From:
Walter Arnold <walter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date:
Sun, 29 Oct 2000 07:16:57 -0600
Subject:
Dry Stacked Inca? Stone walls?
At 11:05 PM 10/28/00 -0500, Scott Knudsen wrote:
Quoted text begins.I have seen on a TV show some stone walls that I think where in the
jungles of South America and I think they where ancient Inca Walls that
where dry stacked and where able to with-stand earthquakes because they
fit together sort of like a jig-saw puzzle.
End of quote.
Remember, nothing was pre-cut to standard sizes... the brought the stones
to the site, and cut each one as they set it in the wall, based on the size
of the block they had and the space where it had to fit. That random ashlar
construction resulted in what looks to us to be a jig-saw puzzle. It also
resulted in all the blocks being interlocked. To a much lesser degree,
standard brick walls have some of the same locking feature- typically every
seventh course is a header course, with the bricks turned 90" to tying the
wall together. (not to imply that a standard brick wall has anywhere near
the stability of an Inca wall).
Perhaps they also used some of the drywall techniques used elsewhere. I've
heard that in parts of the UK they would put broken seashells between dry
set stone, and over 50 years the penetrating moisture would mix with the
shell, forming an extremely strong calcium mortar.
Walter S. Arnold * walter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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