The Site of Waqra Pucará

The name of the archaeological site of Waqrapukara or Waqra Pukará, Quechua for “Horn Fortress,” is a name given because of its appearance of two mountain heights close together and a high land area in between; however, its original name likely would have been “Llamapukara, since the locals claim that they would not be horns, but the ears of a flame.

Waqrapukara, the Horn Fortress between Wanchaq Provine of Cusco and Sacsayhuaman

This archaeological site in Peru is located in the Cusco Region, lying near the Apurímac River. Down river is Q’aqrapukara, the last rope bridge in Peru, which crosses the Apurímac, a glacial melt water river that flows from the Mismi Ridge in the southwestern mountain range. Beginning at 18,363-feet, the river flows all the way to the Amazon River, connecting with the Mantaro after 480 miles, then with the Ene, Tambo, Urubamba and Ucayali rivers. Near Cuzco it flows through canyons 9,842-feet deep, twice as deep as the Grand Canyon.

From Cuzco it flows westward until it reaches 99 miles from the Pacific Ocean before turning north and eventually east in joining the Amazon that empties into the Atlantic Ocean. To the south of Cuzco and then past and to the north, there was no way to cross the river anciently, except for the rope bridge at Q’aqrapukara.

The rope bridge at Q’aqrapukara is the last bridge in Andean Peru and showing the true feats of engineering

The bridge is constructed entirely out of grass and other vegetation, yet somehow they’re sturdy enough for groups of people or even cattle to cross safely. Because of the perishable materials used, each cable of these bridges needed to be replaced once a year. Villages that were home to a bridge completed its annual construction as part of their responsibility to the communities in the region.

Historians estimate that 200 or more of these suspension bridges may have existed at one point in time. Most of these fell out of usage as modern construction techniques gained prominence, including the 148-footer that famously inspired Thornton Wilder’s classic The Bridge of San Luis Rey, which only made it to the 19th century. For the most part, the once-widespread art of building rope bridges has faded into obscurity.

Today, Waqrapukara is one of Cusco’s hidden treasures and seldom visited. The ancient fortress sits at 14,100 feet near the Apurimac River, along the southern plateau of the Sacred Valley, past the Four Lakes district.

It was built on top of a steeper mountain, running sinuously along a rocky outcrop and built around two horn shaped mountain peaks, the site has eight terraces with retaining walls and stone staircases.

Less known and more remote than the more famous monuments of Sacsayhuaman, Tipóns, Moray and Ollantaytambo, it melds amazing stone masonry and spectacular natural formations together. It is made up of two large sets of buildings, with the first group located in the upper part where two groups are located with enclosures, separated by a large central space. This central area contains passageways, portals and niches of ornamental and functional character., and at one end, it features rectangular tone enclosures with niches and double and triple jamb doorways—The discovery of triple-jambed doors at the site is an indication of its particular importance, as they were only placed in doors for seats of great religious and political power.

At the other end are more enclosures, one an E-shaped structure, flanked by a longitudinal wall with trapezoidal niches. There is an underground channel that provides water to the Fortress and aids in its ability to withstand siege and attack. From this area of the fortress lies a spectacular view of the 

Apurímac canyon and river. Further away lies the highlights of the magnificent Andes Mountains high above the altiplano.

The Horn Fortress (Top) showing the upper buildings, stairways and wall; (Bottom) Terraced planting levels for food production

This scenic and secluded archaeological site of Waqrapukara, next to the Apurimac Canyon, remains somewhat shrouded in mystery, perched atop a rugged mountain plateau in the remote countryside of the Cuzco region in southern Peru. The structure was definitely built for defense and would have served as some type of lookout or early warning system for those attacking Cuzco from the south.

This remarkable site has only recently been studied extensively by archaeologists, so the full significance of the complex is just beginning to be uncovered.

Much like Machu Picchu, the builders of Waqrapukara merged finely-crafted stonework with the nearby rock formations to create buildings that both stand out from and blend in with their surroundings. As archaeologist Miguel Cornejo recently told La República (one of Peru’s highest circulation newspapers): “Waqrapukara is a a sanctuary of the first order that denotes immense political and religious power, as-yet undeciphered.”

Anciently, the road from Lake Titicaca to Cuzco was a heavily trafficked route, and the only way to travel northward to the ancient capital. There was also a route past Lake Titicaca from Tiawanku that traveled to the coast and Pachacamac , then northward to Ecuador. These main routes would have been heavily defended, and Waqrapukara would have been one of those outposts from which its occupants could have viewed great distances to the south.

In the Land of Promise, the Nephites built numerous such outposts in the high mountains providing them with distant views of Lamanite approaches. As an example, when the Lamanites were spotted in the borders of the land of Helam, and seeing that they were approaching the people were quite frightened (Mosiah 23:25-26, emphasis added). Or when the Nephites did not have guards or outposts to warn them, the Lamanites could easily “come upon them and slay them” (Mosiah 10:14). But to guard against the Lamanites approaching without notice, the Nephites also had spies so they could know of the Lamanites and their approaches (Alma 2:24).

The cities or towns along the route to Cuzco as they passed the Waqrapukara outpost

An approach to Waqrapukara begins in one of two places: the town of Santa Lucia or the small native farming community of Huayqui, both located about two and half hours from Cusco by car because of approaching over the type of mountain roads. The fortress complex is located roughly halfway between these two settlements and there is a trail leading up from either location. Hiking to Waqrapukara up to the top will take about two hours from Huayqui, or three from Santa Lucia.

The trail to the ruins passes through the quechua, suni and puna ecological zones as one ascend to 10,000 feet above sea level. Chances are flocks of vicuñas, guanacos and condors. These areas would have been called a “wilderness” during Nephite times since there were no settlements or occupation of any kind. Even today this area is sparsely settled and only a few small settlements of Quechua-speaking farm communities exist along the way. There is also a group of scenic lakes known as the “four lagoons” located in this area.

As for Lamanites attacking up the road to Cuzco, it should be remembered that an army completely on foot would be quite susceptible to the weather and heavy rains that turn the path into a muddy quagmire. In fact, the weather in these highlands is wuite unpredictable and know when the weather is more promising and conducive to moving an army far from its base would be important, both for the Lamanites and the Nephites. Therefore, it would be important to know that the west season covers a period we call today from November to April. It would also be important for the Lamanites to carry plenty of water to combat dehydration, and much food, not knowing how much they could live off the land since they would be a great distance from their home base.

The Cape, Once Again

It is amazing how often historians and scholars insist on getting it wrong when dealing with taking a route around Africa and heading up the Atlantic coast for a sailing ship in 600 BC. The history of the Portuguese, the first to round that cape of South Africa in the late 15^th century, and open up a route from Portugal to India, is much longer and far more difficult and dangerous than we read in history books or were taught by teachers and professors, or see in brief articles on the internet.

The overland trail for the Arabs to bring spices to the European markets

In order to understand this sea route, we need to understand the history and value of the trade network involved. First of all, the Portuguese were after spices from their trade network, but the spices were very expensive and were inconvenient, time-consuming and dangerous to obtain for they had to travel overland from Europe to India and back. At the time, Portugal and other European nations already had long-established trade ties to the Arabs of Asia, but the arduous overland route had been closed in the 1450s due to the Ottoman Empire’s conquest of the remnants of the Byzantine Empire.

Portugal’s King João II, known as King John II, and his predecessors had obtained navigational intelligence, including a 1460 map from Venice that showed the Indian Ocean on the other side of Africa. As a result, King John II, painstakingly worked out a maritime route around Africa and intended for Stephen da Gama, of a noble family, to head the armada.

However, by the time the plan was implemented, both King John and Stephen da Gama had died. King John’s successor, King Manuel, chose Stephen da Gama’s son, Vasco da Gama, as the leader of the expedition. They were to explore the coast of Africa to see if India was navigable via around the cape, and through the Indian Ocean.

Bartolomeu Dias was appointed by King John in October 1486, a Portuguese mariner and explorer, he was probably in his mid to late thirties. He was appointed to head an expedition to sail around the southern tip of Africa, and helped in the construction of the Sao Gabriel and its sister ship, the Sao Rafael that were used by Vasco da Gama who later sailed past the Cape of Good Hope and continued on toward India.

Prior to this time, many Portuguese mariners had tried to reach the Cape and failed, either from turning back, believing the plan was impossible because of encountering difficult waters, or because of shipwreck and never returning.

This area around the African Cape, called the “Graveyard of Ships,” is the final resting place of 3,000 sailing ships that were sunk attempting to round the tip of Africa, as well as more modern shipwrecks that have been victims of the extensive, terrible storms, violent, turbulent waters and notoriously treacherous gale force winds. The coast around the Cape is rugged and rocky though spectacularly beautiful—although the mariners wrecked there probably did not see that beauty.

Calm waters one moment, turbulence and storms the next

The waters at times may look calm, but don’t be fooled; this is one of the world’s most dangerous coastal stretches for ships—as indicated by the broken relics that litter the shoreline or lie beneath the waves. Dating back to early Portuguese sailing, numerous wrecks from storms and rough waters have contributed to the thousands of sunken ships lying on the bottom. Thus the “Graveyard of ships” is an apt name for the the Cape of Good Hope for this coastal line is marred by so many sunken ships and the many that went to the bottom of the sea.

In August 1487, Bartholemeu Dias’ trio of ships departed from the port of Lisbon, Portugal. Dias followed the route of 15th-century Portuguese explorer Diogo Cão, who was one of the most notable navigators of the Age of Discovery and sailed along the West Coast of Africa and reached Cape Cross 1110 miles north of the African cape.. Sailing along the west coast, he discovered and explored the Congo River inland, as well as the coasts of present-day Angola and Namibia.

Yellow line: Dias’ Course; Yellow Dotted Line: Dias’ Planned Course; White Dotted Line: Storm Dias encountered that blew him off course (Red Lie) to the south where he hit the Southern Ocean and was blown East before turning north back toward his planned course

The first sighting of the Cape by Dias occurred in 1488, when he became the first mariner to reach the cape he called the Cape of Storms, believing it to be the tip of Africa. Though he was the first Portuguese to reach that cape, he could press no further toward India because of the fierce storms that drove his fleet far to the south. It was here that he made his way to open waters away from the coast and sailed there for several days. Having lost sight of land, he unknowingly picked up the Southern Ocean and was blown eastward for several days, fearful of his ships being dashed on the notoriously rocky shoreline.

It was a risky decision, but it worked. He finally turned northward and the crew spotted landfall on February 3, 1488, about 300 miles east of present-day Cape of Good Hope—it was a bay they called São Bras (present-day Mossel Bay) and the much warmer waters of the Indian Ocean. While in the Southern Ocean, he had passed Africa’s southern tip without knowing it.

Dias continued sailing on and reached the farthest point of his journey when they landed at Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, 425 miles east of the Cape of Good Hope. They erected a large stone cross and claimed the land for Portugal, and Dias, though determined to make his way to India, was pressed by his tired crew who were running low on supplies and refused to go farther, to turn around and head for home. Dias had no choice but to head back for Portugal.

On the journey back, Dias observed the southernmost point of Africa, later called Cabo das Agulhas, or Cape of Needles. It was on this return, that he was met once again with tempestuous storms and strong Atlantic-Antarctic currents that made ship travel so perilous. He encountered turbulent waters and his ship was almost wrecked on the waters that he named the area “Cape of Storms” (Cabo das Tormentas).

Southern most point of South Africa as Cape Agulhas

However, this point reached by Dias, was not the southernmost tip of Africa—in fact, it’s Cape Agulhas, which is 96 miles southeast of the Cape of Good Hope. In any event, it was a few years later, in 1497, that Vasco da Gama sailed out of Lisbon and into the history books as the first European ever to travel by sea to India.

The Cape of Storms was later renamed, by King John II of Portugal, the Cape of Good Hope because of the great optimism engendered by the opening of a sea route to India and the East. A major maritime victory for Portugal, Dias’ breakthrough and da Gama’s success opened the door to increased trade with India and other Asian powers. It also prompted Genoan explorer Christopher Columbus, then living in Portugal, to seek a new royal patron for a mission to establish his own sea route to the Far East.

Following this voyage, king Manuel I ordered Dias to serve as a shipbuilding consultant for the expedition of Vasco da Gama, sailing with da Gama’s expedition. His ships reached their goal of India in May 1498, nearly a decade after Dias’ historic trip around the tip of Africa. Afterward, Manuel sent out a massive fleet to India under Pedro Álvares Cabral, and Dias captained four of the ships. They reached Brazil in March 1500, then headed across the Atlantic toward South Africa and, further ahead, the Indian subcontinent. At the feared Cabo das Tormentas, severe storms struck the fleet of 13 ships. Four of the ships were wrecked, including Dias’vessel, with Dias and all the crew lost at sea on May 29, 1500, off the Cape of Good Hope.

There can be no question that the experience of ancient mariners around the southern tip of Africa, sailing in either direction, has been fraught with extreme dangers, turbulent winds, and tempestuous storms. The 3,000 ships that have been wrecked and sunk rounding this Cape of Good Hope is legend, and before steam powered ships, one so dangerous early mariners were reluctant to sail those waters.

A diagram of the severe turbulent waters around the Cape of Africa which causes raging currents that coupled with tempest storms has caused thousands of shipwrecks here

In fact, the waters near the Cape, where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet, can be treacherous for ships. The warm Agulhas current from the east runs into the cold Benguela current from the northwest, creating dangerous waves that have caused many shipwrecks. This makes the Cape of Agulhas on the coast of South Africa, just east of the Cape of Good Hope, along which the Agulhas Current flows, the most dangerous waters in the world to sail, and form a natural boundary.

Thus the division of waters here is not an arbitrary borderline between ocean currents, but one that represents the natural flow of these waters, where the cold water Benguela current of the Atlantic Ocean meets the warm-water Agulhas current of the Indian Ocean and turns back on itself in what is called retroflection, against a counter-current in a recirculation region along with Agulhas Rings, and flows back into the Indian Ocean, causing extremely turbulent waters.

It would seem strange that the Lord would send Lehi into that cauldron of waters with not a single bit of experience in his crew at sailing whatsoever, when other, less dangerous routes were available. In fact, it would be most foolish thing in the world for a non-mariner to have attempted in a wooden ship with fixed sails “driven forth before the wind.” No amount of instruction can compensate for experience in the face of immediate threat and extreme danger as would be encountered along this route.

More Comments from Readers – Part X

Here are more comments that we have received from readers of this website blog:

Comment #1: “Two things about the Nephites in North America based on the walls built by the

Nephites. First of all, there is no reason why timber palisades cannot "tremble" or have some depth with a platform at the top for standing. The Book of Mormon indicates both stone and timber fortifications. Consider Alma 48:1, Alma 50:2 and 53:1. Secondly, Moroni had been strengthening the armies of the Nephites, and erecting small forts, or places of resort; throwing up banks of earth round about to enclose his armies.

Thirdly, Moroni built walls of stone to encircle them about, round about their cities and the borders of their lands; yea, all round about the land. Second, he also built walls of timber. As he stated: “upon the top of these ridges of earth he caused that there should be timbers, yea, works of timbers built up to the height of a man, round about the cities. And he caused that upon those works of timbers there should be a frame of pickets built upon the timbers round about; and they were strong and high.” Jay M.

Walls of stone built by Moroni around cities and all the land round about

Response: First, let’s dispel the idea of platforms behind the walls for defenders to stand upon. The only reason such platforms were built was during the gunpowder period where riflemen stood on the platforms protected by the walls and shot at the enemy. In the age of swords and slings, having a platform behind the wall would be completely useless and obviously, would not serve any purpose.

Second, let’s take a look at the actual scriptural references:) “The earth shook exceedingly, and the walls of the prison did shake as if they were about to tumble to the earth” (Helaman 5:27), and also, “And the walls of the prison trembled again, as if it were about to tumble to the earth” (Helaman 5:31). Also, “And it came to pass that the earth shook again, and the walls trembled” (Helaman 5:32). Finally, “and the walls did tremble again, and the earth shook as if it were about to divide asunder” (Helaman 5:33). And when a fire broke out in the prison, “it did not take hold upon the walls of the prison” (Helaman 5:44);

Stone, of course, does not burn but wood does. In addition, stone walls tremble and tumble to the earth, but wood just falls.

A breastwork of timbers built upon the piled high dirt which had been thrown up, and the depth of the ditch which had been dug round about

2) We find that Moroni states that these forts were “places of resort; throwing up banks of earth round about to enclose his armies.” Note that he states “banks of earth to enclose his armies,” not to enclose cities. On the other hand, Moroni states that “and also building walls of stone to encircle them about, round about their cities and the borders of their lands” means the Nephites built stone walls around their cities and all around the land.

In addition, the Nephites built a breastwork of timbers upon the inner bank of the ditch; and built a wall of timbers on top of piled high dirt. As Mormon states: “Teancum, by the orders of Moroni, caused that they should commence laboring in digging a ditch round about the land, or the city, Bountiful.

Irrigation channels not heaps of earth for defensive walls as North American theorists claim. If the latter, they would have to be much deeper and the banks much higher to match the scriptural record

They cast up dirt out of the ditch against the breastwork of timbers; and thus they did cause the Lamanites to labor until they had encircled the city of Bountiful round about with a strong wall of timbers and earth, to an exceeding height” (Alma 53:3-4, emphasis added).

It might be of interest to know that the word “breastwork” is defined as “a low temporary defense or parapet. Note the word “low,” not high. Noah Webster defined the word as meaning in 1928 as “breast high” or “built to the breast.”

Now the definition of timber is given by Noah Webster in his 1828 dictionary as “The body or stem of a tree.” Also, “We apply the word to standing trees which are suitable for“ building.

3) Stone tumbles to the ground, massive stone walls would shake and tremble as a result of the movement of the earth before tumbling to the ground. In Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary we find the meaning of tremble: To cause to move with quick vibrations; to move rapidly one way and the other; to agitate; as, the wind shakes a tree; A trembling or shivering; agitation—all of this sounds like a wood wall, not a wood palisade wall; however, to fall; to come down suddenly and violently; as, to tumble from a scaffold. The stone of Sisyphus is said to have tumbled to the bottom, as soon as it was carried up the hill, all sounds like a stone wall.

Timber walls were typically cut to points at the top to discourage an enemy from climbing over.  However, the scriptural references quoted show that Mormon was referring to a stone wall made of cut stone blocks that would withstand the attacks of extremely large forces fighting with swords and stones. A wood timber fence is rarely high enough to keep an enemy from climbing over it. Such timber walls were evident during the expansion in the 1800s of the Western U.S. Most of those walls were scaled by attacking Indians when they were guarded by rifles and pistols.

Lastly, Mormon tells us that Samuel the Lamanite after being rejected, he was leaving the area when the Lord told him to return. Since he was not welcome in the city, and the people ”would not suffer that he should enter into the city; therefore he went and got upon the wall thereof, and stretched forth his hand and cried with a loud voice, and prophesied unto the people whatsoever things the Lord put into his heart” (Helaman 13:4).

The type of all built anciently with timbers as described in the scriptural record

One look tells anyone that nobody could stand on these timber walls. They just do not match the scriptural record. On the other hand, a wall of stone would be much easier to stand upon for a length of time like Samuel the Lamanite spent on the wall preaching to the Nephites.

When Samuel the Lamanite stood upon the wall, it would have had to have been solid enough to carry his weight and balance, and tall enough to keep the inhabitants from reaching up to him

Comment #2: The Phoenicians, the Iberians, and the Semitic people were the players. The Iberians first who used and hunted the mammoths as the Indians have said who were a white race. The Iberians came in after the Phoenicians civil war to Idaho and where the Semitic People known as the Nephites joined them. Their fist location was Florida, and when the family separated, they moved to Tennessee, and a Egyptian style temple was found. It was during the time in Tennessee when a pacific trade route was formed bring over the Mongol Lap Landers, who didn't bring Reindeer with them, and instead turned the land into the plains and used buffalo instead. They were pushed to the north among the white Lap Landers, and all these people moved here because of wars. The Romans had a big part in all that, and also the Indians say they came over on a ship. The Nephites were chase up into New York and they rebuilt there, but kept getting attacked until they were wiped out by all of the Indians. The Lap landers couldn't take land where they were pushed to from the white populations there, but they did here. The Indians admit they did that, they knew where they lived.

Response:: First of all, the Phoenicians were never involved in a “civil war.” When Hannibal (a Carthaginian, who were Phoenicians), set out to invade Italy from Carthage (what is today Tunis in Tunisia), and crossed over the Mediterranean into Iberia (today’s Spain), either with his elephants, or had Carthaginian elephants already in Spain, he reached the Rhône River in France. After marching about 750 miles in four months from Cartagena (Spanish port), Hannibal’s army was in need of rest and supplies. There he encountered two princes who were warring with each other (a civil war). The prince Brancus of Allobroges, oldest of the two brothers, when vindicated by Hannibal in arbitration of the conflicting claims, provided Hannibal’s army a fresh outfit of arms, clothes and boots, and were led over the Alps by Brances’ adherents.

Secondly, there is no record of any Iberians involved in the Americas. Iberian, by the way, is a term given to the ancient inhabitants along the east and south coasts whom the Greeks and Romans called Iberians (known today as Spain and Portugal). In 800 to 600 BC, when the Celts migrated southward, they entered the Iberian Peninsula, but did not displace those in the east and south. Thus Galicia and a coastal slice on the east and south, remained Iberians while the Celts became the Spanish and Portuguese. Today, no separation is identified. However, at the time of Columbus and afterward, there were no “Iberians” in Spain, but Spanish and Portuguese. Writing alphabets from Phoenicia and later Greek completely displaced all Iberian writing, and by around 300 or 200 BC, the term Iberian was no longer used.

In reality, since Castillian law forbade anyone not Castillian and Catholic to settle in the New World, those who came became Castillian and Catholic. Thus, those from other lands changed their name to a Spanish name—as an example, George von Speyer became Jorge de la Espira, and Portuguese Aleixo Garcia became Alejo García in the Castilian army, and non-Catholic adventurers converted to catholicism in order to be part of the settlement of the New World.

The idea that Iberians or any Europeans ended up in Idaho, involved with Lap Landers, etc., is far too wild an idea to deserve a response. If you want to make such claims, give specific information, its source, and where it can be found.