Stonework at Sacsayhuaman--The City Nephi Built - Part I

It was used for multiple purposes—both defense and religious. Frost. Maybe also used as a “storehouse of the sun.” A temple of the sun more magnificent than any before. It was also a place of residence.

A map of the ruins of 1.4 miles north of Cuzco, the colossal stone fortress called Sacsayhuaman sits atop a steep hill above the valley of Cuzco

Based on the map above, the following places are shown:
1. The Muyuc Marca circular tower
2. The Paucar Marca tower
3. The Sallac Marca tower
4. The Fortress temple
5. The Zig Zag protective walls
6. The West Wall or Suchuna
7. The East defensive wall
8, 9. The terraced hills down into the Valley
    Pedro Pizarro, brother of Francisco Pizarro, described Sacsayhuaman as sitting “on top of with a very strong fort surrounded with masonry walls of stones and having two very high round towers. And in the lower part of this wall there were stones so large and thick that it seemed impossible that human hands could have set them in place…they were so close together, and so well fitted, that the point of a pin could not have been inserted in one of the joints. The whole fortress was built up in terraces and flat spaces.”

The hill behind the three-tier outer wall at Sacsayhuaman. Beyond, the plateau falls away, steeply sloping down to the Valley below

Sitting on a hill of sedimentary rock and diorite, part of the fortress overlooked the Cuzco valley below. The far side has the three zig zag walls that were built from precisely fitted, unimaginably large stones, on three terraces, each 1245 feet long with fifty angles.
    There are massive trapezoidal doorways or entrances through the three zig zag outer walls. The fortress was made of quarried and cut stone, with living rock hewn to be used as foundations. Most of the stones came from Muina and Rumicolca, 12½  miles away One of the stones is estimated to be 126 tons.
    In addition, a series of tunnels connect the fortress to the Qorikancha (Coricancha) , meaning “Golden Temple,” which was iriginally named Intikancha or intiwasi, dedicated to the god Inti down in the valley. The site was excavated by Luis Valcarcel in 1935.

Two sections of the wall around Sacsayhuaman; Note the portion of one of the towers on the top of the hill above the rock wall

Zig Zag Walls are in three courses, each on a different level up a terraced hillside. The west end of the walls was incomplete and low, providing less protection than the rest of the zig zag walls. In 1982, heavy rains exposed a section of the outer walls and remains of 11 high-ranking Inca warriors were exposed of the much more modern history of the wall in 1536, no doubt from the Spanish attack on the fortress and siege.
    The largest stone in this series of walls was 29 feet tall and weighed 361 tons. The wall itself is 1000 feet long with 22 salients, or distinct zigzags, that is walls that jut out to form a bulge in the wall to defend against attack. In 1982, heavy rains exposed a section of the outer walls and the remains of 11 high-ranking Inca warriors were exposed, probably from the 1536 AD Siege.

The lower or first wall

The first or lower wall is 27 feet tall, the second is 35 feet set and 18 feet exposed, with the third  18 feet set and 14 feet exposed for a total of 59 feet. Each wall stood 6 feet above the terrace with a platform for standing and overlooking the parapet. The walls, which are all that is left of the original complex, surround an area that housed more than 10,000 men, today cover only a quarter of the original size.
    What remains today are the astounding outer walls constructed in a zigzag formation on three levels. Like many Inca constructions, the walls are made of massive, irregularly shaped boulders that fit together like a jigsaw puzzle without the aid of mortar. The stones are so closely spaced that even a piece of paper cannot be inserted between many of the stones.
    Such zig zag walls are also found at Choquekillka, near Ollantaytambo along the Urubamba River.

The enormous three-tier zigzag wall that faces north with the hill site of the original complex. Beyond the steep hill that overlooks the valley below, the ground falls away in slopes on three sides

Sacsayhuaman was constructed with forbidding, castle-like walls—more likely a religious temple, although most experts believe it also had military significance. However, the complex was large enough to have had a temple as well as barracks, weapons storage and defensive walls that provided overlapping fields of fire, each side protecting the other against an enemy.

The purpose of the zig zag walls, which provided two fields of fire against an attack enemy, rather than just one

One of the purposes of a zig zag patterned wall is for an enemy to take out a wall or breach it, they have to get in close, which allows the defenders to outflank the attackers and have two fields of fire.
    At Sacsayhuaman, these walls were  zig zag walls forming three enormous stone ramparts across the mountain top with 22 distinct salients. It would have been extremely difficult to attack these ramparts for the design would automatically expose the flanks of an opponent.
Stones: Sacsayhuaman incorporated such massive stones into its defenses that walking beneath these monumental walls is an experience in feeling insignificant. So monolithic are some of the stones that it is impossible not to feel ant-like by comparison.

Hewn rock that has been pillowed rather than being of cut and flat stone

The entire structure of the fortress was of stonework, with the main defensive walls or battlements cleverly designed to reveal the flanks of an attacking army, exposing them to two directions of bow and arrow fire, slings, or rocks when attacking. The 22 such salients at Sacsayhuaman made the complex extremely difficult to defeat.
The Stones. These colossal irregular cut polygonal stones were pillowed (convex) faces and beveled, sunken joints bulged from the center outward rather than the normal flat cut stone of other cultures. The biggest cornerstone stood 28 feet high, with the longest of three walls over 1300 feet and stood 20 feet high. A single boulder has been estimated to weight between 132 and 220 feet.
    The stones were cut, shaped and dressed stone blocks of all shapes and sizes that were perfectly fitted in random pattern, without mortar. The joints are so well fitted that masons are still amazed at the ancient skill possessed by the Peruvians.

The masterfully skilled stonework accomplished by ancient Peruvians

They are locked or dovetailed together and fit like a jigsaw puzzle,  Although some of the stones are fairly square or rectangular and with six faces, many are irregular in form, and some have as many as thirty-two angles. The only way in which such complex forms could have been fitted with such incredible accuracy was by cutting each block to extremely fine measurements, or by means of a template, a process which would indicate that these prehistoric Peruvians possessed a most thorough and advanced knowledge of engineering and the higher mathematics.
    The masonry stones were incredibly huge and immaculate, and was typical of the temple or palatial stonework. Some of the stones were 20 feet high and weighed 300 tons. All were quarried, worked, transported and fitted by hand, with most being over 125 tons. Today, only the outer walls remain, all buildings were torn down when the Spanish arrived. Some 38 feet long, 18 feet broad, and 6 feet thick. The quarries from which they were cut are 14 to 52 miles away.

Massive stonework that has lasted through storms and earthquakes for more than a thousand years

(See the next post, “Stonework at Sacsayhuaman--The City Nephi Built – Part II, regarding the enormously effective stonework at Sacsayhuaman in Andean Peru that was built by ancient Peruvian)