I hate coming across articles like the one I will share with you in part below simply because over time I have developed a real dislike (not so much for the grave robbers who are usually very poor to begin with) for collectors of these types of antiquities.

Locals knew about Machu Picchu before Western explorers found it

Here is a snippet from a BBC report that puts the discovery of this magnificent place more than 40 years earlier than previously thought. And yes robbed far earlier as well.

Machu Picchu, now Peru's biggest tourist attraction, was famously believed to have been discovered in 1911 by US explorer Hiram Bingham.

The ruins are the crown jewel of Peru's archaeological sites in Peru and draw thousands of tourists every day.

Machu Pichu carries symbolic value for Peru's indigenous people.

It was built by one of the last Inca emperors, Pachacutec, in around 1450 and kept secret from the Spanish conquerors who invaded about 100 years later.

Now the story about its discovery by the western world has been shaken up by a team of historians who say a German businessman looted its treasures more than 40 years before.

They say the adventurer, Augusto Berns, who traded in Peru's wood and gold, raided the citadel's tombs in 1867 apparently with the blessing of the Peruvian government.

He had set up a sawmill at the foot of the forested mountain on which Machu Picchu stands and systematically robbed precious artefacts which he sold to European galleries and museums.

Only when one of the historians found a map in Peru's national museum were his activities traced.

Full BBC Article Here

How much of Machu Picchu's secrets, and treasures were lost not only to Peru, but to the world I think we will probably never know. And perhaps if we did it would only make it that much harder to have to accept.

If this subject interests you at all please have a look at my review of Stealing History, which helped to really open my eyes to this growing problem, particularly in countries such as Iraq.