The granddaughter of the American explorer Hiram Bingham admitted that his famous grandfather did not discover the sanctuary of Machu Picchu a century ago, because Peruvians already knew of its existence.
Marian Bingham said that her grandfather did not discover the place, because Machu Picchu was already there and people knew about it. He just drew world attention to the Inca citadel.
The issue has gained currency in the centenary of the arrival of Bingham to Machu Picchu in 1911, which is why the government declared 2011 “Year of the centenary of Machu Picchu to the world.”
“My grandfather was not an archaeologist, his was a political interest in Latin America”, Marian Bingham told the newspaper El Comercio, during a visit to Peru.
After winning fame as the discoverer of Machu Picchu, my grandfather went into politics and was elected senator, said Bingham.
Bingham’s granddaughter welcomed an agreement that made possible the return to Peru of archaeological artifacts borrowed by his grandfather and Yale University and held controversially until recently.