Inca Empire
Monumental architecture

We can assure your majesty that it is so beautiful and has such fine buildings that it would even be remarkable in Spain.

Francisco Pizarro

Architecture was the most important of the Inca arts, with textiles reflecting architectural motifs. The most notable example is Machu Picchu, which was constructed by Inca engineers. The prime Inca structures were made of stone blocks that fit together so well that a knife could not be fitted through the stonework. These constructs have survived for centuries, with no use of mortar to sustain them.

This process was first used on a large scale by the Pucara (c. 300 BC –AD 300) peoples to the south in Lake Titicaca and later in the city of Tiwanaku (c. AD 400 –1100) in what is now Bolivia. The rocks were sculpted to fit together exactly by repeatedly lowering a rock onto another and carving away any sections on the lower rock where the dust was compressed. The tight fit and the concavity on the lower rocks made them extraordinarily stable, despite the ongoing challenge of earthquakes and volcanic activity.
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