Taking a close look at megalithic Sacsayhuaman and Cusco, a video podcast with Matt from the Ancient Architects channel and the Kyle and Russ, the Brothers of the Serpent! We review my raw video footage and discuss the many mysteries of these beautiful locations in the highlands of Peru.
Ancient Architects Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCscI4NOggNSN-Si5QgErNCw
Brothers of the Serpent: https://www.youtube.com/user/TsurugiMasamune
Mystery of Sacsayhuaman (Part 1): https://youtu.be/WdKLNEUmRlM
Mystery of Sacsayhuaman (Part 2): https://youtu.be/kvUCuJ0qcc0
Andean Architecture Primer: https://youtu.be/oxuiB1vhDjM
Sacsahuaman ground penetrating radar and “laser” tool in the following video…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmlQz9kEHJA . The “laser” tool is at the 33:25 mark. Fascinating. This same melting at the end of a stroke was also in one of Brien Foerster’s videos in the causeway at Petra on a larger scale. A man with Brien’s tour points it out to him. These podcast’s are really, really enjoyable, thanks.
Thanks!
Your video of temple of the moon area. A thought. Structures of wood and metal-demolished by catastrophe and covered by muck, muck turns to stone, metal and wood decay. Question?-What amount of time needed for such a scenario? It would be interesting to see photos with negative aspect, to see if it helps make any sense of it. I believe the history of mankind,-emphasis on kind-goes back in time much, much farther than we can imagine. Just a thought.
I really should get into that site, I have a lot more video of it. It’s intriguing.
Hi Brad I love your YouTube site and podcasts, I have a theory (Oh no not another one) as to how the walls on pre- Inca sites are so tightly fitted together and uniform in construction.
It might be that looking and birds and other animals they notice the use of stones and pebbles to grind down the food in the gastric track. After awhile through rubbing together they become smooth and less effective and thus are discharge from either the mouth of anus. Maybe one particular creature had a potent acidic gut/gizzard that affect the stones as well. By using the gut and a mitten the gut grit and fluids could be applied to prepared stone blocks for smoothing.? Also the flakes on some of the blocks could were water had got in during time through a fault and thus ice had caused the damage.
I have more ideas about the why displays of the abilities seem so random scattered over the mountain sides but I will leave for another time
Kind Regards Roland (From Darkest Hertfordshire)
I believe there is a theory out there about some bird excretion that helped in softening the stone. Just going from memory. One of those things that likely needs further study.
Just an idea, but it looks to me like a really good way to get the ultra tight fit and shape of the polygonal rocks at Cusco is to first cut or pick roughly the right oversized rock shape, set in the wall above its spot and then use a reciprocating action to work it down into its final resting place. Most likely a back and forth action and an up and down action would be required, but the grinding of the rock in and out and up and down against its neighbors would make the fit perfect (its own weight would help this action. It would both grind the rock being placed and the previously set rocks, which is what looks like has happened at many of the megalithic sites in peru. Even with todays tech I think a method like this would still be the only way to consistently get the tight fit seen there. I can picture a gantry rig with cranksafts to do this work (could be either high tech or low tech). I’m sure this has been thought of by others, but I haven’t seen it talked about as a engineering possibility. Keep up the good work.
OK await your reply
I loved the podcast on Sacsayhuaman and Cusco. It crystallised my thinking about construction, here is a theory for consideration. All work is done with some form of hammer and chisel. The walls were built on their sides on a nearly flat surface one course at a time, with the final inside face upward. The rough blocks from the quarry were placed with the intended exposed face down, the nubs were for levelling the rough block during dressing, perhaps partly compensating for an uneven floor. Sides were done first as planes using a straight edge, and the entire course assembled on its side. Then the next course of rough blocks was lined up say one metre away and its edges done and the blocks brought together. Then the matching faces between courses were prepared using a standard spacing stick. Supervisor could check this until satisfied, it could be a very accurate match. Then the first course was taken to the wall and erected. The previous course was moved over to the first position and a new set of blocks brought in. Once the wall was finished, the roughly aligned exposed face was pillowed deeply enough to make a neat join. The pillowing is a labour-saving technique that avoids having to align the outer faces perfectly during preparation. This might be the only practical way to make such a wall, which is why it is seen in different locations and cultures. There is no need for lifting blocks in and out to perfect the joins. I am a mining engineer and feel confident I could build the walls that way without too much trouble.