Живые камни Саксайуамана.

In the Peruvian Andes at an altitude of three and a half thousand meters Cusco is located in a picturesque mountain valley The city charms with a blend of narrow streets built during Inca times e somber architecture of the colonial period In the colorful attire of indigenous people and the multilingual crowd of tourists People who have arrived from all corners of the world can get involved in the mysteries of history In Cusco everything reminds you of the Incas the founders of the city Ancient walls made of meticulously cut stones You can often hear Quechua the language spoken by the Incas The seven-colored flag of the Inca Empire of Tuauankinsuyu It is located next to the national flag of the Republic of Peru on the central square According to legend Cusco was founded by the son and messenger of the sun god Manco Capac Appearing in these parts with his wife-sister Oklio And he came with the purpose of bringing the laws of civilization to the people Help free from ignorance poverty and aggression It is to him that the first state commandment belongs "Never lie never steal never be lazy " which enabled the creation of a highly organized society and later in lightning-fast time unite a multi-million empire under the Inca rule A stretch of thousands of kilometers from Ecuador to Chile This lost civilization left many mysteries behind The Inca did not have a written language and all that we know about them comes from the chronicles of the Spanish conquerors The memories of the descendants of the Incas who lived many years later and the numerous interpretations of modern archaeologists and historians One of these mysteries is the architecture of the Incas It is believed that a large number of structures were built in less than a hundred years Which continue to inspire admiration among historians and architects as well as numerous tourists These include the buildings of Alcantara-Tambo the terraces of Pisac and the laboratory in Maray The famous flying city of Machu Picchu the temples and palaces of Cusco and much much more Although some researchers believe the Incas did not build everything themselves they restored and used what had already been built Sacsayhuamán is located on a high hill on the northern outskirts of Cusco Perhaps one of the most impressive architectural mysteries This is what Garcilaso de la Vega wrote in the 17th century in his chronicle "The History of the Inca Empire " His proportions are impossible to imagine until you see them Seen up close and carefully studied the stones make an incredible impression You are beginning to think whether its structure is related to some magic "Could this not be the work of demons not of men " Sacsayhuamán These are three levels of zigzag-shaped walls built from megaliths Large stone blocks weighing dozens or sometimes hundreds of tons and a large number of remnants of ancient structures spread over a large area It is commonly believed that the main work was done in the mid-15th century during the reign of Inca Pachacuti Unfortunately it is no longer possible to accurately say what the complex looked like in ancient times For the Spaniards who came here in the mid-16th century The destruction of Sacsayhuamán was a symbol of the victory of the Kingdom of God over paganism e triumph of European civilization over the barism of the Indians And the complex was used not only as a source of building material for churches Both private homes in Cusco and the city itself were deliberately destroyed Only the megalithic walls survived which the Spaniards were unable to destroy The precision of the block fitting is astonishing and is still considered unmatched Where the masonry is undisturbed between the blocks it is not only impossible to insert a sheet of paper But sometimes the gap is simply imperceptible Difficulties in understanding the construction method were not only experienced by medieval chroniclers The mentioned Garcilaso de la Vega wanted to have the block sizes notarized So that they could believe him in medieval Spain But also for modern architects and archaeologists The methods of moving blocks and fitting them to curved surfaces remain a mystery The Incas did not have a wheel or draft animals there is no mention of the use of block and tackle or levers or any structures that facilitated working with heavy weights By the time the Spaniards arrived the Incas were no longer building anything from huge stones But in the chronicles and legends about these structures it is only mentioned that only manual labor was used The magical help of the earth and the stone's desire to be moved The walls made of limestone blocks are constructed using the dry-stone method without the use of cement You can see how the wall is constructed from the ruined section Facing with high-quality polygonal masonry And the interior filling consists of rows of roughly hewn stones with clay Builders did not take the standard path First they erected the heaviest megaliths Then fill the wall with smaller ones It is clearly visible that the large megaliths which are some of the largest stones They rely on pre-established base blocks The weight of the largest corner stone can reach up to 300 tons according to various estimates To achieve visible precision in the joints multiple fittings are required and a large number of precisely adjusted block movements Limestone is a hard but brittle material that sometimes has a very uneven structure Which will crack flake and crumble with the slightest tilt How the builders worked with the huge stones that were placed uprig Only through primitive manual labor remains an unsolvable mystery Surfaces of contact often have a complex three-dimensional texture Perhaps such precisely shaped structures are very effective in areas with high seismic activity During earthquakes which are common in these areas the blocks naturally return to their place On the plaster model it is clear how stable such a masonry is even without the use of any binding agents On many blocks there are protrusions and depressions which archaeologists consider rigging equipment But many dents have the shape of simple dents not suited for supports and levers But on the unprocessed reverse side of the stone fragments they are often completely absent And the Inca did not have trees suitable for construction Scented eucalyptus groves which grew abundantly on the hillsides appeared here only in the 19th century About how ancient builders used some unknown methods when moving megaliths It speaks about the location of the granite blocks of the Temple of the Sun in Ollantaytambo 40 kilometers north of Cusco These blocks were transported from the other side of the gorge across the river and lifted onto a narrow vertical cliff There are even megaliths lying along the road with no hints as to how they were moved There is too little space on the rocky ledge to accommodate the structures and enough people to handle such a weight The mystery remains as to how the blocks were set and adjusted on the nearly vertical wall At the top of the hill surrounded by walls is one of the most remarkable structures of the Saksarama complex We are now on a hill on a mountain where the fortress is located Here we see part of the structure remnants of walls and foundations In the accounts of chroniclers Siesa de Leon Sarmiento de Gamboa and Garcilaso de la Vega it is the foundation of the three towers This circle is most likely the Muymarka and it may have been part of the House of the Sun And the other two towers on either side were probably called Pauskamarka and on the other side Sayakamarka According to Cusco de Leon what the Spaniards called a fortress that is these structures at the top of Sacsayhuamán represent a very large ritual structure dedicated to the Sun There is also the Temple of Lightning represented by lines emanating from the towers Other less significant deities dwelled in structures such as the Rainbow Temple the Moon Temple and the Star Temple which surrounded the House of the Sun The purpose of Sacsayhuamán may have been that the entire complex was a temple where the Incas worshipped the Sun This structure was also considered the dwelling place of guardian deities celestial beings present here in the material world But besides the ritual structure theory there are many other different hypotheses From simple household storage facilities for food water towers defensive forts to the most exotic Influence on Earth through the management of telluric currents a generator of subtle energies providing extraordinary power and so on Indeed the structure resembles more a technological installation than a temple for worship Precise geometric outlines an intricate network of gutters of unknown purpose on the western side of the tower megalithic walls protecting the hill from destruction The foundations of the buildings are made of limestone The walls themselves were made of harder well-worked mostly rectangular andesite blocks remnants of which are found here and used for restoration Some andesite blocks were found inside the collapsed section of the wall But archaeologists have no explanation for this yet unless one assumes that the builders of the wall used debris from an older structure Here there are two entrances to natural underground caves but both are sealed for safety As the stories go people often went missing or lost their minds in the tunnels mainly adventurers and treasure hunters searching for Inca relics And in the 1920s the authorities decided to seal all known entrances to the dungeons The intriguing topic of underground structures interested participants in the ground-penetrating radar research conducted here in July 2012 Tunnels and all sorts of underground passages on Peruvian territory are not uncommon But in the area of Muyuk Marki Tower where the underground structures are most likely located the research could not be carried out Interference from nearby communication towers was causing problems No visible remnants of structures were found in the square and the area around the walls where rock cracking sites were identified which caused wall deformations But in the area of Lake Kochi and Chenkana Rock remnants of underground structures were found one of which was interpreted by experts as a tomb Beyond the hill which is believed to be an extrusion - the extrusion of viscous lava during an eruption - lies a large oval plaza called Qocha Historians believe it was an artificial pond although the structure resembles a large arena in shape The true purpose of the object remains unknown At the edge of Kocsi are large pieces of rock as if piled up in a disorderly manner No one can explain what unknown force brought them here There is even a stone that rests on the wall of polygonal masonry Some walls and ledges were clearly made before these stones were here It is possible that we are seeing the remains of a large and very ancient structure There is something similar in the village of Kenka two kilometers from the complex Although the sizes of the randomly scattered processed stones are not so impressive The topic of the stones brought up had come up several times during the inspection of this area A fairly large rock called Chinkana lies nearby known for the large number of depressions on its surface They say this stone was the one the Incas tried to move He is also called the "weary stone " and thousands of Indians perished When the stone fell it covered the entrance to the revered Inca underground chamber And in the rock there was a tunnel with steps the remains of which are clearly visible It is hard to say what moving technologies the Incas used moving a rock weighing several thousand tons and whether it was actually done But there are also individual stones one could say rocks that are not the native rock and they are found nearby in the form of Wacke A waka is any place that the indigenous people associate with manifestations of supernatural power Often these are just broken stones or rocks Indian legends and Spanish chronicles it is often very detailed The interaction of the indigenous people with the forces of nature through Waka is described This is what Garsilasa de la Vega wrote in his chronicle It Wakka means a sacred object which could have been anything from which the devil spoke These are idols rocks huge stones or trees into which the enemy of humanity penetrated To make them believe that he is God A wako was also called any temple large or small and the burials that were in the field "And the corners in the houses where the devil spoke to the priests and other people who had a familial connection with him " Another indigenous chronicler from Guamán Poma mentioned in the late sixteenth century That the Incas thanks to the Huacas knew the location of silver gold and other mineral mines Here is what he writes about some Inca rulers Tupac Inca Yupanqui was able to speak with the huacas And from them he learned about the past and what would come in the future and throughout the world Something similar was also intended by Huayna Capac one of the last supreme rulers of the Inca But they the Wakis didn't want to talk to him It is said that only the idol Paria Kakha replied to him He reported that there was no more time left for conversation or for the rule of the Incas Since the people called the "verokochy" must already have come during his reig "or immediately after to correct in the name of one very great idol that they will bring with them " The rocks surround the piece from all sides Many rocky outcrops or just large pieces of rock in this area They are densely covered with various indentations that were applied to a highly eroded surface Cutouts and recesses come in a wide variety of shapes From rudimentarily processed depressions to refined strict geometric outlines The systems in rectangular and stair-like cuts were not observed Although some can be used as benches and for easy access to the elevation But in general there is a certain similarity in the structure of wak which usually includes such a jagged rock Sometimes the waka is arranged in this way Numerous mostly rectangular cutouts and steps applied quite randomly one or several well-processed walls sometimes with bosses bulges A well-dug cave with chambers or something like a grotto and a small area or a stone where a slightly different type of processing was used With images resembling snakes animals or winding water channels Often such wakas are surrounded or adjacent to small structures of polygonal masonry of varying quality Also some wakas have clear connections to various drainage systems For example in Kenka there is a waka with two holes in the rock It appears that the water sources are equipped with well-designed drainage systems Nearby on a large rugged cliff there is a picturesque and winding stream It is very difficult to say what function such a tiny gutter served The channel is only a few centimeters wide Samples were collected during ground-penetrating radar studies at Sacsayhuamán which were studied in Russian research institutes It turned out that the blocks were mainly composed of fine-grained limestone Builders tried to use high-quality materials Some blocks ring when tapped But large stones often have defects and a very uneven structure which is natural when working with natural stone The wall material was probably taken from the site The limestone of the cliff in the tower area has the same structure as the limestone of the blocks The stones at Sacsayhuamán show clear signs of being shaped and pounded These are small indentations with traces of micro-defects from impact A large portion of the blocks in the complex are covered with such markings Exactly these marks remain when something harder is struck against limestone the material of the wall blocks It is possible to see how the craftsmen changed their tools when working on more delicate parts At the edges of the blocks the dots become smaller and more frequent After experiments on the natural stone located nearby there are practically no doubts about this method of processing It is well known that there are legends about how the Indians used some mysterious liquid to make stone pliable And we tried using vinegar in the stone treatment Vinegar effectively dissolves limestone although it would not work on other types of rock After the surface washed with water it became clear that the nature of the damage had a completely different appearance Rather than the one commonly observed on blocks And it is not suitable for precise processing and fitting Well not exactly a very flat surface but something like that Together with tapping another more subtle but misunderstood method of processing was used Surfaces sometimes have a lapped appearance to achieve a minimal gap of less than a millimeter at the joints But this also does not explain how such precision could be achieved on large hard megaliths but at the same time fragile materials such as local limestone Where the contact surface of one block almost perfectly copies the surface of the other The Spaniards noticed the elegance of the shaped stones And numerous small precisely executed details on blocks of all sizes If judging by the accuracy of the fit one should recall the megaliths of Valiantamba Granite is a harder material than the limestone of Sacsayhuamán Therefore it allowed for almost jewelry-like precision in processing and fitting here In our time fairly sophisticated devices are used to achieve such accuracy The Incas did not have precise measuring instruments And during construction they used the most primitive methods and stone tools The debate continues on how the builders achieved such a result Very often the version of stone softening is heard the bringing of the block material into a malleable state But there are also more exotic assumptions It has often been noted that the structure of the masonry resembles that of living matter and the Incas considered the stones to be alive There is a legend that the structures somehow grew up overnight Builders used more than just primitive pounding If the white spots are marked by impact That is other well-known yet unexplained traces Archaeologist Luis Guevara presented an entire collection of traces from a mysterious tool These traces are unique Their number is negligible compared to the total mass of processed stone Although it is clearly evident that most of it has been destroyed by time This is what Luis Guevara says about a similar track in a cave on the outskirts of Russa We are in a temple called Chiktaqaka There is no mention of this OAK among the keepers and the site is currently under investigation We are trying to explain the use that could have been made of this OAK On the day of the summer solstice the sun illuminates the interior of the cave This entire space this entire wall was treated as expected for gilding An unusual tool was used The remarkable elegance and precision with which these surfaces and steps were crafted I am not sure that the Incas had a tool capable of leaving such marks A horizontal surface that looks downward is polished As if a pliable material had been cut by a knife-like tool with a thickness of 2-3 mm A similar trail is found on the diorite rock opposite the megalithic walls in Sacsayhuamán A crack several meters long seemed to have separated a huge piece of rock from the main mass Similar traces are also found in Aljantay-Tambo The Incompiuta rock has a well-known platform with a smoothly polished wall and a grooved floor What tools the builders used the archaeologists have no guesses The incisions were made with a tool resembling a plastic cutter with a cutting edge width of about 2 mm Along the line but rather carelessly not particularly concerned with accuracy or uniformity of cells The tool sometimes crosses the groove from one end to the other An equally interesting processed area is located nearby It was made in a similar way with two cuts inside each depression It consists of four regular rhombuses intersected by a groove that follows the step There are even more unusual signs of processing In Sacsayhuamán on the western side of Cusco there is a remarkable stone The style of processing is noticeably different from anything else in the area Erosion on the surface is typical for limestone But at the same time if looked at more closely the processing resembles working with a malleable material Or did the masters try to imitate this style using jewelry techniques Such traces can easily be left with fingers on soft clay Although there is a figure obtained clearly in a traditional way There is a ledge around the entire perimeter of the stone which also shows clear signs of cuts or abrasion The ridge turns into snake-like formations that archaeologists believe are snakes looking at each other The method and tools used for this processing are unclear Although it's hard to shake the feeling that these are not impressions in a malleable material Moreover on this side of the stone there are signs of chipping that are clearly visible and were applied later and are not related to the creation of these protrusions There are also signs of material smearing followed by subsequent tapping It can be assumed that some of these traces remained after the stone was adorned with gold ornaments But it is very hard to understand why the masters so carefully copied the work on the plastic material There is a similar trace on the wall block There is a place in Kenka where the limestone has the appearance of a solidified puddle At the same time it is well known that under normal conditions it is impossible to melt limestone When heated it loses its properties and turns into quicklime There is an even more astonishing discovery An interesting artifact was discovered during excavations in 2008 near a complex known as the Temple of the Moon His main value is that the processing traces have not been eroded It's hard to imagine a tool that leaves such traces It is impossible to do this through scraping rubbing or even tapping The only analogy that comes to mind is the traces of a heated tip on a soft material And finally I would like to tell you about another discovery that is directly related to stone processing On the Chenkane the rock that was previously mentioned an image resembling an inscription was found At first it was seen as regular tourist vandalism - a message written in white paint left by visitors But upon closer inspection especially after this section of the rock was watered It turned out the inscription was quite old although carelessly done and reminiscent of a small problem solved on a schoolboard It was completely unexpected to discover that the white paint had nothing to do with it The inscription was made by an unknown method resembling etching and appears as whitish crystalline inclusions within the stone's structure Unfortunately neither a scrape nor samples could be taken it would have been necessary to destroy part of the inscription In the Muyukmarga area archaeologists identified andesite block with an ornament It resembles an inscription in crystals on a chenkane I have never encountered anything like this before and therefore the inscription has not yet been deciphered Although it is clear that these inscriptions have a direct connection to the builders But the Incas did not have a written language They used khipu a counting system made of knotted and braided cords At the same time we know nothing about how the Incas designed their structures or where they obtained and how they transmitted their knowledge We don't understand much of their worldview We know very little about those who were considered priests and wizards About the amauta - philosophers and scholars without whom Incan rulers could not make important decisions Who were the ancient builders the architects of Sacsayhuamán What are those for which it was possible what cannot be explained in our civilized world The conquistador Don Mansio Cerro de Liguisama the last of those who first conquered Peru He wrote about the Inca rulers as follows "We found these states in very good condition " and the mentioned Incas ruled them so wisely that there were no thieves among them There were no corrupt men no faithless women no immoral women no immoral people Everyone had honest and useful professions They did not know crimes or executions Each person had their own property and no one laid claim to it The reason that compels me to write this is the cleansing of my conscience since I feel guilty We destroyed all of this through our bad example "We destroyed a people who had such a government and were a happy nation "