That Inca Stonework: Fantastic Technique and Execution, but Not Really a "Mystery"

 

This is well worth your time settling down with a cup or glass of something and spending some time to not only watch, listen and absorb the film presented here but also admire the excellent video production values - so unsual in YouTube productions on such theemes. Tony Trupp (@TonyTrupp 27/2/26) introduces it:

Over the past couple of months, I’ve been collaborating with one of my favorite YouTube channels, Ancient Americas,* on a video about The Secrets of Inca Masonry, which went live just a few hours ago. He did a brilliant job with it. It’s his longest video to date, but well worth the time if you’re interested in Andean cultures and Inca architecture! The video not only shares much of the research from my recent article Masonry Techniques of the Inca’s Master Builders, but also traces the evolution of Andean stonework across millennia, with examples from the Caral-Supe, Cerro Sechín, Chavín de Huántar, Pacara, Wari, and Tiwanaku cultures.

An additional discovery he highlighted is that the Quechua term for this stonework, Caninacukpirca (Qaninakuy Pirqa), derives from a word meaning “to nibble” or “to bite.” That linguistic connection further supports multiple lines of evidence indicating that Inca masonry was primarily accomplished using hammerstones, which is consistent with the tools recovered at these sites, the tool marks preserved on the stones themselves, and early Spanish eyewitness accounts.  

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Posted on You Tube by Ancient Ameriucas 26.02.2025

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* The YouTube channel Ancient Americas ('a channel dedicated to ancient American history') focusing on the pre-Columbian history of North, South, and Mesoamerica. It began Aug 15, 2019, has 289K subscribers and produced so far 59 videos. These are characterised by their generally high production values and information content, his videos are notable for being well-researched, featuring substantive bibliographies and credited visuals. The creator is an American educator and amateur historian who identifies himself simply as Pete (or Peter) online. While he is very active on YouTube and Patreon, he has intentionally maintained a degree of privacy regarding his full legal identity, with some online communities noting that he "hides his own identity" from the public. He says he is an "average guy" living in the Midwestern United States. The author explicitly states he is not a professional archaeologist or historian, but rather a passionate amateur researcher. In addition to his YouTube channel, Pete hosts group travel tours to archaeological sites (such as Zapotec sites in Mexico) through the platform TrovaTrip, where he is listed as Peter.

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