Pre-Inca Mountaintop Settlement Discovered in Peru

Researchers in Peru discovered a previously unknown ancient settlement that pre-dates the famous enigmatic site of Machu Picchu. And like with many new discoveries in the world of archaeology, this new find has come about thanks to the advances in technol

Archaeologists Thomas Hardy and Adan Coqque Arce and explorer Albert Linn located the settlement in an area called Wat’a, meaning ‘island’ and it sits at an altitude of around 4,000 metres, that’s 1,500 metres higher than Machu Picchu.


The technology used was LiDAR, Light Detection and Ranging technology mounted on a drone, which identified Inca terracing and pre-Inca structures for the first time at this location.

Matt Sibson
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