Santa Clara 1904–1929 [1603]). Indeed, a modern experiment at Ollantaytambo
showed that a crew of 180 people could drag a block of some 10 metric tons (11
short tons) with relative ease.
To hoist big blocks up onto a wall under construction the Incas built ramps
perpendicular to the wall, raising the ramps as the wall grew higher. Such a
ramp, leaning against an unfinished burial tower, can still be seen today at
Sillustani near Lake Titicaca. This technique is further confirmed by the Jesuit
priest and chronicler Bernabé Cobo, who observed this in Cuzco:
And since they had no cranes, wheels, or apparatus for lifting them, they made a ramp of earth next to
the construction site, and they rolled the stones up the ramp. As the structure went up higher, they kept
building up the ramp to the same height. I saw this method used for the Cathedral of Cuzco which is
under construction. Since the laborers who work on this job are Indians, the Spanish masons and
architects let them use their own methods of doing the work. (Cobo, 1979 [1653])According to some chroniclers, notably Pedro de Cieza de León, the smaller
stones from Cuzco’s Rumicollca quarries were not only transported to the capital
itself, but may have been shipped all the way to Tomebamba in Ecuador, some
1,700 kilometers (1.056 miles) to the north. Recent research lends credibility to
Cieza’s claim: the geochemical composition of Inca andesite stones from the
area of Tomebamba very closely matches the rock of Rumicollca. How and why
did the Incas haul stones over such large distances? It is generally assumed that
they carried the stones on litters or suspended from poles. But when it comes to
the choice of a specific rock type, the Incas considered more than just the
structural quality of the rock. To them rocks also had symbolic, even religious,
significance. They frequently incorporated bedrock outcrops into their buildings;
the buildings literally grow out of the bedrock on which they stand. Throughout
the Inca landscape there are many rock outcrops regarded as huacas (sacred
places or objects) that the Inca venerated. Some outcrops were left in their
natural state; others were elaborately carved. The Inca stonemasons very likely
understood each stone as a piece of Pachamama, Mother Earth, who had to be
treated with respect and reverence.
Further Reading
Acosta, José de. Historia natural y moral de las Indias. Biblioteca Americana, 38. Mexico: Fondo de
Cultura Económica, 1962 [1590].
Cieza de León, Pedro de. The Incas of Pedro de Cieza de León. Translated by Harriet de Onis. Edited by
Victor Wolfgang von Hagen. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1959 [1553–1554].
Cobo, Bernabé. History of the Inca Empire: An Account of the Indian’s Customs and Their Origin, Together
with a Treatise on Inca Legends, History, and Social Institutions. Translated and edited by Roland
Hamilton. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1979 [1653].