Archaeologists discover 'last refuge' of the Inca

Archaeologists have found a "lost city" in the mountains of Peru, which they believe was part of the last bastion of the Inca empire before it fell to Spanish conquistadors 400 years ago.

The site clings to the steep slopes of the Vilcambamba region in the Andes and consists of more than 100 buildings and other structures, including circular dwellings, storehouses, cemeteries and funeral towers.

A team of scientists from Britain, Peru, and the United States said that the cloud-covered settlement, which is surrounded by 18,000-foot peaks, could be the most important Inca discovery for 40 years.

Peter Frost, a British scholar of the Inca empire who led the nine-strong team, said it was especially important to find an Inca settlement in a region that played such a major role in resisting the Spanish.

"The Vilcambamba region was the last refuge of the Incas where they held out against the Spanish after the conquest," Mr Frost said.

"The site turned out to be far more extensive than we expected. It's spread over six square kilometres and is at around 11,000 feet on very steep terrain, and its natural beauty is stunning," he added.

At the height of their influence, the Inca controlled an area almost as big as the Roman Empire. At that time they dominated the entire Andean region of South America until they were finally vanquished by the Spanish in 1572.

The settlement lies on the steep slopes of the mountain, Cerro Victoria, and it has good views of the surrounding snow-covered peaks that the Inca worshipped.

There is evidence that the inhabitants of the settlement mined silver in the mountains and performed rituals on top of the peak using a specially constructed platform that captured the rays of the rising and setting sun.

"I believe they chose this spot for two reasons. I believe it was a combination of silver mines they could work nearby and the site's ceremonial significance," Mr Frost said. "It's the only place in the area that has a superb view of all the nearby snow peaks. They were probably holding religious ceremonies in worship of these peaks and celestial and solar observations on these platforms to keep the Inca calender."

The site was first spotted in 1999 but was only explored in detail during an expedition last summer, which was filmed as part of a documentary to be screened this Sunday on the National Geographic Channel, which helped to fund the trip

"The site may tell us more about the way people lived," Mr Frost said. Although the Inca did not have the wheel they built thousand of miles of roads linking their cities and settlements. The Cerro Victoria site also has water channels, terraces and a dam as well as a truncated pyramid.

The scientists hope that the latest discovery will provide unparalleled insight into the Inca civilisation from its very beginning to its final demise.