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It is evident that Quechuas searched for some
immortality in their works. That is the reason why they preferred the
hardest stones; no matter how far away the quarries were from the spots
where they would raise those monuments to work and order. The most
preferred materials were rocks of igneous or volcanic origins, being
extrusive or intrusive ones. These last ones were the favorite, that is,
magma or lava that was cooled off in huge profundities inside the earth;
after millions of years these volcanic formations could protrude forming
what is known as Stocks and Batholiths, that contain rocks harder that
those cooled off on the earth surface.
The softest rocks used in Inkan walls were Limestones that are
sedimentary rocks with marine origins having 3° of hardness in the MOHS
Scale (Scale from 1 to 10 degrees, in which the softest material is talc
with 1° and the hardest is diamond with 10°) and a compression
resistance from 200 to 500 Kg/cm². Limestones were used in Saqsaywaman
where the Yunkaypata limestone formation is found, Chinchero, Yucay,
Tarawasi, etc. In the Peruvian Andes, limestones that contain a high
amount of calcium carbonate are used as fertilizers, adding to farm
soils the raw rock previously pulverized or as lime. Another type of
rock used in the region were Quartzites, rocks that were mostly formed
by metamorphism of sandstones. They are formed principally by quartz as
their name insinuates it and are as hard as quartz; they are frequent in
Paleozoic formations in Peru and in some Mesozoic ones; they have 5° of
hardness and a compression resistance of 800 Kg/cm². Basalts also had an
extensive use in Inkan Architecture. Basalt is the most abundant of
extrusive rocks, it is the volcanic correspondent of the intrusive rock
called "gabro", it has from 5° to 6° of hardness in the MOHS scale and a
resistance of 1200 Kg/cm²; in Qosqo City, the basalt of Rumiqolqa is the
most used as cobblestones to pave the streets. Diorites had also a very
diffused use among the Quechuas. They are equigranular igneous rocks
mainly composite of plagioclase feldspar and one or more dark minerals;
their hardness is of 6° and their resistance of 1200 Kg/cm². In Qosqo,
green diorites are found in San Blas and the skirts of Saqsaywaman and
they were used for construction of the Inka Roqa's palace in
Hatunrumiyoq street in which the famous twelve angled stone is found.
Andesites are abundant in the region and have an excellent quality being
the most preferred in the Inkan City architecture. Andesites get their
name because of the huge amount found in the Andes and are the volcanic
correspondent of diorites. They possess different colors and are
generally dark; they have 6° of hardness and 1200 Kg/cm² of compression
resistance. Along the Qosqo Valley some andesite outcrops are found in
the old volcanic centers of Waqoto, Oropeza, Lucre and Rumiqolqa.
Granites were broadly used too; they are intrusive igneous rocks and
have an equigranular texture (big and uniform grain) that differentiate
them from the extrusives. They contain an average of about 60% of
feldspar, 30% of quartz and 10% of dark minerals. They have 6° to 7° of
hardness and a resistance of 1200 Kg/cm²; the classical example of
granite among us is that of the Vilcabamba Batholith where Machupicchu
is found. Likewise, Sandstones were used in Inkan walls, they are
sedimentary rocks formed by strengthening of single sand grains. They
have a hardness of 7° in the MOHS scale and from 300 to 800 Kg/cm² of
compression resistance; like sand they were also used as abrasives in
order to polish some other rock types.
Normally, Inkan buildings leave even the most cautious, serene and wise
visitors perplexed and even stunned. Incompetency for understanding the
Quechuas human work has led in so many cases to utter some different
hypothesis, from the most prudent and science oriented ones to the most
disheveled, vain and fancy ones. When conquistadors arrived, many of
them could not explain what was standing in front of them and according
to their medieval way of thinking argued that "Indians" that were found
in the Andes were unable to make such a grandeur and attributed it as
work of devils, demons or malign spirits. This same incompetency leads
so many people nowadays to consider that all this gigantic work was made
by extraterrestrial beings with a superior technology and advanced
philosophy that came to leave a sample of their power and capacity;
precisely over here!!, Why they did not go on with their work here or
somewhere else in any other corner of the world?. It seems that this
last hypothesis argued by Erich von Däniken is simply a product of a
very fictional way of thinking.
Today, quarries containing lithic material for Inkan buildings are
easily identified all over the Tawantinsuyo. Normally with the help of
accumulated knowledge about ancient Peruvians and if geography was not
modified it is still possible to identify all the substructure created
for fracturing, carving, transporting and manipulating the rocks.
Without any doubt, the most eloquent example of all that is found in the
Kachiqhata quarries, about 4 Kms. (2.5 miles) away from Ollantaytambo.
There are but a few serious studies done about Inkan stonemasonry, among
which stand out that done by Jean-Pierre Protzen in Kachiqata and
Rumiqolqa.
Fracturing or detaching rocks from a mountain was perhaps the hardest
work in the whole process. For that purpose, the existing fissures or
fractures in the mountain were used frequently; fissures from which
rocks were forced to be detached with the help of bronze crowbars that
could be one meter or longer ones, like the ones found in museums; for
this work they could use wooden girders too. On the other hand, it is
suggested that some metal chisels were also used in order to make
successive holes making rocks crack following the alignment of
perforations. Likewise, it is argued that for splitting the rocks away
expansion of wooden wedges was used. Those wedges were placed in
successive holes made in the rock and then soaked with water. It is also
speculated about the possibility of fracturing rocks, perforating one or
more grooves that were filled up with water, that when frozen during
nighttime made rocks detach. A long time ago it was also believed that
for splitting rocks they were heated with fire and suddenly cooled off
with cold water; this process produces rock fracture in many and
irregular pieces that could be used in rough works and not precisely in
those of best quality.
Dressing surfaces and shapes from very irregular stones urged a great
specialization that was reached in millennia of cultural evolution in
the Andes. Discovered or learned techniques by pre-Inkan Nations were
improved, perfected and widely disseminated among the Quechuas. With
some disregard some authors argue that Inkas did not invent anything
except the trapezoidal shape hollows in the walls; but, what is evident,
is that no other nation or town before them had anything similar to
their stonework. Chroniclers indicate that in order to dress stones
Inkas used some other harder ones, this is what tradition teaches and
also what was demonstrated. In some quarries and different
archaeological diggings some different harder stones were found; harder
than the ones that were being shaped or are naturally found in the site.
Those harder ones are the stone hammers that tradition names as Jiwaya
or Jiwayo used to smooth off or carve building stones. They are compact
and heavy sedimentary rocks containing ferric oxides: hematite (Fe2O3)
originates a brick-reddish color in the rock, ferrous oxide (FeO)
produces a grayish or blackish color, goethite (Fe2O3.H2O) originates a
brown color while that limonite (2Fe2O3.3H2O) a yellowish color. These
rocks may contain even about 6% of iron. Likewise, some hammers of
basalt and epidorite rounded cobblestones were used; those are the
famous qollotas that are found in river beds and have a hardness that is
similar or superior than worked stones; the difference is in their great
compactness. Hard rock hammers were frequently ovoidal and used through
percussion (bumping) over the stones for buildings that were smoothed
off in a slow and laborious work. Their weight was according to the
duties they had to perform. So, the heaviest ones weighing about 10 Kg.
(22 Lb.) served for smoothing stones off while the lightest ones of
approximately 1 Kg. (2.2 Lb.) were for making shapes regular or
adjusting edges. It is frequently heard that obsidians were used for
dressing stones too; that is vaguely probable because they are a shiny
sort of volcanic glass resulting from siliceous magmas that were cooled
off; they would be useless for bumping but were used as knives, scrapers
and spearheads or arrowheads. The final dressing and polishing of
building stones was made through abrasion or friction with sandstones or
simply sand as abrasives and abundant water.
Even until some few years ago it was believed that Inkas did not manage
using metal instruments in their stone works because there was a lack of
enough evidences and testimonies. Nevertheless, modern studies
demonstrated that all that is not true. Bronze, the alloy of tin and
copper was the hardest metal used by Quechuas. Normally, in the
different museums there are bronze tools of different alloys correctly
tempered and of great hardness. The most serious study about the matter
was made by Yale University professor Robert B. Gordon, who studied a
collection of metal objects taken by Hiram Bingham from Machupicchu.
Among them he found 13 bronze instruments apparently made for heavy duty
works; later analysis and exhaustive tests gave the conclusion that 1 of
them was used to carve wood, 2 were designed for stone works but were
not used and the 10 remaining ones were used as real chisels: in order
to detach stone particles with impact produced being hit on their upper
edge. Thus, it is also demonstrated that Inkas used metal tools in order
to carve stones.
There are in many stones, very fine cuts that would be impossible to be
made by bumping or using chisels. Many scholars suggest that they were
made using some sort of "saws" consisting of wires or fine copper or
bronze blades and using some abrasive and a lot of water. Moreover,
there are some holes perforated in rocks; they show clear remains of
having been made using rotating perforators and without any doubt that
concerns the use of augers made on metal or hard wood that were rotated
using an arch, water and sand as abrasive.
Another aspect that causes wonder is the carriage of boulders for
buildings. In a very simple way it is known that in order to do it, the
ground was smoothed constructing very wide roads between the quarries
and the building site. Then, when slopes were found, that is, for
lifting or taking stones down, some ramparts or inclined planes were
built like the inclined plane that is seen in Ollantaytambo. Possessing
all this substructure some other auxiliary elements were used too, such
as round or rolling stones like the ones which are found near
Saqsaywaman in the Callañaupa family's property, and log rollers used as
wheels. These elements made all together real bearing systems that
allowed transportation using besides the power of dozens, hundreds and
even thousands of workers. They had to push or pull the boulders with
the help of pulleys, metal or wood levers, and ropes made of llama
leather, agave fibers or some other resistant materials.
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