Markawasi
Besides the studies on Markawasi carried on by Daniel Ruzo in the 1950’s in which he grants authorship of the giant stone to a long-disappeared civilization which he named Masma, there is very little historical information about the plateau.
An old Andean legend tells that Huallallo, the enraged Wanka god of fire sculpted the stone figures. The Inca god Wiracocha was troubled by the evil ways of Huallallo so he sent Pariakaka, lord of rain and fertility to confront Huallallo. Underestimating the power of Pariakaka, Huallallo sent his per monster Amaru to devour him but the challenger proved to be much stronger than what he thought. Finally, Pariakaka defeats Huallallo by causing a flood that extinguishes his fire. The legend actually represents the victory of the Inca Empire over the Wanka nation.
Yet there is another legend about the conflict between two powerful monarchs, Lloctacure and Huambo that made war upon each other and during the final battle, their armies were turned to stone through magic.
By archaeological remains found on Markawasi, it seems like until the beginning of the 15th Century the plateau was a worshiping site for the Wanka people. Then, the Inca army was sent to take it over and turn it into a strategic stronghold. The ruins of barracks and burial structures (chullpas) which are found exhibit characteristics typical of the Inca military structures. Signs of the battle between Wankas and Inca warriors can be seen on the mummies that are exhibited at the Markawasi Museum in San Pedro de Casta.
The Spanish conquistadors arrived in this region of Peru almost one hundred years after the Wankas were subjugated to the Inca and surprisingly found support from the native people as they exacted their revenge upon their enemies. The Spanish showed little interest in exploring the plateau as they had been told that no treasures were to be found upon the mountain. Worshiping Andean deities was banned by the catholic priests amongst the native people and their villages re-built following the Spanish model which included a church building on the main square.
In the last 40 years, it has been suggested by some proponents of the extraterrestrial intervention on Earth's ancient civilizations that it is possible that aliens might have been the authors of Markawasi's stone figures and that the plateau is still an important landing site for their spaceships. UFO specialists consider that Markawasi is one of Earth's most important energy vortices and even the location of a portal to other dimensions or a "stargate" .
Markawasi pictures
At 18:30 (06:30 pm) looking SW
Picture taken during the dry-season
Also known Peca Gasha as seen at 11:00 with almost clear sky
This tomb must have belonged to someone of importance during the Inca Period
As seen from the Healing Cross
Face of Humanity seen from left side
This area is commonly used as campsite
The Sphynx as wella most of the stone figures in Markawasi faces west
Daniel Ruzo, the man that made Markawasi known
Daniel Ruzo was trained in law, but became better known for his studies of the esoteric, occult, and proto-history, subjects he had been interested in since his youth. In February 1952, Pedro Astete, a close friend gave him as a present a photograph taken in 1935 by Kuroki Riva, a gentleman who spent much of his time traveling around Peru taking pictures of “unusual things”. The black and white photograph showed an exceptional stone structure carved with apparently many anthropomorphic figures. Certainly, Ruzo’s interest was motivated by this picture and he organized an expedition that took him to the small village in the central Andes, San Pedro de Casta. There he met with Manuel Olivares who became his guide and assistant throughout the many expeditions Ruzo. Olivares explained that the ancient name of the plateau was lost but since the Inca invasion of this region it has been known as Marcahuasi. From Quechua language, it may be translated as ‘the place of dwellings”, possibly because of the numerous soldiers’ barracks to be found there.
As soon as they had arrived at the top of the plateau they sighted an exceptional stone of large dimensions. Ruzo determined that the stone was a monument to humanity, erected in very ancient times since on it you can see sculpted human heads and faces from many different ethnic groups. At that time the old people in the village called this stone “Peca Gasha”, or “the head in the alley”, which corresponds to its location at the entrance to the plateau. With the help of villagers, Ruzo built a stone cabin which he used as a shelter through the years of his visits to the plateau.
In June 1954, Ruzo published the first report on Marcahuasi (The Masma Culture), in which he referred to a human culture that may have disappeared long ago, perhaps after a great catastrophe. He called the “Masma” the culture that had created the stone figures, based on a dream that his friend and mentor Pedro Astete had.
Ruzo discovered a great number and variety of sculptures on the plateau, many representing human heads and the faces of personages whose identity is lost in time, as well as various animals.