Vilcashuamán in Peru features Inca polygonal masonry construction with notable variations in quality. Basalt stone at the site rates 6 on the Mohs hardness scale. The site is located in the Ayacucho region at approximately 3,490m altitude. 🏛️
Vilcashuamán shows megalithic pre-Inca construction techniques
PeruGeneral
Key facts
- Vilcashuamán (Vilka Swaman) is in the highlands of Peru: near Ayakucho
- Polygonal wall construction shows two distinct quality levels: fine megalithic work (oldest) and crude Inca reconstruction
- Basalt stone at the site rates 6 out of 10 on Mohs hardness scale, harder than bronze tools (3.5)
- Bronze tools could not have quarried or affected the basalt material
- The quarry was located 6 kilometers away on top of a mountain
- Construction periods at the site include: megalithic (pre-Inca), Inca reconstruction, and Spanish colonial rebuilding
- The original pre-Inca name of the site likely described its function
- The Inca name Vilcashuamán means 'the sacred falcon'
Site mentioned
Sources
Vilcashuaman: the great Inca complex of Ayacucho - Tierras Vivastierrasvivas.com
In Vilcashuamán this place for the Inca is the Ushnu, a pyramid with five platforms on which was an armchair carved in stone and with gold ...
(PDF) Peruvian polygonal masonry: how, who, when and what forresearchgate.net
The monograph covers the problem of reproduction of the most complicated for implementation type of a polygonal masonry existing in Peru using simplest means.
Vilcashuaman: the great Inca complex of Ayacucho - Inca Trail Machuincatrailmachu.com
Vilcashuaman is the main Inca archaeological complex that you can find in Ayacucho, in southern Peru, which continues to surprise its ...
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