Origin of the word Saqsaywaman
SAQSAYWAMAN literally derives from the words “saqsay,” which means to be sated or satisfied. The phoneme “waman,” means falcon. It thus translates to “sate yourself, falcon; calm your hunger.”
In totemic times, when humans sought gods, it was common for peoples to identify with animals, attributing them supernatural powers.
The emergence of fear gave rise to a glimpse of spirituality in humanity. People entrusted their lives to the care of the gods, leading to a subservience to the deity, followed by worship, and ultimately the establishment of priesthood and religion.
The last nomads who arrived in this valley and settled here permanently saw that the hill of Saqsaywaman and all its rocky outcrops were nests of falcons.
Hundreds of carnivorous birds posed a challenge for any human settlement. However, this was not the case when one is seeking gods.
The transhumant people made the falcons their idols, worshipping them and offering them food (satiating them). The falcons allowed them to forge the first village in this valley of our subcontinent—the mythical city of Accamama.
History
We call it this way to refer to the high hill that crowns the northern part of the Qosqo Valley.
This massive formation, rising from the Plaza de Armas of the Imperial city, is limestone from the geological formation “Yuncaypata“. At its summit and plateau, there are large and numerous outcrops of limestone rock.
These places have been occupied since time immemorial, first by nomads. Then by the initial sedentary families, culminating in the mythical city of Accamama.
The Saqsaywaman plateau is part of the great Andean plateau. It emerged at the end of the Mesozoic and with greater vigor in the Tertiary (150 million years ago).
Today, we can find fossils of ammonites and trilobites among the stones of Saqsaywaman. Remnants of contemporary insects from the great reptiles that inhabited the Earth during the Triassic period.
Location
The Saqsaywaman plateau is located north of the city of Cusco. At an average altitude of 3,490 m.a.s.l, at a latitude of 13°35’54” south and a longitude of 75°59’06” east.
This steep promontory is the spur of a plateau with an irregular surface featuring flatlands, hollows, and hills.
Here, there are countless intrusions of limestone, a result of the movement of the planet’s tectonic plates. It raised the seabeds to the Andean peaks.
People have known the Saqsaywaman plateau for thousands of years. First by prehistoric nomadic hordes, it became one of the first places our migratory ancestors chose to settle down.
The Saqsaywaman plateau is a true forest of rocks, a windy and barren wasteland. It features a karst landscape typical of limestone outcrops.
These soluble rocks, due to the dissolution of calcium carbonate by the action of water.
They undergo internal seepage that transforms them into unusual shapes while also forming underground networks eroded by water. It creates internal channels that the mechanical action of circulating waters later enlarges.
This results in passages, cavities, and underground tunnels that connect various locations, such as the underground passage from the summit of Saqsaywaman to the Plaza de Armas of Cusco.
References:
- Canoia, C. (2002) Cuadernos Andinos N°18. First human settlements in Saqsaywaman.
