Machu Picchu

By Henry Petroski

The engineering profession recognizes the prowess of the 15th-century Inca

Engineering History Of Civilization

Current Issue

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January-February 2009

Volume 97, Number 1
Page 15

DOI: 10.1511/2009.76.15

The Inca people may not have had a written language, but the marvels of construction that they left behind continue to speak volumes about their engineering genius. Machu Picchu is perhaps the most widely known and admired of the Inca archaeological sites, but it is only one of many that are scattered about the Andes mountain range that forms the spine of western South America.

Bob Krist/Corbis

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