Definition – Veró nica.

The archaeological complex of Machu Picchu is one of the best known worldwide. Located on top
of a massif known as the Vilcabamba Batholithic (between the Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu
mountains), at 2,430 meters above sea level and about 80 kilometers from the city of Cusco, the
ancient Inca city is considered a architectural and engineering masterpiece. Its name comes from
the Quechua language, where the union of both words means "old peak" and received this name
from one of the closest mountains after its "discovery" in 1911. In addition, the sanctuary is
surrounded by legends and stories, which It gives the place a certain air of mystery.

Constrution – Dayana.

The Inca city of Machu Picchu is, without a doubt, a true work of architecture and engineering.
Despite having few tools, thanks to their knowledge, they managed to create hundreds of terraces
that supported the granite walls, a particularly hard material. Thanks to their drainage system,
these walls remain solid long after they are built, demonstrating the ingenuity of this civilization.

Materials – Fabiola.

All the preserved constructions are made of whitish granite, composed of 60% feldspar, 30% quartz
and 10% mica.99 All the material came from the quarries located in the contours of the Inca
complex.

The rock has between 6 and 7 degrees of hardness on the Mohs scale. In the Empire it was worked
with barrettes and other bronze tools (iron tools were not used in ancient Peru) and harder rock
hammers. The rocks were smoothed by abrasion with sand.

Morphology – Erika.

Almost all the buildings are rectangular in plan. There are one, two and up to eight doors, normally
on only one of the long sides of the rectangle. There are few buildings with a curved and circular
plan.

Constructions called huayranas are frequent. These have only three walls. In these cases, a stone
colonnade sometimes appears in the space of the "missing wall" to support a wooden beam that
served as a support for the ceiling. There are also double huayranas, two huayranas joined by a
dividing wall, which are called masmas.

The constructions habitually follow the scheme of the kanchas; that is to say, four rectangular
constructions arranged around a central patio joined by a transversal axis of symmetry.101 All the
doors lead to this patio.
Walls – Oscar.

The rigging of the stone walls was basically of two types.

Of common stone joined with mud mortar and other substances. There is evidence that these
constructions, which are the majority in Machu Picchu, were plastered with a layer of clay and
painted (in yellow and red colors at least),102103 although the early disintegration of the roofs
made them vulnerable to destruction. permanent rain in the area and therefore have not been
preserved.

Finely carved stone in elite buildings. They are blocks of granite, without plaster and perfectly
carved in the form of rectangular prisms (parallelepipeds, like bricks) or polygonal. Its outer faces
could be cushioned, that is, protruding, or perfectly smooth. In these cases, the union of the blocks
seems perfect and has led to the assumption that it does not have any type of mortar; but in fact it
does have it: it is a thin layer of binding material that is found between stone and stone, although
it is invisible from the outside.104 The effort of these achievements in a society without iron tools
(they only knew bronze, much more soft) is noticeable.