The Inca: Occupiers or Creators – Part IV

The question discussed in the past three posts, is what did the Inca build, and what did they merely occupy as late comers to the Andean area?

As an example, the workmanship of the ancient people who built Sacsayhuaman is one of the remarkable feats of the Americas. The architecture was remarkable, the accomplishment outstanding, and the intricate stonework amazing.

This pucara, or fortress, of Sacsahuaman that overlooked Cusco (the City of Nephi) is without doubt one of the greatest structures of its kind anywhere. Fifteen hundred feet in length, it is composed of three massive tiers of stone walls, which have a combined height of 60 feet, with the walls broken into 46 salients (outward wall projections) and retiring angles (creating the zigzags), and buttresses. The cyclopean foundations contain stones that weigh more than 30 tons; these stones have carved beveled edges.

Top Lefty: An early drawing showing height of lower wall compared to a Spaniard; Top Right: An early photograph of the lower wall, the carved corner stone is twenty feet tall; Bottom: Current photo of the lower wall with its zig-zag shape

Before the Inca occupied Sacsayhuaman, it was occupied by the Kilke culture people. Before that it is cloudy as to who occupied the Cuzco area and during what times. The Huari (Wari) people are said to have been just to the north, and they were supposed to have been connected to the Tiwanaku people who were just to the south of Cuzco. However, none of the peoples mentioned seem to have been capable of building Sacsayhuaman, which can only lead one to believe it was far more ancient than scholars claim.

The engineering fetes of the builders have become legend over the years of study. The 300,000 or more stones that form the fortress are irregularly polygonal and locked so well structurally that they have defied innumerable earthquakes as well as the attempts of man himself to dislodge them. The fortress, replete with fighting towers, underground passages, habitations, and an intricate system of water distribution is unique in engineering throughout the Americas. The Inca claimed it was begun in 1438, the year they defeated the Chanka, and finished in 1508, twenty years before the Spaniards arrived at their borders. They also claim it took 30,000 workmen over 70 years to complete it.

The walls consist of massive blocks of stone which are so closely spaced that it is impossible even to slide a piece of paper between the stones. It is unknown how the blocks were moved and how the walls were constructed. This precision, combined with the rounded corners of the limestone blocks, the variety of their interlocking shapes, and the way the walls lean inward, is thought to have helped the ruins survive devastating earthquakes in Cusco. The Spanish harvested much rock from the walls of the structure to build churches and monasteries in Cusco. This is why the walls are in perfect condition up to a certain height, and missing above that point.

Of course it should be kept in mind that the entire Inca population before they started expansion is claimed to have been only 40,000, and from 1438 to 1508, the Inca were involved in fighting and subjugating no less than one hundred different tribes or nations, while at the same time keeping a military presence in each of these conquered areas to monitor and keep the conquered in line.

The idea of committing 30,000 men over 70 years to labor on a fortress in an area not under attack, and as the conquest continued successfully to expand the borders further and further away from Cuzco, to a point where the valley could not be threatened, while committing tens of thousands, and later hundreds of thousands to military action, seems unreasonable, let alone extremely poor military and governmental leadership judgment.

In addition, the Inca claimed to have finished just twenty years before the Spaniards arrived, and only about thirty-five years before the empire fell, yet the Spaniards did not described the fortress as being new or even near new, but looked like it had existed for a very long time, and frequently asked the Inca they conquered who built it—which the Inca often claimed for their own. However, the engineering accomplishments of Sacsayhuaman tell a different story.

Take for an example the fantastic construction of huge stones weighing hundreds of tons so perfectly cut and fitted, modern man cannot understand how it was accomplished with the types of tools known to the ancients. When the Inca later occupied this site, they tried to repair a few of the damaged walls, where a some anciently set big stones have fallen over the years, probably from earthquakes in the past. Their efforts show a lack of ability to come close to the original, magnificent work that is often attributed to them.

In addition, when the Spanish arrived, they used Inca labor to build on top of some of the ancient walls and structures. However, after two earthquakes, all the Inca had built came tumbling down while all the older pre-Inca walls and structures remained standing beneath the new, destroyed Inca work. Just look at the numerous examples below of excellent pre-Inca work, so precise and exact in fit and interlocking structure that modern engineers are amazed, and compare it to the few Inca repairs that are obvious of far lesser quality and knowledge. The difference is astounding:

Top Left: note the small rocks the Inca used to try and repair where a much larger stone had fallen; Right: Another place where the Inca used small rocks along the top course of the wall where some boulders tumbled down anciently; Bottom: An example of Inca stonework known to  have been built during Inca times. Note the different between the repairs and this latter haphazard stacking of rocks with the giant, carved and perfectly fitted stonework of an earlier time

Note the different abilities shown in these two examples of ancient stonework. Left: More recent Inca work; Right: Older stonework of Sacsayhuaman

Note the difference between these two lintel doorways. Left: An older doorway using large, carved blocks; Right: A more recent Inca doorway using small, non-carved, loosely fitting lintel and rocks

Left: Note the Inca repairs on the wall seen above the llama’s  head; Right: More obvious Inca repairs showing their lack of ability to cut and fit stonework—they used small stones with which they could work, even tough the missing larger stones were available for use

Top Left: Top level of the three walls at Sacsayhuaman. Note the clump of stones in the center right where the Inca tried to repair the top wall; Top Right: More obvious Inca repair work; Bottom: Pre-Inca work—note the detail of fitting a small triangular rock in the center, which was beyond Inca capability

The lower wall. Note 1) the top stones that were torn down by the early Spanish to build their own churches and houses—they stopped lower down because they simply could not dislodge them; 2) the fortress overlooked the valley below (Cuzco)

Left: Note the perfectly rounded carving of all three stones of varying sizes, and especially the vertical cut and matching line to the right of the bottom stone so the middle stone overlapped for a stronger joint. In none of the repairs made by the Inca before the Spanish arrived was any such engineering capability shown; Right: Note the planning, even if an enemy could breach the lower wall, to get to the next level they had to pass through this single opening, that had an upward approach and steps, slowing progress, and having to pass the defenders on two levels above them

When it is said the Inca worked on Sacsayhuaman before the Spanish arrived, it should be noted that their work is very obvious, using small rocks, most unfitted, to fill in the missing huge stones that were once in place. Inca work was far inferior to that of the original builders

Even in small walls, care was taken to carve rounded corners, interlock stones, and even angle small stones to smooth off the top and make sure everything fit. Inca small stonework was simply a  haphazard stacking of stones as shown in the above images

(See the next post, “The Inca: Occupiers or Creators – Part V,” for a real look at the Inca as they were, not as historians want us to believe they were)