Ruins Near Cusco: Saqsaywaman, Pukapukara, Tambomachay

At Saqsaywaman. Look at the size of that rock behind me. How did they move and place rocks this big?

I woke up feeling a little tired and groggy yesterday. I decided I would do a little hiking and jogging to overcome it. I first hiked up to Saqsaywaman. I then jogged to Pukapukara and Tambomachay about 5 km at a top of altitude of about 3,800 meters (12,500 feet). It turned out to be a great day. The weather cooperated completely. While running, I heard thunder and I could see rain in the distance. The rain held off until just when I got in the bus to return to Cusco.

Saqsaywaman

Saqsaywaman panorama

Saqsaywaman is a pretty large archeological site sitting atop a mountain that overlooks Cusco. It clearly was built with defense in mind. I can see no other purpose for building such high walls. An attacking army would either have to approach up a steep mountain from the far side or directly through narrow entrances. Scaling these walls against a prepared defender would most likely prove fatal. The most interesting thing to me are the size of the rocks. There are many very large rocks as pictured in the first picture. The other interesting thing is how well fitting these rocks are. The top contains a number of building foundations, possibly used as residentual or ceremonial purposes. 

Ceremonial or residential foundations atop Saqsaywaman

On the far side from the field pictured above, a large round exhibition area can be found along with what appears to be some of the quarries used to source the rocks.

Round exhibition area of some kind. Diameter was probably about 50 meters

Pictured below are rocks used as quarry. We came across these upside down stair cases. There are two large rocks here. Notice the cut lines are the same on both rocks. At first we speculated that the rocks somehow fell and rolled over while moving, but his would have been nearly impossible for the them to arrive in the same position; thus, it is obvious the stone was cut from these rocks. It is very interesting that you cannot see any tool markings on these cuts. To me, this means these stones were cut in one action very accurately and that there was no need to polish or alter the stones once cut. How? The best technologies today for cutting stone cannot do this.

.Rocks used as quarry for finished stones. Notice upside down staircase.

A natural rock slide; looked a little dangerous with the cracks in the stone.

Pukapukara

Pukapukara

Pukapuakara and Tambomachay sit a short distance from each other at what are crossroads from a mountain pass and a valley. I almost missed Pukapukara. When I first arrived, I went up on top and there was not that much to see. So, I decided to walk to Tambomachay. From Tambomachay, I looked back and then understood that I had missed the majority of the site.

Front of Pukapukara

Tambomachay

Tmabomachahy

The primary area of Tambomachay was probably an administrative check point. People passing through here probably had to declare their purpose and needed permission to pass through.  i hiked up beyond Tambomachay. I could see a serious of smaller ruins along the sides of the valley. I believe these would have served as lookout points to guard against surprise attacks.

The water is still running. That is pretty good engineering. The Inka guarantee:
"Your plumbing will last a millennium or your money back."

From this vantage point, you can see that any trespasser would take fire from both sides; nice defensive position.

A cave up above. From this cave you can see down to Tambomachay and up the valley.
This was also fortified and probably served as a lookout post.

Looking up the valley, more ruins can be seen; possibly lookout posts or messender resting spots.