of the eastern valley of Cuzco on the Lucre basin, some thirty kilometres away from the Andean capital and at an altitude of approximately 3250 metres above sea level. Slightly removed from the greenery and fertility that the Hurubamba river brings to the Sacred Valley, it is located in a hilly landscape known today as the South Valley, because of its position in relation to the most touristic sector of the valley, that which extends northwards between Cuzco and Machu Picchu. Unlike most of the Inca or pre-Inca cities found in the area, Pikillaqta (Quechua for ‘city of fleas') did not develop in the area of influence of a river. However, the Huacarpay wetland can be found in its vicinity. From a geographical point of view, this area is of fundamental strategic importance. Its slightly elevated position on the slope of the Huchuy Balcón hill allowed its inhabitants to visually control three different valleys: the upper Vilcanota valley, the lower Vilcanota valley and the Quispicanchis valley. In addition to the representative function that this great city had for the Wari Empire – a civilisation prior to the Incas that developed in the territory of Peru, specifically in the Andean area of Ayacucho – its location at the intersection of the different valleys mentioned above made it an area of great maize production, the fundamental sustenance of the Andean communities. There is sufficient evidence to suggest that the secondary function of the city of Pikillaqta was to store consumer goods, an essential circumstance that would define its urban and architectural structure. Finally, we could indicate that it enjoyed a territorial relevance on a much larger scale, as the natural passage of the valleys eroded by different rivers constituted the communication route between the Peruvian Andean highlands, the Cuzco region and, beyond that, the Puneño highlands and Lake Titicaca.