It’s mentioned in the first season of Ancient Aliens. That ‘community’ went off the deep end, in my opinion, but I do agree that current archeology cannot explain how the 50-100 ton monoliths at the Temple of the Sun were were moved from another mountain.
Without doubt, Ollantaytambo’s Wall of the Six Monoliths is one of the most iconic and baffling pieces of Inca architecture yet to be discovered. Standing approximately 36 feet wide and 14 feet high, the wall is one of the great mysteries of the Andes. It consists of 6 massive andesite monoliths, which are curiously divided by small strips, which seem to serve little purpose other than to add a modern riveted steel effect to this ancient wall. The rocks are all masterfully crafted to leave not even a paper-thin crack between them. Archaeologists can only guess that its purpose was to face the winter sun, whilst scientists have only been able to add to the mystery by demonstrating that the stones were dragged 4km from the quarry of Chachiqata on the other side of the 1000ft deep valley and across the Rio Vilcanota. Weighing between 50 and 100 tons a piece, the effort verges on impossible, whilst the reasoning appears to be little more than to dumbfound all that gaze upon them. Littered around the Temple Hill are even larger blocks called the “Tired Stones”, named so after the local belief that they were too tired to reach their final destination within the complex. It is believed that this gargantuan building site was intended to become a Temple of the Sun, but work was abandoned for reasons unknown.
https://uncoveredhistory.com/south-america/exploring-the-mysteries-of-the-andes/
I wonder if extinct megafauna were used as beasts of burden. Humans domesticated the camel and the elephant many thousands of years ago. There were several giant species of both in the Andes and we have very little idea about their disposition or behavior. Imagine an animal as or more biddable than a dromedary camel or an Indian elephant but twice or three times the size. There was surely a brief span of time (a few hundred to several thousand years?) when humans and these giant mammals coexisted. It was climate change, not human predation, that caused the mass extinction and I am confident there were talented people to work out the details if it were possible. Probably only a single species, one that was endangered already before humans made contact, or a few select individuals within that species, were suitable. That would explain why the largest stones are always the oldest.
In the past few years we’ve learned that the process for canine domestication started tens of thousands of years prior to the prevailing estimates—definitely prior to the end of the Ice Age. Evidence for using beasts would be scarce to nonexistent because rope and wood rot quickly. There must be at least one ceremonial grave, though, somewhere. The animals would have played too important a role. Maybe looking for bones or graves along the most probable routes taken would find it.
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