I am going to have to go with photo shopped here. It looks to well defined to be real and I dont believe that the rain would erode it away that perfectly, interesting read tho.

I just signed up to ATS after months of just observing because I felt compelled to reply to this post.

I recently came back from a few months of volunteer work in Peru and I'm glad to say I was able to make my way to Machu Picchu whilst I was there. I was even lucky enough to be one of the 200 people allowed up the over looking mountain 'Wayna Picchu' at 7am to see the sunrise over the magnificent Wonder.

The face on the mountainside is very well known among the local people. In fact if you travel to Machu Picchu you are more than likely to visit Cusco on the way and it is in the centre of this tourist city that you will find many works of art depicting the face. I myself bought two oil paintings of the well known scene depicting Wayna Picchu as the nose.

After being there first hand I must say that the face is very distinct. And I don't believe the photo in question is photoshopped. I believe it just happens to have been taken when the light is acting on the mountainside emphasising the features of a face.

The site offers so many vantage points to view this landscape and the shadows that appear over it are just awesome when the sun is rising.

No, I don't believe that the Mayans 'created' this. I believe it is purely down to Pareidolia.

I hope this is a reasonable and interesting first post.
Thank you.

The MOST amazing thing is that, when I'm lying on my back, my face looks like Machu Picchu!

Harte

i"m pretty sure this is a painting, therefore not photoshop.

I went there in May of 2010, and I've seen the mountain. It definitely looked like a face when I saw it in person, but the natives say that you can see the face more clearly because of the lighting conditions at certain times of the year. When I was there it was definitely not as clear as the photo in this thread, but it was not "that time" of the year when I went. I doubt it ever looks as clear as the photo though.

That whole area is an enigma; the structures are put together with incredible craftsmanship, which still defies replication today (I could clearly tell which parts are restored and which are authentic), and the quarry that the blocks are alleged to have come from is like five kilometers away, winding through mountainous terrain. The structure is on average about 8,000 feet above sea level, and there is no easy way to have brought stones up that particular mountain; it's a very steep climb from Aguas Calientes to Macchu Picchu. I was told a few different versions of the story of how the Inka built it, but none of them really convinced me. All the stories did agree, however, that the Inka chose that particular location for a number of reasons, which included the face in the mountain.

It looks like a painting to me, not a photograph

Originally posted by Donzo
I just signed up to ATS after months of just observing because I felt compelled to reply to this post.

Welcome to ATS! I hope your experiences here are good ones. It gives me a humble sense of accomplishment, and I definitely consider my thread a success if it helped get a "lurker" to post. You just made my day Donzo... A muppets fan? Donzo is soooo close to Gonzo.

I recently came back from a few months of volunteer work in Peru and I'm glad to say I was able to make my way to Machu Picchu whilst I was there. I was even lucky enough to be one of the 200 people allowed up the over looking mountain 'Wayna Picchu' at 7am to see the sunrise over the magnificent Wonder.

That is awesome! Thanks for your volunteer work. I can relate. I've done a little volunteer work over the years, and also had the opportunity to visit ancient ruins. It can put some things in perspective to stand on top of a building that is at least 20 times older than your country, in the following case, the ziggurat in Iraq:

(I'm the good looking one )


People deserve to and owe it to themselves to get out and try to see some of what this world has to offer. Visit humanity's existing accomplishments. If Egypt wasn't in turmoil I would be scheduling a trip there in a couple years, but as is I think I will wait.

The face on the mountainside is very well known among the local people.

I had no idea this was the case. Thank you for sharing your first hand accounts.

I hope this is a reasonable and interesting first post.
Thank you.

Not only reasonable and interesting, but by the stars of it well appreciated by ATSers, too.

Again, welcome to ATS and thank you very much for sharing Donzo!

Great find OP. Machu Piccu is a place filled with mystery. The face is clear to see. Folks are saying its a painting..anyone care to link that? Maybe different angles to show its location? These ancient ruins are really something else. About 15 years ago I visited the pyramids in mexico, teotihuacan. Being surrounded by pyramids and a place like that is really a different feeling...dont want to sound cliche but spacely lol

Originally posted by alfa1
Comparing the two, a sample from the video and "the face", I'll say photoshopped.

Obviously. Even though the 'unshopped' one looks like a face, there are noticeable differences in height that are obvious.

Still, love hearing about this area. it's on my bucket list

Thank you for the warm welcome.

I'd just like to add a couple points to help maybe clarify one of the discrepancies mentioned by other members.

The point that some levels appear higher than others can be explained two fold in my opinion.

Firstly, Machu Picchu is very special because it is right on the edge of two very different ecosystems. One being the obvious Andean Mountain Range that can appear quite dry and desolate and the other being the Amazonian Rainforest which is obviously very fertile with many trees.

I think the growth of trees could accommodate for the change in landscape and shadows cast across the mountainside. If you look at the "mouth" of the picture in question I believe this to be quite obvious.


Secondly, as I noted in my previous post, there are so many different heights to take a photo of this "face" from. Nearly all the ruins I visited in the Sacred Valley had terraced farming land all the way up the mountainside. These terraces rise about 2metres at a time, so if you imagine taking photos of the same far off point but from a slightly different viewpoint, there will always be differences.

I truly believe that the combination of the different shadows cast over an ever changing landscape from slightly different view points are the real reason these photos look different.

Thanks

As predicted in the first sentence of the intro this has ended up in the [HOAX] forum. I certainly knew the possibility was great that it would end up here. Studying this kind of stuff has been a hobby of mine since the third grade when Raiders of the Lost Ark came out. I've read at least 2 dozen books authored by people who had been there and were writing about it, but did not mention it in their books.

It is interesting to note that at least two people posting here who have been there say this is known to the locals, though. But, banning erosion, this may be a mixture of peoples' nature of seeing familiar patterns in things, and the locals trying to capitalize and boost their economy via tourists.

I do not disagree with this being moved to the [HOAX] forum. The thread was about a photo that most people seem to agree has been altered, photoshopped, painted, or otherwise (more than likely) manipulated.

Please know I had no intentions of decieving or trying to pawn this photo off as real, just wanting to know more about it.

Thank you ATSers for your thoughts, time, and participation.
Thank you also for the stars,
ILikeStars