<![CDATA[IncaTalk - Vlog]]>Thu, 15 Jan 2026 06:46:37 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[Plans for 2026 - Back To Peru In April]]>Wed, 04 Dec 2024 03:55:03 GMThttps://www.incatalk.com/vlog/plans-for-2025-back-to-peru-in-mid-february
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More Inca Talk in 2026

Stay tuned for our next Inca Talk coming sometime in early 2026.  In the meantime, we wanted to announce that we will be working on a GPS app to provide historic information about both the Cusco and Saqsaywaman archaeological sites. 

Goals for 2026:  Maren will be in Peru working on an app that will educate the public on their mobile devices while at the sites of both Saqsaywaman and Cusco.  People using the app will learn about these historic and truly enigmatic sites, the truly unique history of these sites and the latest in archaeological research that continues to this day to uncover the lives of the ancient Inca and pre-Inca cultures.

We will also be exploring, with National Geographic scholar and adventurer Peter Frost, the possibility of creating an app for his definitive travel guide "Exploring Cusco".  By including information from "Exploring Cusco" tourists will also learn about the history of Tiwantinsuyu, the name of the ancient Inca empire that included Cusco, Saqsaywaman and various other historic sites in the Sacred Valley.  Stay tuned for more info about this possibility.

We are also offering tours to interested parties who will be able to experience these amazing sites through the eyes of a visual anthropologist and Peter Frost.  You will explore indigenous cultures and to learn more about the contribution Peru makes to world heritage. 

If you are interested in touring with us, please contact Maren Elwood at melwood44@gmail.com
]]><![CDATA[Happy Holidays - Sayhuite Part #2]]>Tue, 07 Dec 2021 19:32:58 GMThttps://www.incatalk.com/vlog/happy-holidays-sayhuite-part-2Happy Holidays IncaTalk followers.  Here's part #2 of our Sayhuite series.  This part covers the entire site with many different types of stone masonry.  We hope you all enjoy and we wish you a heartfelt holiday season and a great New Year.  Maren hopes to be back in Peru sometime in early 2022...COVID permitting.  Your donations are always appreciated and help us continue our work on this series.  Abrazos, Peter & Maren
]]><![CDATA[The Sayhuite Archaeological Complex]]>Tue, 24 Aug 2021 20:36:01 GMThttps://www.incatalk.com/vlog/the-sayhuite-archaeological-complex
Hello Peru Travelers and Inca enthusiasts. Here is a new IncaTalk video – coming to you after a long pause…I hope you’ll feel it was worth the wait! (Actually I think it’s pretty good!)
It’s about a fascinating, lightly-visited Inca site called Sayhuite (Sigh-WEE-tay), about three hours drive from Cusco. This third episode of our Vlogcast, created by Inca scholar Peter Frost, and Visual Anthropologist Maren Elwood, covers a lot of ground at Sayhuite’s extensive and enigmatic ceremonial complex.

​There are two ushnus (ceremonial platforms), along with the massive but very ruined remains of a third; many large carved boulders; a superbly carved rock outcrop called the Intihuatana (place-of-tying-the-sun). All this and, of course, the lone, intricately carved stone that the place is renowned for.
 
In fact, there’s so much going on here that we needed to post the story in two parts. This is Episode One. Episode Two coming soon!
 
We hope you enjoy it. Please send us your thoughts, reactions, feedback – and think about subscribing to our site if you would like to join us regularly!
 
Best wishes to you all. Hope to see you in Peru again sometime.
]]><![CDATA[Tarawasi:  On The Inca Road]]>Mon, 05 Apr 2021 04:06:44 GMThttps://www.incatalk.com/vlog/tarawasi-on-the-inca-road
Tarawasi is an Ushnu on the Great Inca Highway. The Incas built a series of Ushnus (ceremonial stepped-platforms) all along the Royal Highway that ran thousands of miles north to south down the mighty mountain chain of the Andes.

This episode of IncaTalk finds Peter & Maren at a superb and well-preserved ushnu that still stands at Tarawasi near the small town of Limatambo, in the Apurimac valley near Cusco.
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This drawing, done by Waman Poma*, is an illustration of Manco Inca sitting on an Ushnu.

Manco Inca was the leader of the Inca resistance from 1536 to 1544. Here he is surrounded by his generals and seated on an Ushnu that may have been very similar to the one at Tarawasi that we highlight in this second episode of IncaTalk.

*Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala (ca. 1535 – 1616), also known as Huamán Poma or Wamán Poma, was a Quechua nobleman known for chronicling and denouncing the ill treatment of the natives of the Andes by the Spanish after their conquest. Today, Guamán Poma is noted for his illustrated chronicle.
]]><![CDATA[The Legend of SARAGURO]]>Thu, 19 Nov 2020 08:00:00 GMThttps://www.incatalk.com/vlog/the-legend-of-saraguroThe Stones of Saraguro: How an Unlikely 16th-Century Tale Led to an Astonishing 21st Century Discovery.
Inca Emperor Huayna Capac was born in 15th-century Tomebamba (now Cuenca), Ecuador, far from his Peruvian homeland. Later he ordered the building of a new Inca city far from the traditional center of power Cusco.  Thus, gave an emperor’s extraordinary command to build two royal houses in the Inca capital of Cusco.  Then, he ordered that one of these stone structures be dismantled and then move the stones north to his birthplace – some 1200 miles away.
Watch The Video Of The Interview Below
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This epic story, calling for a superhuman feat of transportation over some of the world’s most challenging mountain terrain, was chronicled one hundred years later by a Spanish priest. Not surprisingly, few people believed him.

This first IncaTalk discussion is with Dr. Dennis Ogburn In the early two thousands, U.S. archaeologist Dennis Ogburn began to notice fine cut Inca stones inexplicably scattered around the countryside near Saraguro, some 50 miles south of modern Cuenca in Equador. Modern technology settled the matter. Dr. Ogburn demonstrated that the priest’s story was true; the stones were from an Inca quarry 20 miles south of Cusco, in Peru.

Donate HERE to help us continue our adventures and bring you more episodes of IncaTalk.  Thanks for your support!  Peter & Maren
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