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Amazing series!!! Im from Peru, visited that site many times. Its very true what you are talking about. Congratulations keep on the good work. Come here anytime i can help you out.
Jonathan, I've been to Peru 6 times. I love the place, but now my friends there tell me they are still in lockdown and the coming election has 2 bad choices. Something also about violence from the Colony. I always stayed in Lima and often went to Haiti sidewalk cafe in Mira Flores. After 60 years, now out of business. The people are great.
The simplest explanation for why there is no longer a spring there is the same one that applies to the vast majority of springs that have vanished over the last 100 years. Modern electric wells pump out the water long before it has the chance to emerge from a spring. There are more people and more agricultural activity in the Andes now than at any time in history. A LOT more.
I didn’t know for certain what modern changes there have been, but I really wanted to highlight various possibilities and why springs can disappear. But you’re probably right! 👍
Have you been to the Andes? Every time I go I marvel at all the abandoned terraced fields, and the empty ruins. It is very clear that previous to the arrival of the Spanish, the Peruvian population was massive. And now in modern times, my wife’s home town is slowly dying as the younger generation flee their pastoral heritage and move to the big cities. This is especially the case in the Cusco region. So I believe there is a good chance the current population is smaller and more compact than the ancient one.
@@warrendourond7236 Brother Peru alone has a population of almost 33 MILLION. The entire Incan Empire, which was far larger than modern day Peru, was probably about a third that many. The ancient terraces are abandoned because they can no longer be irrigated and require too much manpower. Towns dry up for much the same reason. Modern farms are far cheaper and easier to run. They don't require 95% of the population to work the terraces, which, while beautiful, and amazing technical achievements, simply do not stack up to modern methods where machines give us brute force to level mountains and fill in rivers. One day Peru will abandon the policies holding it back and will grow rich beyond modern imagination, and the terraces will thrive again in the hands of craft farmers, much the same way that small farms are thriving now in the US, selling their goods at farmers markets for a premium price.
@@grugnotice7746 while I agree with everything you just said, I am not sure about the populations in the high Andes and Cuzco region. Almost half the Peruvian population lives in Lima, and then there are Arequipa, Trujillo, and Puira, that make up most of that other half. It is the rural landscape that I believe is less populated than it was in the past. I’m not sure if the population density off sets the increased demand for water, but I could see it being similar. The other problem is that the glaciers are disappearing and the Andes as a whole are getting drier. But yes... One day we will get a functioning government in Peru, and it does indeed have the potential to become one of the richest countries in the world.
Wery nice work indeed, and intersting theories. But we are miles from understanding how they could cut into the rocks the way they did it, that is the most important side of the story.. will we ever find out?
@@sagablott7253 If you seen this construction project in the shitty of Pittsburgh where they are rebuilding a giant retaining wall (100 feet tall by 2500 wide approximately) you would want to second guess how these ancient structures were built. This wall looks like quarried rock that was placed there by a crane piece by piece but is all a concretious mix that was poured in forms and hand textured to look real.
I highly appreciate that you share with us the historical writings of past explorers. It truly is amazing to see how things have changed just since relatively modern explorers have started finding and documenting these ancient wonders. And unfortunately, it's also a means to understand how destructive the processes have been in the past and how we have ruined (pun intended) some of the aspects of these sites.
At least one of the central buildings on top of the hill was a watertower. It was also used as some sort of sun temple. The buildings are called Muyuq Marka.
The glaciers used to be a lot larger in the region, which may have provided more water. The disappearing of the Ausangate glacier and increase in mining is causing a new disaster of less water and greater toxicity. The old Cusco river now goes under Avenida del Sol, and is greatly contaminated already. Edit: clarified mining is increasing and not disappearing, such as the glaciers
If dynamite used: There should be drill holes still visible. From a cracked stone. If fire used to demolish the stone: there should be fire evidence left on the stones. Cracked stone, weakened stone. Soot on the stones.
Since I have the eyes of an artist I cannot help but wonder what the pillow cut lines in the stone works looked like when they were wet or if water cascaded down their sides. I wonder if a computer program could be developed that would give us some idea about light and shadows, running waters, etc?
Loving this series. And I have to agree with your assessment of why there is a lack of water at the site. Geology and Hydrology are very fluid topics (pun intended).
Dude, you nailed it. Im fully onboard. You got what few theories has ... MOTIVE! The normal go-to-explaination for anything is "its religious". Plausability and usability always lacks. But you got it here. Water is survival. Water is security. Water is key.
exactly my thoughts too, the problem these days, is theorists and researchers ditch logic and reason in favour of unprovable, illogical stabs in the dark, which are backed with no evidence, all focused on the question of HOW? they invent stories of ancient super high turbo technology, which is apparently LOST so can never be found. At least this Channel asks the question WHY? and digs deep with an open minded view backed with good old Logic, Reason, common sense (now quite rare) and intuition, and delivers a theory that actually makes sense, shows evidence, and like you say, water is the key, it's literally what life is completely and utterly dependent on.
@@deathstarHQ Yea .. if we have a reason to do something, there is literary no limit to what we can do. Things like surviva due to crops or water supply, we will work for endlessly. Even generations.
At 9:40 you say : he calls the rock "Peter of the stairs". I can only guess this is a bad Google translation of the french "pierre des escaliers" which would translate to "stone of the stairs". Pierre in french means stone but is also the french equivalent of the name Peter. In this case, it would definitely be referring to stone, not Peter.
Haha! Thank you! I assumed they Christianised it to St Peter or something. Def a Google translate problem. Appreciate the correction. That’s why I love listening to the audience
As a central water project for irrigation and water supply for Cusco, it makes sense a defensive surround was made. You've done good research, Matt. Thank you!
Although I do think springs are a key feature of the huacas as most of them sit on springs, it doesn't really make sense to have huge reservoirs of water surrounding the Chincanas, which were used in the past by the Inka, and probably civilization before them to move around underground. Of course, to have so much water flowing around these sites would make movement through the chincanas impossible, so I don't think a water reservoir at these sites makes sense.
Europe started getting unusually heavy rains in about 1310 AD. Global glacial advances were occurring in the 14th-15th centuries. Spanish explorers found large expanses of rank grasses in Southern Texas (which is no longer the case today). All in all, there is proof that rainfall and surface water fluctuates widely over time regionally. I don't know the climate history of South America, but it's entirely possible that there was just that much more water in the region during the (brief) period of the Inca Empire.
This video offers a fair explanation related to the use of water in Sacsayhuaman. I want to share some information as well. There is a video produced by the Cusco Ministry of Culture branch on Sept 2013 titled: Los Enigmas de Sacsayhuaman ( of course in Spanish ). Where you can see a more elaborated explanation of a complex hydraulic system that existed during the Inca Empire. The video also shows the discovery of more aqueducts in the area and most important how the area flooded during heavy rains back in 2010 since the hydraulic system was partially destroyed or collapsed. It’s worth mention that different width of stone pipes were found laying under the area between “ el rodadero “ and the megalithic walls ; where as the Muyuqmarca was a water tower. This is confirmed by archaeological research but also described by the Spaniard chroniclers in their time. Finally to mention that the water came from Sacsayhuaman to the center of Cusco imperial city ; where there was a waterhole in the main plaza where the modern water fountain is located now.
Suspecting water and then finding a historical record of water is satisfying. Abundant fresh water in elevated terrain would have been so ideal as to be the very reason the site was chosen for habitation.
Water was essential to civilization. I still think the sacsayhuaman megaliths are proto-Star Fort design as the consecutive angular walls look like Bastion Fort. We’re the walls defensive to protect the sacred/essential water?
@@AncientArchitects take two weeks to make it ! but i'm guessing their isin't much info to research on this topic . Thank you for all your work, i do belive it's helping on getting the message out to the greater public and break the stigma .
If you planted dynamite underground, near the natural springs, the resultant blast would likely collapse the shalft through which the water flowed to the surface (leaving the area in its current dry state). The Russians used this principle to collapse the shaft of a natural gas fire, except they used a nuke.
Very interesting and informative thank you for sharing these pictures which have been lost to time. Just like in Australia and around the world, where many places have been purposely destroyed by those who want to hide history. Such a shame as these places are truly beautiful. Thanks TrickyTrev 🇦🇺👍🌎
To me it looks like the springs were moving over time and they knew this already. The tunneling was to locate and or relocate the flow of water to the original functioning site. Plus such flow of water it’s possible that some basic hydraulic water pumping was present. Dynamiting these locations is a tragedy to history.
Reduction in the level of the water tables as a result of increased human occupation is both fast and invisible, so no reason to challenge your hypothesis which - given the importance of water - is entirely logical. Bravo.
Great theme music! Always appreciate your ideas, Matt; but you really need to go there in person. Where are the water level lines? The stone underwater would have been saturated, or was it only seasonal?
I think your theory the the Spanish destroyed much of the monolithic work at Sacsayhuaman is not backed up by the actual evidence. If you walk around the complex, which is huge, you will find this rough style all over the park not just one the main grounds. Not only that, they are finding these ancient rocks buried under 10 feet of soil, which would indicate great age, not something created about 500 years ago.
Something I found interesting is that in that picture of Pachacuti that you showed, it shows a pine cone shaped object at the top of his axe. I don’t know if that’s normally how he was portrayed in ancient times, but if so that is super interesting because I’ve noticed that same exact shape pops up all throughout historical sculptures depicting people of significance. There’s a massive statue at the Vatican and I think it also was on the popes staff. Greek and Roman work. There’s Sumerian (I think) stonework with it. I believe there’s also depictions in Assyrian stone work. Shiva, the most prominent Hindu god is often depicted with a pinecone. The Egyptian staff of Osiris is the only other one I can think of right now. It’s interesting how a lot of the times it’s at the end of a staff that someone of power is holding. It caught my eye and made me think a little.
very interesting Matt. So interesting to see those three sketches of what it looked like in the late 1800s. i have to agree with your theories as they are the most likely that i've ever seen. well done, great research as always.
Polygonal masonry may have been in part for water, in part to stop earthquake damage, in part to stop enemy damage and also because it looks amazing. I don’t have all the answers. In these videos I’m gradually building and refining a hypothesis. But I’ll think about your words as you raise a solid point
@@AncientArchitects keep up the good work. i am still interested in how they did such fine work. do you know the one cut out at ollantaytambo with the cross slashes at the base?
I'm onboard with this hypothesis as it really does make sense...... apart from saying they built the polygonal walls....as this technology/building method is all over the world does that mean you're also hypothesising that all the cultures in this time period knew how to do this and that all of those structures were also built for the purposes of storing water/water related? There's other sites that have more primitive work on top aswell that didn't do that/stop the polygonal work because of an impending invasion by the spanish.. isn't there a possibility it was a project inherited from much earlier that they decided to try and continue? how come all over the world more primitive structures built after the polygonal work? etc. etc. countless questions along those lines! This isnt a criticism, genuinely interested to hear your thoughts! Hope it's all covered in the upcoming video you mentioned at the end of this one! Keep up the good work! 👍
The big rock was for testing different water controlling techniques. Like a school testing ground. The different steps and cuts in the rocks elsewhere were made to be able to check the levels of water and the amount of which the rain period produced. Maybe they had lots of water some time of the year and needed to be sparse with it to have good water all year round? Also maybe to have some sort of control of how much water they let away to the city also. Steps are increments and we all know that water always levels out.
Excessive rainfall in 2012 I believe made a few walls collapse. I don't think they are associated with A Lot of water, but water is definitely source. Great video
I had no trouble believing this could be a water feature. I was having trouble imagining it. There is so much damage that it is hard to see how the water flowed through these features. Even with your arrows pointing things out, it still was hard.
Interesting but I would disagree that the two clearly different styles of construction seen at Sacsayhuaman are from the same culture, you can find the same features in many different sites in Peru and Bolivia in Brien Foerster channel, it really looks so discontinuous visually and in terms of rock size to convince me it is from the same culture. Of course an invasion could provoke that but also an ancient catastrophy. This is a complex subject and many sites seemed to have been reworked over time, it reminds me Giza who also seems to have been an ancient water site maybe when the Sahara was still green... On this I do agree with you, water seemed to have an essential role in many megalithic sites.
Great presentation but I'm struggling with your suggestion that the Inka built everything especially given how much the Inka built in unka Pacha style. It is possible that the site was a water source for many cultures and has been modified many times throughout its age. There are also many other elements which haven't been considered including machu pichu which has all three types of building styles and was never discovered until a Hiram Bingham was lead to it by a guide in 1911. I believe your theory holds water 😂 but this is the reason for its occupation and does not then attribute all stone work to a single culture. Thanks for sharing 👍
it looks like at 2:28 the boulder, looks like a head? What is it was a massive statue the Spanish destroyed or just like the Omec heads but disfigured?
My problem is that fitting those stones with such primitive technology is just not realistic. They would have to quarry the stones and move the stone they were fitting together to where they wanted them. Then they would have to get a very rough shape to them and move them together and separate them many, many times in order to get them to seat absolutely perfect. If you are of by the smallest of measurements on any part of the joining faces of either stone they will not fit right. That would be for just one fitment. In order to get a water tight seal they would have to be extremely accurate with every single fitment. Then there is the issue if the same kind of stone work that is clearly not used for water retention in multiple other sites. Is it possible this was used by the Inca? Absolutely. Did the Inca build it? Highly doubtful. They could have manipulated it. I just do not see any known culture quarrying stones that in some cases are as big as an SUV from a quarry 5 miles away and dragging them up and down multiple mountains within those five miles and then going threw the process of fitting them all with very primitive tools and no machinery.
Great video, seems that you’re right that this site was built for water management, but how do you conclude that all of the construction was made by one culture? Only a detailed examination by professionals on site can determine this. Besides, provided that the builders had the technology and ability to cut and shape hard rock into polygonal blocks, why didn’t they build the whole site in the same manner? Why do we observe masonry of unprecedented quality which even today is impossible to produce and primitive crude construction at the same time?
I like the water theory, it " holds water " . Let me be a devils advocate "debunker" for a second and point out that you are now defending that excellent well reasoned theory by engaging in unfounded speculation concerning the nonwater areas of the site, which weakens the theory in the minds of some... Writing for myself, I still think that your one culture not 3 theory needs to explain that the exact same huge Monolithic, Polyform large blocks on top , then crappy small random stones on top of that, occurs worldwide, not just Peru.
It's simpler to ignore and speculate the unordinary. You heard him explain it as possible repair work, or they just didn't want to finish it with good quality rocks just filler. Lol
Sounds like it was a very beautiful and mystifying place at one time. Then the conquistadors came and destroyed it. Then later somebody turned the place into a rock quarry?!! Of all the places limestone would have been plentiful, they had to pick this spot to quarry? Unreal. Just... unreal.
One of the simpliest interpretative mistakes an archaeologist might make is relying upon existing natural and environmental. Depending on the circumstances, springs can be quite transient. In some regions they might last for thousands of years, while in others only a few hundred. Five hundred years is not an insignificant period. For example, the California Coast Range Mountains are geomorphologically unstable owing to lack of solid bedrock. Springs can form in one location and are then displaced by the underlying instability with fair regularity; a phenomenon that effects understanding our understand of archaeological site distribution. 50 to 60 miles east, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and foothills springs tend to be more stable, with some artesian spings having survived for more than 10,000 years in large part owing to the underlying geological stability. Many geological and environmental actions may effect groundwater. Rain is just one factor. Others include sediment permeability or impermeability, volcanism, earthquakes, stratigraphy, and slope stability. Typically, the factors involved aren't obvious. Were springs present in and around Sacsayhuaman? It seems to me that's something that is determinable but not by archaeologists. It's a hydrological geological issue.
The Mojave River is one of those ever changing streams of water, going underground in swift changing locations, usually leaving quicksand in the area where the water disappeared. I’ve lived beside it my whole life.
@@elvyrarendon2150 most rivers change. I live beside the San Joaquin River. As someone who studies landforms as a profession, I've invested regiinal surface geology and historical hydrology for some 40 years. When Spanish explorers crossed over Tejon Pass in the late 18th century they desribed a vast inland marsh of rivers, sloughs, lakes extending from Bakersfield 450 miles north to Red Bluff. Much of this land had been drained and channeled by World War I. Between 1940 and 1960, the hydrology was reworked into its modern configuration. Driving along I-5 in the spring, fall, or winter one would not think of it as desert but eliminate water and that's what would exist. What exists today bares no resemblance to what existed before roughly 1870. Nature is hardly the soleor even the primary cause for environmental change.
@@rogerhwerner6997 I completely agree. I reference ancient maps of California from all over the world, as I research Olmec-Aztec culture. I learned that California is mostly shown as an island in maps as recent as the 1800’s, separated from the mainland by a shallow sea in place of the desert. Your work must be very interesting.
The water table WAS higher hundreds of years ago, because high-speed, centrifugal, water-well, irrigation pumps had not come into wide use, as is the case today. Our own Ogallala Aquifer, underlying States from South Dakota to Texas is from 25 feet to 400 feet lower than it was only 120 years ago.
Where are the springs now? Why did they dry up, if they dried; or if they flow elsewhere, when and why did the flow change? Was there a shift in elevation? If so, when?
"Peter of the Stairs" ahahaha 😂 So in French "Pierre" is the _translation_ if we may of the name "Peter", but it is most importantly the translation for "Rock" . "Pierre des escaliers" -> "Rock of the stairs" . 😂 😂 😂
How do you conclude that Sacsayhuaman was built of limestone and what method did the Inca use to transport the stones from quarries located 9 miles and 20 miles away on the other side of the mountain range and a deep river gorge? The largest stone is estimated to weigh 120 tonnes or more, it might have been carved on location but many others come from the quarries. The Incas had no knowledge of the wheel or the lever and had no access to draft animals. According to history, the Spanish dismantled the majority of the complex for their own construction with only one fifth now remaining. What remains now is what the Spanish were unable to move! The Inca legend says that the mountains, the earth and the wind built Sacsayhuaman...they themselves never said that they constructed this complex...
@@etchalaco9971 To cut a long story short. There are many hypothesis as to when and how the site was built. The most known ones are those by the Spanish chroniclers such as Juan de Betanzos or Garcilaso de la Vega who claim that Sacsayhuaman was built during the Inca times. How they came to the conclusion we don’t know. Among the people who lived in the region west of the complex there was a legend saying that Sacsayhuaman was built by gods and giant people called Wiracocha Inkas in ancient times. These “gods” had supernatural powers and “had the rocks walked as they touched them with their whips”. They also claim that the shape of the “fortress” may have something to do with water. This answers your question, Sir?
@@alexhoffmann9726 You made a claim to knowledge and you provided a myth as evidence. Where exactly does it say that the Inca never constructed Sacsayhuaman? Betanzos was married to inca nobility, the former wife of Atahualpa himself and interviewed many incas, Garcilazo was also part of an inca family. By the way, Pedro Cieza de Leon also speaks of the royal house of the sun on a hill. Father Acosta also speaks of a fortress in Cusco.
I wish I'd watched this video before commenting on another. I'd just like to add that when looking at this area I and I think others all look at the ruins and forget that there is a city nearby but then it makes me wonder why there's not more detailed records kept.. I can't help think the zigzags were for another purpose...to slow water flow or something... Lastly on the construction side...is it possible woven sacks were filled with ground stones from the quarry into a clay mixture and stacked hence the front being neat but the backs just pushed up against the earth behind?
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Love your videos and perspective!
Thanks
🤘😜🤘
🤘
Good work!
Amazing series!!! Im from Peru, visited that site many times. Its very true what you are talking about. Congratulations keep on the good work. Come here anytime i can help you out.
Thank you so much
Jonathan, I've been to Peru 6 times. I love the place, but now my friends there tell me they are still in lockdown and the coming election has 2 bad choices. Something also about violence from the Colony. I always stayed in Lima and often went to Haiti sidewalk cafe in Mira Flores. After 60 years, now out of business. The people are great.
The simplest explanation for why there is no longer a spring there is the same one that applies to the vast majority of springs that have vanished over the last 100 years. Modern electric wells pump out the water long before it has the chance to emerge from a spring. There are more people and more agricultural activity in the Andes now than at any time in history. A LOT more.
I didn’t know for certain what modern changes there have been, but I really wanted to highlight various possibilities and why springs can disappear. But you’re probably right! 👍
Have you been to the Andes? Every time I go I marvel at all the abandoned terraced fields, and the empty ruins. It is very clear that previous to the arrival of the Spanish, the Peruvian population was massive. And now in modern times, my wife’s home town is slowly dying as the younger generation flee their pastoral heritage and move to the big cities. This is especially the case in the Cusco region. So I believe there is a good chance the current population is smaller and more compact than the ancient one.
@@warrendourond7236 Brother Peru alone has a population of almost 33 MILLION. The entire Incan Empire, which was far larger than modern day Peru, was probably about a third that many. The ancient terraces are abandoned because they can no longer be irrigated and require too much manpower. Towns dry up for much the same reason. Modern farms are far cheaper and easier to run. They don't require 95% of the population to work the terraces, which, while beautiful, and amazing technical achievements, simply do not stack up to modern methods where machines give us brute force to level mountains and fill in rivers.
One day Peru will abandon the policies holding it back and will grow rich beyond modern imagination, and the terraces will thrive again in the hands of craft farmers, much the same way that small farms are thriving now in the US, selling their goods at farmers markets for a premium price.
@@grugnotice7746 while I agree with everything you just said, I am not sure about the populations in the high Andes and Cuzco region. Almost half the Peruvian population lives in Lima, and then there are Arequipa, Trujillo, and Puira, that make up most of that other half. It is the rural landscape that I believe is less populated than it was in the past. I’m not sure if the population density off sets the increased demand for water, but I could see it being similar. The other problem is that the glaciers are disappearing and the Andes as a whole are getting drier. But yes... One day we will get a functioning government in Peru, and it does indeed have the potential to become one of the richest countries in the world.
That dynamite.
I swear Peru is so interesting. So much was going on there in the past.
Love this place
Wery nice work indeed, and intersting theories.
But we are miles from understanding how they could cut into the rocks the way they did it, that is the most important side of the story.. will we ever find out?
@@sagablott7253 If you seen this construction project in the shitty of Pittsburgh where they are rebuilding a giant retaining wall (100 feet tall by 2500 wide approximately) you would want to second guess how these ancient structures were built. This wall looks like quarried rock that was placed there by a crane piece by piece but is all a concretious mix that was poured in forms and hand textured to look real.
Subscribe to “Brien Foerster” who gives Peru (& Egypt, etc tours) & is an expert on cataloging elongated skulls. He’s referenced in this video
Loving the way you're turning a trickle of information in to a rock solid case for a gigantic water feature. It's refreshing.
One Spanish chronicler who arrived in 1539 also mentioned that the Kalasasaya temple in Tiwanaku was water tight and used to contain water.
I always learn something from you. I love your common sense approach and your willingness to consider new ideas.
I highly appreciate that you share with us the historical writings of past explorers. It truly is amazing to see how things have changed just since relatively modern explorers have started finding and documenting these ancient wonders. And unfortunately, it's also a means to understand how destructive the processes have been in the past and how we have ruined (pun intended) some of the aspects of these sites.
At least one of the central buildings on top of the hill was a watertower. It was also used as some sort of sun temple. The buildings are called Muyuq Marka.
Your insight is second to none! Well done
The glaciers used to be a lot larger in the region, which may have provided more water. The disappearing of the Ausangate glacier and increase in mining is causing a new disaster of less water and greater toxicity.
The old Cusco river now goes under Avenida del Sol, and is greatly contaminated already.
Edit: clarified mining is increasing and not disappearing, such as the glaciers
first, loving the Sacsayhuaman series 👍
I’m enjoying the research. Cheers!
seconded!
Enjoying all your series...current & earlier uploads.
Thanks Matt.
🇺🇸🙂❤
Thank you
Excellent good job putting archive material into the present …
I wish the history channel did stuff like this. Great work.
If dynamite used: There should be drill holes still visible. From a cracked stone. If fire used to demolish the stone: there should be fire evidence left on the stones. Cracked stone, weakened stone. Soot on the stones.
Since I have the eyes of an artist I cannot help but wonder what the pillow cut lines in the stone works looked like when they were wet or if water cascaded down their sides. I wonder if a computer program could be developed that would give us some idea about light and shadows, running waters, etc?
Really enjoying this series, thank you for all your hard work!
Thank you
Loving this series.
And I have to agree with your assessment of why there is a lack of water at the site. Geology and Hydrology are very fluid topics (pun intended).
Thank you so much for your deeper research! It is a great water park! As it seems to me...lol keep on pushing forward!
Very moving arguments indeed. I was starting to wonder where you went. Great one as always thank you!
Dude, you nailed it.
Im fully onboard.
You got what few theories has ... MOTIVE!
The normal go-to-explaination for anything is "its religious".
Plausability and usability always lacks.
But you got it here.
Water is survival.
Water is security.
Water is key.
exactly my thoughts too, the problem these days, is theorists and researchers ditch logic and reason in favour of unprovable, illogical stabs in the dark, which are backed with no evidence, all focused on the question of HOW? they invent stories of ancient super high turbo technology, which is apparently LOST so can never be found. At least this Channel asks the question WHY? and digs deep with an open minded view backed with good old Logic, Reason, common sense (now quite rare) and intuition, and delivers a theory that actually makes sense, shows evidence, and like you say, water is the key, it's literally what life is completely and utterly dependent on.
@@deathstarHQ Yea .. if we have a reason to do something, there is literary no limit to what we can do.
Things like surviva due to crops or water supply, we will work for endlessly. Even generations.
At 9:40 you say : he calls the rock "Peter of the stairs".
I can only guess this is a bad Google translation of the french "pierre des escaliers" which would translate to "stone of the stairs". Pierre in french means stone but is also the french equivalent of the name Peter. In this case, it would definitely be referring to stone, not Peter.
Haha! Thank you! I assumed they Christianised it to St Peter or something. Def a Google translate problem. Appreciate the correction. That’s why I love listening to the audience
Don't hesitate to contact me next time you need a french translation ☆
Nice! This is why I like reading the comments too
As a central water project for irrigation and water supply for Cusco, it makes sense a defensive surround was made. You've done good research, Matt. Thank you!
Although I do think springs are a key feature of the huacas as most of them sit on springs, it doesn't really make sense to have huge reservoirs of water surrounding the Chincanas, which were used in the past by the Inka, and probably civilization before them to move around underground. Of course, to have so much water flowing around these sites would make movement through the chincanas impossible, so I don't think a water reservoir at these sites makes sense.
7:03 is that a face carved in the center at the top of the wall?
The research is outstanding.
Thank you :)
Europe started getting unusually heavy rains in about 1310 AD. Global glacial advances were occurring in the 14th-15th centuries. Spanish explorers found large expanses of rank grasses in Southern Texas (which is no longer the case today).
All in all, there is proof that rainfall and surface water fluctuates widely over time regionally. I don't know the climate history of South America, but it's entirely possible that there was just that much more water in the region during the (brief) period of the Inca Empire.
Awesome video! I very much liked the water slide info! I always thought those places were laid out like water parks for giants.
Thanks. Nice work and deductive reasoning.
This video offers a fair explanation related to the use of water in Sacsayhuaman. I want to share some information as well. There is a video produced by the Cusco Ministry of Culture branch on Sept 2013 titled: Los Enigmas de Sacsayhuaman ( of course in Spanish ). Where you can see a more elaborated explanation of a complex hydraulic system that existed during the Inca Empire. The video also shows the discovery of more aqueducts in the area and most important how the area flooded during heavy rains back in 2010 since the hydraulic system was partially destroyed or collapsed. It’s worth mention that different width of stone pipes were found laying under the area between “ el rodadero “ and the megalithic walls ; where as the Muyuqmarca was a water tower. This is confirmed by archaeological research but also described by the Spaniard chroniclers in their time. Finally to mention that the water came from Sacsayhuaman to the center of Cusco imperial city ; where there was a waterhole in the main plaza where the modern water fountain is located now.
Love the work, good digging 👍😎
Cheers 👍
as allways a great vid .well researched and a very fresh point of view that make lots of sense, cheers matt!
Thanx Matt ❤⛰❤ I just wanna hit the replay button on the past.
Suspecting water and then finding a historical record of water is satisfying. Abundant fresh water in elevated terrain would have been so ideal as to be the very reason the site was chosen for habitation.
It’s a truly amazing location. Huge. And you can walk around all of it.
This series of research and detainment is excellent.
Water was essential to civilization. I still think the sacsayhuaman megaliths are proto-Star Fort design as the consecutive angular walls look like Bastion Fort. We’re the walls defensive to protect the sacred/essential water?
The Tour de Force we all know and love . Thank you for your courage to remain open minded .
oooooooh !I can"t wait for new video ! didin't know about these unfinished stones on the structure .....
Nor did i. It is interesting. May only be a short video but worth presenting.
@@AncientArchitects take two weeks to make it ! but i'm guessing their isin't much info to research on this topic . Thank you for all your work, i do belive it's helping on getting the message out to the greater public and break the stigma .
If you planted dynamite underground, near the natural springs, the resultant blast would likely collapse the shalft through which the water flowed to the surface (leaving the area in its current dry state). The Russians used this principle to collapse the shaft of a natural gas fire, except they used a nuke.
Interesting. Cheers
I think two different cultures still, but after this video I am not as sure. Great work!
Excellent as always
Thank you
Just awesome. Great info.
Very interesting and informative thank you for sharing these pictures which have been lost to time. Just like in Australia and around the world, where many places have been purposely destroyed by those who want to hide history. Such a shame as these places are truly beautiful. Thanks TrickyTrev 🇦🇺👍🌎
A big thanks to the Peruviam archivists who preserved old records for us to interperet today.
🤘🥰🤘....... Thanks Mr. Matt. Much Appreciated!!!❤
👍
Another good episode.
Cheers!
Excellent work.
To me it looks like the springs were moving over time and they knew this already. The tunneling was to locate and or relocate the flow of water to the original functioning site. Plus such flow of water it’s possible that some basic hydraulic water pumping was present. Dynamiting these locations is a tragedy to history.
Very true and you make some great points. Thank you
Reduction in the level of the water tables as a result of increased human occupation is both fast and invisible, so no reason to challenge your hypothesis which - given the importance of water - is entirely logical. Bravo.
Great theme music! Always appreciate your ideas, Matt; but you really need to go there in person.
Where are the water level lines? The stone underwater would have been saturated, or was it only seasonal?
I think your theory the the Spanish destroyed much of the monolithic work at Sacsayhuaman is not backed up by the actual evidence. If you walk around the complex, which is huge, you will find this rough style all over the park not just one the main grounds. Not only that, they are finding these ancient rocks buried under 10 feet of soil, which would indicate great age, not something created about 500 years ago.
Keep up the good work!
I think its water related as well and thank you for your hard work and time dedicated to this ongoing investigation :)
At 2:30, does this not look like a huge unfinished Olmec head?
Awesome. You're my favorite crazy archeology person. 🫂
Something I found interesting is that in that picture of Pachacuti that you showed, it shows a pine cone shaped object at the top of his axe. I don’t know if that’s normally how he was portrayed in ancient times, but if so that is super interesting because I’ve noticed that same exact shape pops up all throughout historical sculptures depicting people of significance. There’s a massive statue at the Vatican and I think it also was on the popes staff. Greek and Roman work. There’s Sumerian (I think) stonework with it. I believe there’s also depictions in Assyrian stone work. Shiva, the most prominent Hindu god is often depicted with a pinecone. The Egyptian staff of Osiris is the only other one I can think of right now. It’s interesting how a lot of the times it’s at the end of a staff that someone of power is holding. It caught my eye and made me think a little.
very interesting Matt. So interesting to see those three sketches of what it looked like in the late 1800s. i have to agree with your theories as they are the most likely that i've ever seen. well done, great research as always.
BRILLIANT WORK 😁👍
I like these long videos.
why have several levels of the large walls if only the lower one was for water?
Polygonal masonry may have been in part for water, in part to stop earthquake damage, in part to stop enemy damage and also because it looks amazing. I don’t have all the answers. In these videos I’m gradually building and refining a hypothesis. But I’ll think about your words as you raise a solid point
@@AncientArchitects keep up the good work. i am still interested in how they did such fine work. do you know the one cut out at ollantaytambo with the cross slashes at the base?
@@AncientArchitects images.app.goo.gl/rVqno5vQ388Qc9PT6
@@AncientArchitects and wouldn't the different levels be observable due to water (level) damage?
I'm onboard with this hypothesis as it really does make sense...... apart from saying they built the polygonal walls....as this technology/building method is all over the world does that mean you're also hypothesising that all the cultures in this time period knew how to do this and that all of those structures were also built for the purposes of storing water/water related? There's other sites that have more primitive work on top aswell that didn't do that/stop the polygonal work because of an impending invasion by the spanish.. isn't there a possibility it was a project inherited from much earlier that they decided to try and continue? how come all over the world more primitive structures built after the polygonal work? etc. etc. countless questions along those lines! This isnt a criticism, genuinely interested to hear your thoughts! Hope it's all covered in the upcoming video you mentioned at the end of this one! Keep up the good work! 👍
Nice water works
amazing ancient architecture
Really interesting theory.
Cheers
The big rock was for testing different water controlling techniques. Like a school testing ground. The different steps and cuts in the rocks elsewhere were made to be able to check the levels of water and the amount of which the rain period produced. Maybe they had lots of water some time of the year and needed to be sparse with it to have good water all year round? Also maybe to have some sort of control of how much water they let away to the city also. Steps are increments and we all know that water always levels out.
Excessive rainfall in 2012 I believe made a few walls collapse. I don't think they are associated with A Lot of water, but water is definitely source. Great video
At 15:27, the large block in the forefront is a head. Please respond or elaborate.
2:32 That large boulder is a face.
I had no trouble believing this could be a water feature. I was having trouble imagining it. There is so much damage that it is hard to see how the water flowed through these features. Even with your arrows pointing things out, it still was hard.
Great work, with logical assumptions based on recorded evidence from Castelnau..
Interesting but I would disagree that the two clearly different styles of construction seen at Sacsayhuaman are from the same culture, you can find the same features in many different sites in Peru and Bolivia in Brien Foerster channel, it really looks so discontinuous visually and in terms of rock size to convince me it is from the same culture. Of course an invasion could provoke that but also an ancient catastrophy. This is a complex subject and many sites seemed to have been reworked over time, it reminds me Giza who also seems to have been an ancient water site maybe when the Sahara was still green... On this I do agree with you, water seemed to have an essential role in many megalithic sites.
Is it just me or does this absolutely SCREAM fountain of youth?
Great presentation but I'm struggling with your suggestion that the Inka built everything especially given how much the Inka built in unka Pacha style. It is possible that the site was a water source for many cultures and has been modified many times throughout its age. There are also many other elements which haven't been considered including machu pichu which has all three types of building styles and was never discovered until a Hiram Bingham was lead to it by a guide in 1911. I believe your theory holds water 😂 but this is the reason for its occupation and does not then attribute all stone work to a single culture. Thanks for sharing 👍
I think you're on to something here Matt!
Thanks Dion
2:32 the rock is a big face
Rly nice!
Thank you
Did the Inca, or Kilke, have the technology and resources to design, quarry, carve, move and place the gigantic polygonal stones?
Yes
@@mver191 explain how it was done and what tools they used
👏🏼... Great work. Will you be joining Inca tours at some point?
it looks like at 2:28 the boulder, looks like a head? What is it was a massive statue the Spanish destroyed or just like the Omec heads but disfigured?
My problem is that fitting those stones with such primitive technology is just not realistic. They would have to quarry the stones and move the stone they were fitting together to where they wanted them. Then they would have to get a very rough shape to them and move them together and separate them many, many times in order to get them to seat absolutely perfect. If you are of by the smallest of measurements on any part of the joining faces of either stone they will not fit right. That would be for just one fitment. In order to get a water tight seal they would have to be extremely accurate with every single fitment. Then there is the issue if the same kind of stone work that is clearly not used for water retention in multiple other sites. Is it possible this was used by the Inca? Absolutely. Did the Inca build it? Highly doubtful. They could have manipulated it. I just do not see any known culture quarrying stones that in some cases are as big as an SUV from a quarry 5 miles away and dragging them up and down multiple mountains within those five miles and then going threw the process of fitting them all with very primitive tools and no machinery.
I love the old pictures
Great video, seems that you’re right that this site was built for water management, but how do you conclude that all of the construction was made by one culture? Only a detailed examination by professionals on site can determine this. Besides, provided that the builders had the technology and ability to cut and shape hard rock into polygonal blocks, why didn’t they build the whole site in the same manner? Why do we observe masonry of unprecedented quality which even today is impossible to produce and primitive crude construction at the same time?
The shape of the wall was to gain energy from waves of water.after i saw a movie about Victor Schauberger i felt sacsayhuaman had to be near water.
The site is at 12,000 ft. Hard to imagine waves of water up that high
Is that an eroded Olmec head at 2:00? It's pretty beat up but the features are still clear.
I like the water theory, it " holds water " . Let me be a devils advocate "debunker" for a second and point out that you are now defending that excellent well reasoned theory by engaging in unfounded speculation concerning the nonwater areas of the site, which weakens the theory in the minds of some... Writing for myself, I still think that your one culture not 3 theory needs to explain that the exact same huge Monolithic, Polyform large blocks on top , then crappy small random stones on top of that, occurs worldwide, not just Peru.
It's simpler to ignore and speculate the unordinary.
You heard him explain it as possible repair work, or they just didn't want to finish it with good quality rocks just filler. Lol
Sounds like it was a very beautiful and mystifying place at one time. Then the conquistadors came and destroyed it. Then later somebody turned the place into a rock quarry?!! Of all the places limestone would have been plentiful, they had to pick this spot to quarry? Unreal. Just... unreal.
One of the simpliest interpretative mistakes an archaeologist might make is relying upon existing natural and environmental. Depending on the circumstances, springs can be quite transient. In some regions they might last for thousands of years, while in others only a few hundred. Five hundred years is not an insignificant period. For example, the California Coast Range Mountains are geomorphologically unstable owing to lack of solid bedrock. Springs can form in one location and are then displaced by the underlying instability with fair regularity; a phenomenon that effects understanding our understand of archaeological site distribution. 50 to 60 miles east, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and foothills springs tend to be more stable, with some artesian spings having survived for more than 10,000 years in large part owing to the underlying geological stability. Many geological and environmental actions may effect groundwater. Rain is just one factor. Others include sediment permeability or impermeability, volcanism, earthquakes, stratigraphy, and slope stability. Typically, the factors involved aren't obvious.
Were springs present in and around Sacsayhuaman? It seems to me that's something that is determinable but not by archaeologists. It's a hydrological geological issue.
The Mojave River is one of those ever changing streams of water, going underground in swift changing locations, usually leaving quicksand in the area where the water disappeared. I’ve lived beside it my whole life.
@@elvyrarendon2150 most rivers change. I live beside the San Joaquin River. As someone who studies landforms as a profession, I've invested regiinal surface geology and historical hydrology for some 40 years. When Spanish explorers crossed over Tejon Pass in the late 18th century they desribed a vast inland marsh of rivers, sloughs, lakes extending from Bakersfield 450 miles north to Red Bluff. Much of this land had been drained and channeled by World War I. Between 1940 and 1960, the hydrology was reworked into its modern configuration. Driving along I-5 in the spring, fall, or winter one would not think of it as desert but eliminate water and that's what would exist. What exists today bares no resemblance to what existed before roughly 1870. Nature is hardly the soleor even the primary cause for environmental change.
@@rogerhwerner6997 I completely agree. I reference ancient maps of California from all over the world, as I research Olmec-Aztec culture. I learned that California is mostly shown as an island in maps as recent as the 1800’s, separated from the mainland by a shallow sea in place of the desert. Your work must be very interesting.
I love when you do vids on south america
The water table WAS higher hundreds of years ago, because high-speed, centrifugal, water-well, irrigation pumps had not come into wide use, as is the case today. Our own Ogallala Aquifer, underlying States from South Dakota to Texas is from 25 feet to 400 feet lower than it was only 120 years ago.
The incas always make sure that every corner of the village has crystal water for all the people because water was sacred for them . Amazing
Where are the springs now? Why did they dry up, if they dried; or if they flow elsewhere, when and why did the flow change? Was there a shift in elevation? If so, when?
Is it above the reee line or has it been deforested because it would have been a great deal wetter if the land was covered in foliage
HELLO EVERYBODY AND WELCOME TO ANCIENT ARCHITECTS!!!!
I second that!
"Peter of the Stairs" ahahaha 😂 So in French "Pierre" is the _translation_ if we may of the name "Peter", but it is most importantly the translation for "Rock" . "Pierre des escaliers" -> "Rock of the stairs" . 😂 😂 😂
Awesome.
How do you conclude that Sacsayhuaman was built of limestone and what method did the Inca use to transport the stones from quarries located 9 miles and 20 miles away on the other side of the mountain range and a deep river gorge? The largest stone is estimated to weigh 120 tonnes or more, it might have been carved on location but many others come from the quarries. The Incas had no knowledge of the wheel or the lever and had no access to draft animals. According to history, the Spanish dismantled the majority of the complex for their own construction with only one fifth now remaining. What remains now is what the Spanish were unable to move! The Inca legend says that the mountains, the earth and the wind built Sacsayhuaman...they themselves never said that they constructed this complex...
The Inca never said what? Where? How do you know this?
@@etchalaco9971 To cut a long story short. There are many hypothesis as to when and how the site was built. The most known ones are those by the Spanish chroniclers such as Juan de Betanzos or Garcilaso de la Vega who claim that Sacsayhuaman was built during the Inca times. How they came to the conclusion we don’t know.
Among the people who lived in the region west of the complex there was a legend saying that Sacsayhuaman was built by gods and giant people called Wiracocha Inkas in ancient times. These “gods” had supernatural powers and “had the rocks walked as they touched them with their whips”. They also claim that the shape of the “fortress” may have something to do with water.
This answers your question, Sir?
@@alexhoffmann9726 sooo, your evidence is a myth?
@@etchalaco9971 What do you mean by my evidence? )) You were asking a specific question to which I gave a presumably full answer!
@@alexhoffmann9726 You made a claim to knowledge and you provided a myth as evidence. Where exactly does it say that the Inca never constructed Sacsayhuaman?
Betanzos was married to inca nobility, the former wife of Atahualpa himself and interviewed many incas, Garcilazo was also part of an inca family. By the way, Pedro Cieza de Leon also speaks of the royal house of the sun on a hill. Father Acosta also speaks of a fortress in Cusco.
I wish I'd watched this video before commenting on another. I'd just like to add that when looking at this area I and I think others all look at the ruins and forget that there is a city nearby but then it makes me wonder why there's not more detailed records kept.. I can't help think the zigzags were for another purpose...to slow water flow or something...
Lastly on the construction side...is it possible woven sacks were filled with ground stones from the quarry into a clay mixture and stacked hence the front being neat but the backs just pushed up against the earth behind?
It might not be peter of the steps, but stone of the stairs, or stone with stairs. Pierre in french is both the name peter (in english) and stone.