It still remains in the past's obscurity the conditions
and date when man began inhabiting this continent. However,
the most accepted version says that the American man came
from the Asian Continent and that taking advantage of the
ocean freeze in the Bering Strait could cross to this side
of the world. According to archaeology the Nevada Man in
present day USA, must have lived about 30 to 50 thousand
years ago. In the case of Peru, in 1969 Mac Neish revealed
the oldest dates for the first Peruvians: 18 to 20 thousand
years B.C. for the Pacaicasa Man around Ayacucho.
That age is beyond the logical sphere because it was determined
using the absolute date technique of Radiocarbon or Carbon
14. Since that remote time man moved himself through different
spots in the Peruvian Andes. In the Qosqo region there were
some pre-ceramic settlements, thus the oldest ones and still
gatherers were the Men of Yauri and Chumbivilcas with an
approximate age of 5 thousand years B.C. Later we had the
shepherds of the Canas and Chawaytiri areas and even later
as farmers the Men of Qorqa. It is in the Formative period
when man appeared in the Watanay Valley (Qosqo Valley).
The oldest sedentary settlement in a first phase in this
valley was begun in Marcavalle on the eastern part of the
present-day city with a relatively organized population
of farmers and shepherds using pottery approximately since
1,000 B.C. Organized life in Qosqo City began practically
with them. Today Qosqo City is considered the oldest living
city in the American Continent with a continuous occupation
of about 3,000 years until today. In a second phase, the
Chanapata culture was developed about 800 B.C. Later, we
had the Regional States and one of the first was that of
Qotakalli around 600 A.D. Probably by 750 A.D. the Wari
invasion happened, they constructed the buildings of what
today we name Pikillaqta. Subsequently by 800 A.D. the Regional
State of Killki was formed and later that of Lucre about
1000 A.D. What is traditionally known as the Inka civilization
(empire or state) began approximately by 1200 A.D. in its
initial phase, and later around 1400 A.D. in its expansive
phase. One of the most difficult epochs in the city's life
was begun in 1533 with the arrival and subsequent Spanish
invasion and ethnocide.
It is still very difficult to state exactly who were the
first founders of the city or which would be the valid foundation
of Qosqo. They could be the settlers of Marcavalle. Victor
Angles suggests that they could be the Sawasiras, Antasayas
and Wallas, tribes settled in the valley before the Tawantinsuyo
development. Another foundation would be that of the first
Inka Manko Qhapaq around 1200 A.D. It is also suggested
that Pachakuteq, the ninth king did another foundation by
1438. Finally, after the arrival of the first Spaniards
to the city on November 15th 1533, Francisco Pizarro refounded
it for the Spanish King following the Spanish tradition
on March 23rd 1534; with the name and title of: THE VERY
NOBLE AND GREAT CITY OF CUZCO. In 1535 Pizarro founded the
new capital in Lima that immediately gained importance and
power even until today. In 1536 Manko Inka began a long
and bloody war against the Spanish invaders having a siege
of 8 months over the city. Finally in 1572, after a war
that lasted 36 years, Tupaq Amaru I, the last emperor of
the Inkan dynasty was defeated, captured and executed cutting
his head off in Qosqo's Main Square.
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In 1650 the city was badly affected by a violent earthquake
that destroyed almost every colonial building . Later in 1780
the city was once again shaken but this time by a social-quake:
the Tupaq Amaru II rebellion (today, traditionally the Spanish
form of his name is used; originally it was Jose Gabriel Thupa
Amaro Inga, as it was signed by himself) He fought for the
Peruvian emancipation but unfortunately was betrayed, defeated
and then executed as well as his whole family and followers
in the same city's Main Square. Between 1814-15, Mateo Pumakawa
who was the chief of the village of Chinchero and in his youth
had fought against Tupaq Amaru II; began once again another
rebellion in order to emancipate the country along with the
Angulo brothers and some other Peruvians. They were defeated
and later executed by the Spanish army. In 1821 Peru got finally
its independence from Spain at the end of a long, cruel and
bloody process developed in all the countries of Hispanic
America.
In 1933 the 25th Congress of Americanists performed in Ciudad
de la Plata, Argentina, declared Qosqo City as the "
Archaeological Capital of South America". In 1950 another
bad earthquake of 7° in the Mercalli scale had shaken
the old Inkan Capital that left just one quarter of its buildings
standing. In 1978 the 7th Convention of Mayors of the World
Great Cities, performed in Milan, Italy, declared Qosqo as
" Cultural Heritage of the World". In Paris, on
December 9, 1983, the UNESCO declared Qosqo as " Cultural
Patrimony of Humanity". On December 22, 1983, by means
of Law Nº 23765 the Peruvian government declared the
city as " Tourist Capital of Peru" as well as "
Cultural Patrimony of the Nation". Today Qosqo is capital
of the department having the same name and at the same time
the seat of the Inka Region formed along with the departments
of Apurimac and Madre de Dios. The 1993 Peruvian Constitution
declares Qosqo as the Historic Capital of the country.
