Sharon Koehler

Artistic Stone Design

High up in the Andes Mountains of Peru, South America, lies a granite and limestone wonder called Machu Picchu. It sits almost 8,000 feet above sea level (Denver, Colorado, aka “The Mile High City” is only 5,280 feet above sea level) and covers 32,592 hectares or over 80,500 acres. It was designated a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary in 1981 and dubbed one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in July 2007.

Machu Picchu was built by the Incas in the mid-1400s, centuries before any of our modern day mechanical aids and conveniences. Some of the rock was cut straight out of the mountain, and some of the boulders were pushed up the mountain — by hand, using no wheels. Some of those boulders weigh over 50 tons and were pushed uphill by hundreds of men striving to build what would later become known as the Lost City of the Incas.

There are more than 100 individual staircases in Machu Picchu. Most of the individual staircases are carved from 1 solid piece of stone without any modern tools, or any ancient iron tools, for that matter. There are also over 600 rock-rimmed ledges within Machu Picchu. These stone-rimmed ledges were used to reduce soil erosion and help with water conservation.

There are over 150 stone buildings in the compound. Some are clearly identified as temples. There are also houses and some sanctuaries. It’s not what the buildings are used for that is so amazing, it was the way a lot of the buildings and walls were constructed. 

One of the “New Seven Wonders of the World,” Machu Picchu, located high in the Andes Mountains of Peru, was built with a mixture of ashlar and pillow-faced stone construction – all without using mortar. The stones — some of them weighing tons — are fitted together with much care and effort to build a very important site to this advanced culture.

One of the “New  Seven Wonders of the World,” Machu Picchu, located high in the Andes Mountains of Peru, was built with a mixture of ashlar and pillow-faced stone construction – all without using mortar. The stones — some of them weighing tons — are fitted together with much care and effort to build a very important site to this advanced culture. 
Agricultural site, Incan holy place, or royal retreat? Machu Picchu may have been all of the above, and more.

Agricultural site, Incan holy place, or royal retreat? Machu Picchu may have been all of the above, and more.

The Incas used a stone masonry technique called ASHLAR. Ashlar masonry is by definition “precisely cut and shaped stones fitted closely together without mortar.” They used either stone or copper tools to cut the stone along natural fissures and then polished the pieces. It is said that a knife blade cannot fit between the stones, and it is also said that during earthquakes, the stones dance and then fall back into place once the earthquake is over. The Sun Temple at Machu Picchu is a fantastic example of Ashlar masonry.

Another technique used by the Incas at Machu Picchu is pillow-faced or polygonal masonry which is by definition “smooth, many-sided stone blocks closely fitted together.” Basically, stone blocks are sanded and fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, again, without mortar. It was – and still is – a great technique for building walls. The pillow-faced stone wall surrounding Macho Picchu is approximately 20 feet high and 6 feet thick.  While the two techniques sound similar, there is one big difference: If a stone or block is damaged, it can be re-sanded and made to fit in pillow faced masonry, but not in Ashlar masonry.

Since the Incas left no written records, there is only mystery and speculation as to why they would build such a magnificent place. Some think it was a getaway destination for the Inca rulers and royalty. Others think that it was a place of escape when wars were being fought. If true, this in hindsight was a great idea because it took about 400 hundred years or so for the site to be “discovered” by the outside world. There is speculation that since it was so high up in the clouds, it was used for astronomy. Besides being called “The Lost City of the Incas,” it is also known as “The City Within the Clouds.”

 Supposedly, the way some of the buildings face, and the way some of the doors and windows open was based on tracking the movement of the sun and moon. Another theory is that it was a place used to house a multitude of vestal virgins. That’s far more than the 16 vestal virgins mentioned in the 1967 Procol Harum song A Whiter Shade of Pale! 

Anyway, another theory is that it was an agricultural site. Since the climate up high was very different than the climate down below, they could grow a variety of different things at different times of the year. According to some archaeologists, it was a completely self-sustaining agricultural site, where there was enough food and water to feed all occupants with no outside assistance. 

Another popular theory is that Machu Picchu is a holy site – that is was built with numerous Inca religious beliefs in mind. Snowcapped mountains peaks were sacred to Incas as well as some of the more noticeable rock formations that surround Machu Picchu. 

We may never know for sure why they built it. It may be one, all, or none of the above. We may never know why they abandoned it in the 1600s. We do know that they built it with none of the modern conveniences such as hydraulics, electricity, or motor vehicles that we can’t do without today. We know they built it with blood, sweat, and probably tears. We may not know why — but we know that they did — and centuries later, we are grateful. Thank you.


Please send your thoughts on this article to Sharon Koehler at Sharon@asdrva.rocks.com .