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Prehistoric Peru.
It is a peculiar fact,
common to many ancient ancient cultures, that the oldest civilisations were
the most advanced, at the same time as possessing the highest style of art and mechanical skill.
This is true of Peru.
Baldwin says of Peru in his 'Pre-historic Nations'; 'The
oldest structures were attributed to bearded white men, who it is said,
worked stone with iron implements brought from their own country. The
traditions call them 'sons of the sea'. It is a remarkable fact, not
generally known, that the Incas worked iron mines on the east side of Lake
Titicaca. (see introduction to Popl-Vuh p.224). Planet worship, temples of
the sun, and a great knowledge of astronomy existed in Peru at a very early
period. Montesinos and De Bourbourg say the Peruvians had an accurate
measure of the solar year, and a knowledge of the art of writing, together
with paper made of banana leaves at least 1800 years before our era'. (2)
(Scroll down for more)
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Peruvian Chronology:
An intensive study of the Viru Valley on the North coast, showed a
cultural sequence going back to 2,500 BC (1)
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Featured Peruvian sites.
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 Chavin
du Huantar
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Capital of the Chavin culture.
Chavin du
Huantar, is an unusual complex
of steeply walled platforms, honeycombed with stone-lined passages surrounding a sunken plaza. It is unique amongst Pre-Columbian temple
groups. The principle edifice, called 'The Castillo' is faced with cut-stone
blocks in courses of varying widths. Inside the core are at least three irregular storeys of
stone-lined galleries, chambers and ventilating shafts.
There are still several engraved obelisks as Chavin du Huantar. Perhaps the
most incredible (Right), called 'El-Toro' (the Bull), or 'Lanzon'
(the Lance), was originally situated in the centre and deep in the underground catacombs at Chavin de Huantar. The top of it, at 4.5m, protruded through the
ceiling, and the floor above.
(More about Chavin du Huantar)
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Cuzco
(Cusco) - The
capital of the Inca empire.
The name
Cuzco
means 'Navel' in Quechua, with the site being considered the 'earth-navel'
of the Incas nations.
Tradition describes the founders of Cuzco
as two 'children of the Sun'. Manco Capac and
Mama Occlo Huaco, who were both brother and sister and husband and wife.
Sent by the Sun, the couple advanced from lake Titicaca with a golden
wedge, which was destined to sink into the earth without any effort at
their final place of residence, which was Cuzco
Cuzco is the centre of a network of
spirit-paths (cerques), that radiate across the landscape.
The quality of work at this site betrays the existence of
extremely sophisticated and skilled masons.
(More about
Cuzco)
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Machu Pichu - This Pre-Columbian Inca mountain
citadel was only rediscovered in 1911. It shows several strong
indications of astronomical observation.
The structures are built from white
granite, with blocks reaching up to 3.7 metres in length.
Location of the famous Intihuatana stone, also called
"The Hitching Point of the Sun" because it was believed to hold
the sun in its place along its annual path in the sky. At midday on
March 21 and September 21, the equinoxes, the sun stands almost above
the pillar—casting no shadow at all.
Skeletal remains show a 10:1 ratio of females to males. (3)
(More about Machu Pichu) |
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 Nazca
- Probably the best known example of landscape design in the ancient
world. These drawings in the desert have prompted much debate and wonder
since their discovery.
The Nazca valley is a strip of
level desert ground 37 miles long and a mile wide. The enormous drawings
were made by removing the dark granite pebbles which cover the floor,
and exposing the light yellow sand below. The drawings were first confirmed
when commercial airlines began flights over the Andes. They are clear enough
to have been viewed by astronauts aboard Skylab, orbiting 270 miles above
Earth.
There are essentially
two kinds of drawings at Nazca; Those that are Zoomorphic in
nature (left), and the larger geometric ones, some of which run into the
surrounding hills. The purpose of these designs is still unknown,
although astronomy and a form of ritual worship is suspected.
(More about Nazca) |
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 Ollantaytambo
(Ollantiatambo) -
A
Pre-Inca
fortress, with rock walls of tightly fitted blocks weighing
between 150 and 250 tons each. Most of the blocks andesite, the
quarries for which are situated on a mountaintop seven miles
distant. As well as the difficulties that must have been
experienced in dressing the stones, they had to be lowered down
one mountain, over a river canyon with 1000 ft sheer rock walls,
then raised up the mountain the complex is situated on.
The six Porphyry stones (right),
are some of the largest at the site, they weigh approximately 50 tons each.
One of the stones has the remains of a 'stepped -lozenge' motif on its face. The same (horizontal)
motif is also found in
Tiahuanaco.
(More about Ollantaytambo)
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 Sacsayhuaman
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Located on the outskirts of the ancient Inca capital of Cuzco.
Sacsayhuaman rests on an artificially levelled mountaintop, and
consists of three outer lines of gargantuan walls, 1,500 ft long
and 54 ft wide, surrounding a paved area containing a circular
stone structure believed to be a solar calendar. The ruins also
include a 500,000 gallon water reservoir, storage cisterns, ramps,
citadels and underground chambers.
The stone blocks weigh from between 50
tons to over 300 tons.
Common to many prehistoric examples of masonry, all the blocks
were fitted together so precisely that a thickness gauge could not
be inserted between them.
A Block on the outer walls, has faces cut
to fit perfectly with 12 other blocks. Other blocks were cut with
as many as 36 sides.
(More about Sacsayhuaman) |
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Extreme Peruvian Masonry
At Torontoy, one of the smaller sites clustered around Machu Pichu, there is a
stone with 40 angles between the sides. (3).
The Inca
were able to create citadels such as Mach Pichu, Cutting through granite,
with intricate block-work, yet no tools have been found that explain how.
The Quartz beads in the
picture on the left were discovered on a Peruvian mummy. The beads are so
small that it is claimed we were unable to reproduce the holes that were 'originally
drilled' through them, with current technology (1970's). A
remarkable achievements, regardless.
(Other examples of extreme masonry)
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List and description of featured Peruvian sites
.
In 1964, aerial photography identified
nearly 1,000
pyramid
sites in Peru (1)
Underground tunnels.
Peruvian Andes, Huascaran, 22,203 ft high, near the village
of Otuzco.
Cave entrances closed with slabs of rock. First recorded by
Francis Pizzaro (1478-1541). An expedition was organised in 1971, an
account of which was given in the periodical ‘Bild der Wissenschaft’.
“Vast tunnels which would leave even modern underground
constructors green with envy began behind six ‘doors’. These tunnels lead
straight towards the coast, at times with a slope of 14 per cent. The
floor is covered with stone slabs that have been pitted and grooved to
make them slip-proof. It is an adventure even today to penetrate these 55
to 65 mile-long transport tunnels in the direction of the coast and
finally reach a spot 80 ft below sea level. The great ocean lurks at the
end of the underground passage of ‘Guanape’, so called after the island
that lies off the coast of Peru here, because it is assumed that the
passages once led under the sea to the island. After the passages have
gone uphill and downhill several times, and after a downhill slope, they
end in ocean water". (18).
(Return to Top)
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