Machu Picchu exhibits three distinct construction layers predating typical Inca style. Researcher Alfredo Qamar identified three distinct construction styles at Machu Picchu: carved bedrock (oldest), megalithic stonework with many-sided blocks fitted without mortar, and typical Inca construction with smaller stones and mud mortar In many cases, Inca walls are built over or around the megalithic stones beneath Mainstream archaeology attributes quality variation to function and period within the Inca world itself
Wild discovery: Machu Picchu has THREE hidden construction layers. Alfredo Qamar identified carved bedrock (oldest), megalithic many-sided stones fitted without mortar, AND typical Inca mortar workâwith Inca walls built over megalithic foundations beneath. The 2021 Yale radiocarbon study pushes founding to ~1420, but those megalithic foundations may predate the Inca themselves. Bingham called this stonework "among the finest he had ever seen."
Key Facts
- Researcher Alfredo Qamar identified three distinct construction styles at Machu Picchu: carved bedrock (oldest), megalithic stonework with many-sided blocks fitted without mortar, and typical Inca construction with smaller stones and mud mortar
- In many cases, Inca walls are built over or around the megalithic stones beneath
- Mainstream archaeology attributes quality variation to function and period within the Inca world itself
- A 2021 Yale radiocarbon study pushed the founding date back two decades to approximately 1420
- The pottery dating method tells us who occupied the site, not when construction began
- Bingham wrote that the stonework was among the finest he had ever seen
Related site: Machu Picchu — view location, images, and history on the Ancient Nerds map.
Source: Machu Picchu Was Never Supposed to Be Found (Here's What's Hidden Inside) by Anyextee