The Pariacaca or Tullujuto story: political realism?
The first documented description of acute altitude sickness was published by Father Acosta in 1590. Acosta described this sickness when he traveled through a pass across the Andean divide in central Peru near the mountain Pariacaca. Almost all the maps of modern Peru do not name this mountain. We present evidence that mountaineers who have climbed this mountain know it as Tullujuto. This change in name is the reason why physiologists have found it difficult to locate Acosta's route; consequently the altitude where Acosta experienced this sickness could not be determined until recently. Further, we speculate that political pressures in the late 18th century caused the place name of Pariacaca either to be obliterated or else to be changed to Tullujuto.
Gilbert
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DL
Laboratory of Biophysics, NINDS, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.
D000532:Altitude Sickness / Q000266:history*; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008377:Maps as Topic; D010568:Peru; D011057:Politics