Polish-Peruvian archaeologists have discovered more than 2.5 kilometres of previously unknown pre-Columbian roads near Machu Picchu, offering new insights into how the ancient Inca landscape was organised, connected and used.
It was found on the slopes of Mount Yanantin on the eastern side of the Andes where tropical rainforest has kept traces of ancient infrastructure hidden for centuries.
Alongside the roads they also found previously undocumented terraces, platforms and circular structures which indicate that the landscape around Machu Picchu was much more developed than previously thought.
Hidden beneath the rainforest
Machu Picchu and its surrounding cultural landscape have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983. Despite more than a century of archaeological investigation, however, researchers continue to uncover previously unknown features around the famous site.
The latest discoveries were made during fieldwork carried out in July and August 2026 by specialists from Poland and Peru.
Investigating the region presents an unusual challenge. The research area lies between approximately 2,000 and 2,700 metres above sea level and is covered by exceptionally dense tropical vegetation.
Professor Mariusz Ziółkowski, director of the University of Warsaw’s Centre for Andean Studies, told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) that one researcher had taken around three hours to travel just 250 metres through the forest using a machete.
Traditional archaeological surveys can therefore easily miss structures hidden beneath the vegetation.
Lasers reveal a lost network
To overcome the problem, researchers turned to LiDAR, or Light Detection and Ranging, using scanners carried by drones.
The technology fires laser pulses towards the landscape and measures the time they take to return. While many pulses bounce off the forest canopy, others pass through gaps in the vegetation and reach the ground.
Researchers can digitally remove the trees and plants from the resulting data, producing a detailed three-dimensional model of the terrain beneath.
The technique revealed narrow, zigzagging routes running across the landscape. After identifying one path known to local people, the archaeologists conducted further drone surveys and began to uncover a much larger network.
So far, more than 2.5 kilometres of previously unknown pre-Columbian roads have been identified, with the longest continuous section extending for at least 1.2 kilometres.
And researchers believe this may only be the beginning.
Professor Ziółkowski said the eventual total could be at least twice as large, explaining that the team has completed only the first stage of the time-consuming LiDAR analysis.
Were the roads built by the Incas?
The roads’ zigzagging construction and layout are consistent with known Inca engineering techniques, but archaeologists are being cautious about assigning a definitive date.
Some routes may pre-date the Inca period and could subsequently have been rebuilt, modified or reused.
Further archaeological investigation will be needed to establish when individual sections were constructed and how they developed over time.
Nevertheless, the discoveries could significantly alter archaeologists’ understanding of the wider Machu Picchu landscape.
More than 60 archaeological sites are already known within Machu Picchu National Park, connected through networks of roads and believed to have performed various functions in relation to the principal settlement, Llaqta de Machu Picchu.
Much of the previously documented activity is concentrated on the left bank of the Urubamba River. The newly identified roads suggest that the landscape on the opposite side of the river also underwent substantial development during the Inca period.
The researchers are particularly interested in understanding the role of the Mandor region, directly opposite Machu Picchu.
According to Professor Ziółkowski, the discoveries both complement and significantly modify existing hypotheses about how the wider complex functioned.
More discoveries could follow
The 2026 research team included Dr Jan Kłaput of the University of Warsaw’s Centre for Andean Studies; Dr Bartłomiej Ćmielewski of Wrocław University of Science and Technology, who supervised the drone-based LiDAR scanning; Dr Paweł Dąbek of Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences; and Peruvian archaeologist Jeff Rocky Contreras Soto of Apu Space.
Fieldwork was supervised by Dr Nino del Solar Velarde, head of Machu Picchu Archaeological Research Coordination at the Regional Directorate of Culture in Cusco. The project was funded by the University of Warsaw.
Researchers are now discussing a longer-term programme of work with Peru’s cultural authorities. Plans include extending the LiDAR survey into new areas and seeking permission to conduct targeted excavations along some of the newly discovered routes.
The precise locations are being kept confidential to protect the archaeological remains from unauthorised exploration and potential damage.
Header Image Credit : Bartłomiej Ćmielewski
Sources : PAP
