(The Sacred Valley of the Lucas) Hiram Bingham (the academic, explorer and politician who made public the existence of the Quechua citadel of Machu Picchu in 1911) theorized that Machu Picchu had served as a convent of sorts where women chosen among the Incan realm were trained to serve the Incan rulers and their coterie. He further believed that Machu Picchu was the mythical Tampu-tocco (the birthplace of the Inca forefathers).