Inca Citadel Found Near Cusco

Why this is here: The team discovered almost 3,000 scales made of gold, silver, and copper—elaborate adornments for Inca elite ceremonial clothing—buried within a stone enclosure.

Archaeologists in Peru’s Cusco region discovered T’aqrachullo, an Inca settlement roughly 225 kilometers northwest of Machu Picchu. The site, detailed in National Geographic, spans 17.4 hectares—about four times the size of the famed citadel. Dante Huallpayunca and his team unearthed nearly 3,000 gold, silver, and copper scales in September 2022, prompting a reevaluation of the area.

Excavations since 2019, funded by Peru’s Ministry of Culture, have revealed almost 600 structures including homes, tombs, and religious shrines. Researchers believe T’aqrachullo functioned as a significant political, economic, and religious center within the Inca Empire. Some experts now suggest this site may be Ancocagua, a legendary Inca fortress mentioned in colonial-era chronicles.

Alicia Quirita, an archaeologist from the National University of San Antonio Abad del Cusco, began studying T’aqrachullo in the 1990s. She noted the presence of Wari pottery alongside Inca artifacts, hinting at a more complex history. The full extent of T’aqrachullo’s role in the Inca Empire and its connection to Ancocagua remain under investigation.