The Fortress of Ollantaytambo

In the last post we covered the Fortress of Kuelap, showing how well it fit into the Book of Mormon description of Nephite structures as described specifically in Alma. Here we will cover another fortress, that of Ollantaytambo. A massive citadel, it had a temple and a fortress and at some unknown, and for some reason unknown, work mysteriously stopped on this huge project.

A series of terraced stone walls up the side of the mountain made it nearly impossible for an enemy to attack the city above

Built on the side of a mountain, to reach the summit, a series of stairs and irrigation terraces were built. At the top was a megalithic wall—a series of polygonal megaliths some 12 feet high and 8 feet wide, weighing upwards of 80 to 100 metric tons each fitted together in an immense jigsaw puzzle of a wall over 260 feet tall.

It was a very important location—anyone traveling to the north or to the south had to go through here—and critical both economically and strategically. The valley, called “Sacred,” by the later Inca, is a swath of level land bordered by the Urubamba and Vilcabamba mountain ranges and threaded by the Urubamba River; the distance from the endpoints of Ollantaytambo in the northwest to Pisaq in the southeast is about 70 miles. Strung throughout this valley are some two dozen towns and villages, as well as the grand capital, Cusco, and Sacsayhuaman above it.

Ollantaytambo sits on top of a hillside overlooking the valley. At the top right of the image begins the city on top of and behind an enormous complex of defensive walls

What makes this more amazing is that all of the immense stones had been transported 195 feet up the side of a mountain from a quarry located three miles away and almost 3,000 feet higher on the other end of the Vilcamayu river valley, by the upper side of the opposite south-western mountains. These main quarries were located at Kachiqhata (Salt Slope), in a ravine across the Urubamba River some 3 miles from the town. The site features three main quarrying areas: Mullup'urku, Kantirayoq, and Sirkusirkuyoq; all of them provided blocks of rose rhyolite for the elaborate buildings of the Temple Hill.

The boulders were carved partially in the quarries, and taken down to the valley's bottom. In order to cross the river Quechuas constructed an artificial channel parallel to the natural riverbed that served for deviating the river's water according to conveniences. Therefore, while that water flowed through one channel the other was dry, thus stones could be taken to the other side of the valley. More over, the boulders were transported to the upper spot where the temple is erected using the inclined plane that is something like a road which silhouette is clearly seen from the valley's bottom. They had the help of log rollers or rolling stones as wheels, South-American cameloids' (llama), leather ropes, levers, pulleys, and the power of unknown numbers of men. An intricate network of roads, ramps, and slides connected them with the main building areas.

Today, on the way from the quarry to the temple there are dozens of enormous stones that people know as " tired stones" because it is believed that they could never be transported to their destination; those stones are the reason why some authors claim that the Sun Temple was unfinished when the Spanish invasion happened.

Massive, multi-sided blocks were precisely fitted together in interlocking patterns in order to withstand the disastrous effects of  earth quakes. Who taught the ancient Peruvians how to built like this?

Scientists today speculate that the masonry process involved first, carving the desired shape of the first boulder and fitting it in place, then the masons would somehow suspend the second boulder on scaffolding next to the first one, where they would trace out a pattern on the second boulder in order to plan the appropriate jigsaw shape that would fit the two together. In order to make a precise copy of the first boulder's edges, the masons might have used a straight stick with a hanging plum-bob to trace its edges and mark off exact points for carving on the second boulder. After tracing out the pattern, they would sculpt the stone into shape, pounding it with tools to get the general shape before using finger-size stones for precision sanding.

Note the intricate work of cutting these huge stones so they fit, both together, and over and around existing natural rock of the mountain

Admittedly, this entire technique is merely scientific speculation, but whatever the method, given the time and knowledge of the period, it was a magnificent and awesome challenge that was accomplished by very skilled stonemasons using tools  inferior to those of today. In addition, the time it would have taken is difficult for today’s masons and builders to conceive.

The intricate work of fitting large stones and the laborious effort of stacking fitted stones to form the scores of terraced walls was a time consuming and difficult task. Defense seems to have been the motivating factor in such construction

How were such titanic blocks of stone brought to the top of the mountain from the quarries many miles away? How were they cut and fitted? How were they raised and put in place? Now one knows, no one can even guess. There are archaeologists, scientists, who would have us believe that the dense, hard andesite rock was cut, surfaced and faced by means of stone or bronze tools. Such an explanation is so utterly preposterous that it is not even worthy of serious consideration. No one ever has found anywhere any stone tool or implement that would cut or chip the andesite, and no bronze ever made will make any impression upon it. But while science is perplexed over the problem, the Book of Mormon tells us that the original builder, Nephi, was instructed in building by the Lord “after the manner which I shall show thee” (1 Nephi 17:8), including the making of tools (1 Nephi 17:9-10), and “the Lord did show me from time to time after what manner I should work the timbers of the ship” (1 Nephi 18:1). It would appear that the Lord, the Master Builder who formed the universe and the various worlds, showed Nephi how to build. Nephi, then, turned around and taught his people “to build buildings, and to work in all manner of wood, and of iron, and of copper, and of brass, and of steel, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious ores, which were in great abundance (2 Nephi 5:15). By the time of Moroni, some five hundred years later, the Nephites were experts in building awesome and magnificent structures, including temples (Alma 23:2;26:29) sanctuaries and synagogues (Alma 16:13), forts and places or resort (Alma 48:8;49:13;52:5), and walls of stone to circle them about (Alma 48:8).

Left: Note the size of the stone compared to the girl sitting on the base; Right: One of the stairs that lead upward that completely exposes an attacking force to defensive positions above

It should also be kept in mind that the technique involved in this massive stonework can be seen at Sacsayhuaman, Tiwanaku, Ollantaytambo, and numerous other sites throughout Peru. Scientists say that everybody who has traveled to Egypt, Mesopotamia, and South America has seen this stonework and the astonishing craftsmanship of these ancient stoneworkers. The precision fit of large stone blocks is eminent in both the Old and New World. It is hardly imaginable, that all of this should have been done by pure manual work alone—even by today’s standards, we must concede that the Lord’s technology is far beyond that of modern man. Had he not been involved in the instruction of Nephi and others before him, the many magnificent structures we find would not have been possible.