Level 1 - Absolute Beginner
Scientists found old roads near Machu Picchu in Peru. The roads are hidden in a thick forest. People did not know about them.
The team used a drone with lasers. The lasers can see the ground under the trees. The roads are more than two and a half kilometers long.
The team is from Poland and Peru. They worked in July and August this year.
They do not know how old the roads are. Next year they will go back and dig. They keep the place secret to keep it safe.
- road
- A path for people and animals to travel.
- forest
- A big area full of trees.
- drone
- A small flying machine with no pilot.
- laser
- A strong, thin beam of light.
- secret
- Something that others do not know.
- team
- A group that works together.
- hidden
- Not easy to see.
- safe
- Free from harm.
Level 2 - Elementary
Researchers have found more than 2.5 kilometers of old roads near Machu Picchu. The roads were hidden under dense forest. They are on the other side of the Urubamba Valley from the famous ruins.
A team from Poland and Peru found them with LiDAR. A drone sends laser pulses toward the ground. Some pulses pass between leaves and come back, so computers can draw a map of the earth below.
The team included people from the University of Warsaw and two universities in Wroclaw. They flew the drone in late July and early August. The roads lead to platforms and terraces near a place called the Mandor Wall.
Experts do not know the age of all of the roads yet. One part has a zigzag shape, which is common in Inca roads. The team plans to dig and to test samples next year. They are keeping the exact place secret.
- dense
- Thick and crowded.
- valley
- Low land between mountains.
- ruins
- The remains of old buildings.
- pulse
- A short burst of light or sound.
- terrace
- A flat step cut into a hillside.
- zigzag
- A line that turns sharply left and right.
- sample
- A small piece taken for testing.
- platform
- A flat raised area.
Level 3 - Intermediate
Archaeologists have mapped more than two and a half kilometers of previously undocumented roads near Machu Picchu, tracing them through forest so dense that they had escaped notice for centuries. The routes lie across the Urubamba Valley from the famous citadel and lead toward platforms and terraces near a feature known as the Mandor Wall.
The discovery came from drone-mounted LiDAR, a technique that fires laser pulses at the ground and measures their return. Because many pulses slip between leaves, software can strip away the vegetation digitally and reveal the shape of the terrain beneath. The survey was led by Bartlomiej Cmielewski and carried out in late July and early August by researchers from the University of Warsaw, two universities in Wroclaw and Peruvian institutions.
One stretch, about three quarters of a mile long, has the zigzag layout typical of Inca engineering on steep slopes, which suggests at least part of the network dates to the period when Machu Picchu was in use. Still, the team cautions that not every segment has been confirmed as Inca work.
Next year the researchers plan to walk the routes, excavate selected spots and seek radiocarbon dates. They are withholding the exact location to deter treasure hunters. The find supports the idea that the Incas developed both sides of the valley, not just the side with the royal estate.
- undocumented
- Not yet recorded in writing or maps.
- citadel
- A fortress on high ground.
- vegetation
- Plants and trees.
- terrain
- The physical features of land.
- excavate
- To dig carefully to uncover remains.
- radiocarbon
- A method that uses carbon to estimate age.
- withhold
- To keep information back.
- deter
- To discourage someone from acting.
Level 4 - Advanced
Beneath the canopy across the Urubamba Valley from Machu Picchu, a Polish-Peruvian team has traced more than two and a half kilometers of roads that appear on no earlier map. The routes, uncovered by drone-borne LiDAR during fieldwork in late July and early August, climb toward platforms and terraces near the Mandor Wall and add a fresh strand to a network that already links more than sixty monuments in the surrounding park.
LiDAR works by firing laser pulses at the ground and timing their return; since a fraction slips through gaps in the foliage, software can subtract the vegetation and render the bare terrain in startling detail. The survey, directed by Bartlomiej Cmielewski, drew on specialists from the University of Warsaw, two Wroclaw universities and Peruvian institutions.
Interpretation remains deliberately cautious. A segment of roughly three quarters of a mile follows the switchback pattern characteristic of Inca road-builders on steep ground, which hints that part of the system belongs to the era when Machu Picchu was occupied. Yet nothing has been dated, and the researchers refuse to attribute the entire network to the Incas until ground inspection and radiocarbon analysis are complete next year.
The larger significance is geographic. If the roads and settlement features are confirmed, they would show that the Incas invested heavily in the far side of the valley as well as the royal estate itself, nudging scholars to rethink how the complex was organized. The coordinates are being kept confidential to protect fragile remains from looters, a reminder that discovery and preservation can pull in opposite directions.
- canopy
- The upper layer of a forest formed by treetops.
- strand
- A single thread within a larger whole.
- foliage
- The leaves of plants.
- switchback
- A sharp turn that lets a path climb a steep slope.
- attribute
- To say something was caused or made by someone.
- nudge
- To push gently toward a new conclusion.
- confidential
- Kept secret.
- looter
- A person who steals from ruins.
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