Machu Picchu, Peru

Damaged 2000

An Intihuatana is a type of ritual stone associated with the Incan calendar; the Quechua name inti watana is generally translated as an instrument or place to “tie up the sun”, often expressed in English as “the hitching post of the sun.” The most famous Intihuatana is the one located the Sacred Valley in Machu Picchuu. The Machu Picchu Intihuatana was damaged on September 8, 2000, when a crane being used to film a beer commercial toppled over and broke off part of the granite. I don’t know who took the photograph on which this painting is based.

Requested by Valeria R., Rocio M. & Kenn R.