Source: WTL-digitized photographs taken on site in the Sacsayhuaman archeological site near Cuzco, Perú. (Quechua: Saksaq Waman). An older Spanish spelling stressed the last syllable: Sacsayhuamán.
Comments: This is the site of a pre-Inca and Inca fortress built of massive stone blocks that overlook the narrow valley where Cuzco lies below. Sacsayhuaman is located an an elevation of 3,701 m / 12,142 ft.

In the 16th century, a major Spanish chronicler of Peru said this about ancient hillforts, like Sacsayhuaman, in the Andes: "In the old times, before the Incas ruled, it is well known that the natives of these provinces did not live all together in towns as they do now [1553], but in strongholds with their fortresses, which they called 'pukaras,' from which they sallied forth to wage war with one another." (Pedro Cieza de León, Crónica del Perú: Segunda Parte. Lima: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 1985, II, xxiv.

To view the Sacsayhuaman series, click on the first image.