New to our trip this year is a visit to Moray (Quechua: Muray).

Archaeologists debate the original purpose for this site. One popular proposal is that it was constructed for agricultural experimentation, digging deep into the mountain to test varieties of plants at different heights and temperatures. (There can be a significant difference in temperature from the top to the bottom.) This would have required a sophisticated irrigation system, and we know the people of Tauantinsuyo (the region ruled by the Incas) were very adept at building them. One of the depressions includes a simple water canal from top to bottom, and there are water reservoirs near the top of an adjacent hill, but no major irrigation system has been found so far.

Could the site have served a ceremonial purpose? You can ponder this for yourself as you explore this rather impressive engineering feat on July 5!

Located at 11,088 feet (3380 meters), Moray is roughly equivalent to Cuzco in elevation. The air will be thin, so take it easy.