Daily Archives: February 3, 2013

You Just Gotta Touch ‘Em

sketch of Inca Ruins

"SacsayHuaman", mixed media copyright 2013 by Kerry McFall

The stones of  Inca ruins, much like quilts, must be touched to be fully appreciated.  Looking is nice, but running your fingers over the rounded edges is the only way to understand how rocks can be so “soft” and yet so completely unyielding.  And just like at a quilt show, you’re likely to get scolded if you do touch, especially the famous ones…

Just above Cusco there are ruins of Inca structures at a spot called SacsayHuaman.  It’s a short taxi ride up, and for folks with bad knees it’s a fairly easy slope from the entrance to the “big rocks”.  It’s a good introduction to the incredible masonry that is quite literally at the base of nearly every building in and around Cusco, and here, at least for now, it’s okay to touch.  I found a shady corner and sketched and painted while the rest of the family went exploring the caves and arenas and thrones and other mysterious structures.  I made friends with several batches of Peruvian children as they curiously scampered around me – they were generally not impressed with my work until I showed them my sketches of dragons (sorry, can’t post them yet, they’re for a secret project) -clearly, a bunch of dumb old ruins just can’t compare to the universal “wow” factor of a snarling dragon!  I was also closely supervised by a small brown sparrow-like bird with an orangey ruff around his neck and a top-knot like a bluejay, but he was hyperactive and not a good model…

The characteristic trapezoidal shape of the doors, windows, and wall insets was apparently intended to withstand earthquakes, with great success – the wider bases transfer the pressures and jolts so the rocks lean into each other for support even during movement.  Existing boulders were left in place, trimmed up a bit to fit, and used to support the majority of the structural weight.  Where stones joined one on top of another, the surfaces were carved concave over convex, which let them “ride” and slide against each other and stay put, rather than rattling off to the ground – predecessors of the lego concept?  And apart from the practical aspect of these meant-to-last structures, they are simply beautiful.  Each stone is smoothed to near perfection, there is no mortar, no spaces.   We were told by several folks, including Paolo Greer, that this was probably accomplished by whacking away at the quartz with harder hammer stones…  apparently persistence pays off.   Makes my shoulder hurt just thinking about it.  And makes me doubt that the labor was voluntary…

Enter the Spanish Conquistadores.  With missionary zeal unrivaled in history, they pulled down temple walls and built their own monuments to their own god on the Incan stone foundations.  There are pieces of Inca walls everywhere you look – the entrance to our hotel was about 30% Inca stonework.  But more on the Spanish next time… now it’s time to finish unpacking!