ARCHITECTURE of the South American Pyramids

ARCHITECTURE of the PYRAMIDS of the “LOS INDIOS” Dr UDAY DOKRAS Ph D Stockholm & Architect Srishti Dokras When the Spanish arrived at the borders of the Inca Empire in 1528, it spanned a considerable area and was by far the largest of the four grand pre-Columbian civilizations Extending southward from the Ancomayo, which is now known as the Patía River, in southern present-day Colombia to the Maule River in what would later be known as Chile, and eastward from the Pacific Ocean to the edge of the Amazonian jungles, and covered some of the most mountainous terrains on Earth. In less than a century, the Inca had expanded their empire from about 400,000 km2 (150,000 sq mi) in 1448 to 1,800,000 km2 (690,000 sq mi) in 1528, just before the arrival of the Spanish. This vast area of land varied greatly in cultures and in climate. Because of the diverse cultures and geography, the Inca allowed many areas of the empire to be governed under the control of local leaders, who were watched and monitored by Inca officials. Under the administrative mechanisms established by the Inca, all parts of the empire answered to, and were ultimately under the direct control of, the Emperor. Scholars estimate that the population of the Inca Empire was more than 16,000,000 The Inca Empire, also known as Incan Empire and the Inka Empire, and at the time known as the Realm of the Four Parts,[a] was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America.[5] The administrative, political and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The Inca civilization arose from the Peruvian highlands sometime in the early 13th century. The Spanish began the conquest of the Inca Empire in 1532 and its last stronghold was conquered in 1572. From 1438 to 1533, the Incas incorporated a large portion of western South America, centered on the Andean Mountains, using conquest and peaceful assimilation, among other methods. At its largest, the empire joined Peru, western Ecuador, western and south central Bolivia, northwest Argentina, a large portion of what is today Chile, and the southwesternmost tip of Colombia into a state comparable to the historical empires of Eurasia. Stanish, C. (2001). Regional Research on the Inca. Journal of Archaeological Research, 9(3), 213–241. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41053176 Its official language was Quechua. The Inca Empire was unique in that it lacked many of the features associated with civilization in the Old World. Anthropologist Gordon McEwan wrote that the Incas were able to construct "one of the greatest imperial states in human history" without the use of the wheel, draft animals, knowledge of iron or steel, or even a system of writing. Notable features of the Inca Empire included its monumental architecture, especially stonework, extensive road network reaching all corners of the empire, finely-woven textiles, use of knotted strings (quipu) for record keeping and communication, agricultural innovations and production in a difficult environment, and the organization and management fostered or imposed on its people and their labor. The ancient Egyptians in Africa and the ancient pre-Incas/Incas evolved on different sides of the globe, and were never in contact…. They were separated by approximately 12,336 kilometers or 6661 nautical miles spread over thousands of years!…Yet, both cultures possessed the same strikingly identical body of ancient art, architecture, symbolism, mythology and religion, a mystery that has never been satisfactorily resolved…… According to my Google sources: “The Inca Empire in South America existed at about the same time as the Mayans to the north, and it too fell victim to the Spanish Conquistadors, in approximately 1533…..The Spanish general Francisco Pizarro took the Inca Emperor Atahualpa prisoner, extorted millions in silver and gold from him, then executed him..(His contemporary Montezuma, the Aztec ruler died in 1520 for similar reasons when Hernando Cortez imprisoned him and looted and extorted millions in gold and silver himself.).. .The Inca Empire at it’s height covered 3,000 miles of the western coast of South America and included parts of the present day countries of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile. Despite the towering reputation of Egypt’s Great Pyramids at Giza, the Americas actually contain more pyramid structures than the rest of the planet combined. Civilizations like the Olmec, Maya, Aztec and Inca all built pyramids to house their deities, as well as to bury their kings. In many of their great city-states, temple-pyramids formed the center of public life and were the site of holy rituals, including human sacrifice. The best known Latin American pyramids include the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon at Teotihuacán in central Mexico, the Castillo at Chichén Itzá in the Yucatan, the Great Pyramid in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, the Pyramid at Cholula and the Inca’s great temple at Cuzco in Peru. Rise of the Pyramid-Builders. Mesoamerican peoples built pyramids from around 1000 B.C. up until the time of the Spanish conquest in the early 16th century. (Egyptian pyramids are much older than American ones; the earliest Egyptian pyramid, the Pyramid of Djoser, was built in the 27 century BC). The earliest known pyramid in the Americas stands at La Venta in Tabasco, Mexico. Built by the Olmecs, the first major Mesoamerican civilization (a group famous for other firsts, like chocolate and the use of for sports), the pyramid dates to between 1000 B.C. and 400 B.C. American pyramids were generally built of earth and then faced with stone, typically in a stepped, or layered, shape topped by a platform or temple structure. They are often referred to as “stepped pyramids.” Did you know? In many cases, pyramids in Latin America were rebuilt again and again over already existing structures, in order to glorify the current ruler. Rebuilding the pyramid, it was believed, was a crucial process that renewed the king's relationship with the gods. At one point, historians concluded that (in contrast with Egyptian pyramids), pre-Columbian pyramids were not intended as burial chambers but as homes for deities. However, more recent excavations have unearthed evidence that some pyramids did include tombs, and there is also evidence that city-states used the pyramids for military defense. Almost at the same time that the Aztecs extended their control over much of Mesoamerica, a great imperial state was rising in the Andean highlands, and it eventually held sway over an empire some 3000 miles in extent. The Inca Empire incorporated many aspects of previous Andean cultures but fused them together in new ways – and with a genius for state organization and bureaucratic control over peoples of different cultures and languages, it achieved a level of integration and domination previously unknown in the Americas. What impelled the Inca conquest and expansion? The usual desire for economic gain and political power that we have seen in other empires provides one suitable explanation, but there may be others more in keeping with Inca culture and ideology. The cult of the ancestors was extremely important in Inca belief. Deceased rulers were mummified and then treated as intermediaries with the gods, paraded in public during festivals, offered food and gifts, and consulted on important matters by special oracles. Like the Aztecs, the Incas held the sun to be the highest deity and considered the Inca to be the sun’s representative on earth. The magnificent Temple of the Sun in Cuzco was the center of the state religion, and in its confines the mummies of the past Incas resided. The cult of the sun was spread throughout the empire, but the Inca did not prohibit the worship of local gods.” “Both the Inca and the Aztec empires were based on a long development of civilization that preceded them; and while in some areas of artistic and intellectual achievement earlier peoples had surpassed their accomplishments, both represented the success of imperial and military organization. Both empires were based on intensive agriculture organized by a state that accumulated surplus production and then controlled the circulation of goods and their redistribution to groups or social classes. In both areas this nobility was also the personnel of the state, so that the state organization was almost an image of society… Peru is a spiritual land where pyramids can be found. The pyramids of Peru had the same functions as those found in other areas of the planet where once great civilizations existed. Most were used as places of worship to the gods having rituals (at various equinoxes and solstices) – and ceremonial rites of various kinds….Incas didn’t have any written record so that is their one undeveloped aspect but both civilizations were very advanced compared to their time period and their limited supplies… Investigation of the area around Tucume in northern Peru resulted in an incredible new archaeological discovery of 26 pyramids. Forty tombs pre-dating the arrival of the Spaniards were opened, and enough Inca and Chimu artifacts unearthed to justify the building of a museum at Tucume, Peru…. These Inca pyramids, also called huacas are actually pyramid bases designed as residences for the various deities, although some were used for administrative and religious purposes as well….These Inca pyramids were also used by the king for administrative functions; official mandates were usually issued from these symbolic centers of power. The Incas also practiced human sacrifice, much like their Aztec contemporaries, but on a much smaller scale…The human sacrifices took place in Inca times apparently only for the most momentous occasions, such as famine, pestilence, earthquakes, the death of a ruler-god, or on a more “positive” side, the accession of a ruler. One mummy, named Juanita was very well preserved because she was an “ice mummy”found at an elevation of 18,000 feet…Most of her hair, her skin, and her stomach remained intact as well as her sumptuous clothing. DNA studies were conducted to track her ethnicity and the contents of her stomach were sampled to learn more about the Inca diet. Other young girls who were sacrificed included the “Chosen Women” or the “Virgins of the Sun”. These were beautiful young girls, between 8 and 10 years old, chosen by the Inca officials throughout the vast empire. They were taken into a temple, for example in Machu Picchu, (were several corpses of young women were found), and were forbidden to leave for six to seven years…” So we can see the amazing parallels between the pyramids as symbols of the religious beliefs of Egypt, Meso (or Middle) American civilizations such as the Maya and the Aztecs, and there are some very striking similarities between the religion and pyramids of the Egyptians and the Incas.. The pyramids of the Americas were used more for ceremonial and religious functions as opposed to the Egyptian concept of a final resting place for the Pharaoh, although there have been mummies discovered in the American pyramids as well….. This is why the pyramids of the Americas have flat tops and steps for easy access to allow these religious ceremonies in front of thousands of onlookers…But the practice of mummification and the symbolic similarities between the religious beliefs between these geographically isolated areas is striking! How the Egyptian influence spread to the Americas is still unknown, it is “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”….The Incas left behind many beautiful artifacts as well… As they say, truth is stranger than fiction, and perhaps we will never know exactly how this connection was forged…But there is no doubt of it’s existence and it’s strength and power over the lives of the inhabitants of Egypt, Mesoamerica and the Incas in South America at the time….All these mighty empires had advanced knowledge of astronomy, built roads, developed trade, created stone architecture, made beautifully worked gold art and jewelry, became skillful potters, and wove lovely fabrics…. And they ALL had pyramids as their largest, most significant religious and cultural edifices, structures so mighty and awe inspiring that they dominated the landscape for miles around and were a symbol of the might and power of the ruling classes…And were an integral part of the daily lifestyles of the people they ruled… For more articles by John Whye, click on johnwhye@wordpress.com pyramid, in architecture, a monumental structure constructed of or faced with stone or brick and having a rectangular base and four sloping triangular (or sometimes trapezoidal) sides meeting at an apex (or truncated to form a platform). Pyramids have been built at various times in Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, western Asia, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, India, Thailand, Mexico, South America, and on some islands of the Pacific Ocean. Those of Egypt and of Central and South America are the best known. The pyramids of ancient Egypt were funerary edifices. They were built over a period of 2,700 years, ranging from the beginning of the Old Kingdom to the close of the Ptolemaic period. But the time at which pyramid building reached its acme, the pyramid age par excellence, was that commencing with the 3rd dynasty and ending at roughly the 6th (c. 2686–2325 BCE). During those years the pyramid was the usual type of royal tomb. It was not, as such, an isolated structure but was always part of an architectural complex. The essential components, at least during the Old Kingdom, were the pyramid itself, containing or surmounting the grave proper and standing within an enclosure on high desert ground; an adjacent mortuary temple; and a causeway leading down to a pavilion (usually called the valley temple), situated at the edge of the cultivation and probably connected with the Nile by a canal. Scores of royal pyramids have been found in Egypt, but many of them were reduced to mere mounds of debris and long ago plundered of their treasures. The prototype of the pyramid was the mastaba, a form of tomb known in Egypt from the beginning of the dynastic era. It was characterized by a flat-topped rectangular superstructure of mud brick or stone with a shaft descending to the burial chamber far below it. Djoser, the second king of the 3rd dynasty, employing Imhotep as architect, undertook for the first time the construction of a mastaba entirely of stone; it was 8 metres (26 feet) high and had a square ground plan with sides of about 63 metres (207 feet) each. Once completed it was extended on the ground on all four sides, and its height was increased by building rectangular additions of diminishing size superimposed upon its top. Thus Djoser’s original mastaba became a terraced structure rising in six unequal stages to a height of 60 metres (197 feet), its base measuring 120 metres (394 feet) by 108 metres (354 feet). This monument, which lies at Ṣaqqārah, is known as the Step Pyramid; it is probably the earliest stone building of importance erected in Egypt. The substructure has an intricate system of underground corridors and rooms, its main feature being a central shaft 25 metres (82 feet) deep and 8 metres (26 feet) wide, at the bottom of which is the sepulchral chamber built of granite from Aswān. The Step Pyramid rises within a vast walled court 544 metres (1,785 feet) long and 277 metres (909 feet) wide, in which are the remnants of several other stone edifices built to supply the wants of the king in the hereafter. Step Pyramid of Djoser A structure of peculiar shape called the Bent, Blunted, False, or Rhomboidal Pyramid, which stands at Dahshūr a short distance south of Ṣaqqārah, marks an advance in development toward the strictly pyramidal tomb. Built by Snefru, of the 4th dynasty, it is 188 square metres (2,024 square feet) at the base and approximately 98 metres (322 feet) high. Peculiar in that it has a double slope, it changes inclination about halfway up, the lower portion being steeper than the upper. It comes nearer than Djoser’s terraced tomb to being a true pyramid. A monumental structure at Maydūm, also ascribed to Snefru, was a true pyramid, though not originally planned as such. The initial structure was gradually enlarged until it became a gigantic eight-terraced mass of masonry; then the steps were filled in with a packing of stone to form a continuous slope. The entire structure was eventually covered with a smooth facing of limestone; a geometrically true pyramid was the final result. In its ruined condition, however, it has the appearance of a three-stepped pyramid rising to a height of about 70 metres (230 feet). The earliest tomb known to have been designed and executed throughout as a true pyramid is the Red Pyramid at Dahshūr, thought by some to have also been erected by Snefru. It is about 220 metres (722 feet) wide at the base and 104 metres (341 feet) high. The greatest of the Egyptian pyramids are those of the pharaohs Khufu, Khafre, and Menkure at Giza (see Pyramids of Giza). Pyramids of Giza Among American pyramids the best known include the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon at Teotihuacán in central Mexico, the Castillo at Chichén Itzá, and various Inca and Chimú structures in Andean settlements. American pyramids were generally built of earth and then faced with stone, and they are typically of stepped form and topped by a platform or temple structure. The Pyramid of the Sun, with base dimensions of 220 by 230 metres (722 by 755 feet), rivals in size the Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza, which measures 230 square metres (2,476 square feet). Some 80 years before the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro arrived in the Andes, the Inca ruler Pachacuti Yupanqui (A.D. 1438 to 1471) began the construction of a great temple-pyramid, Sascahuamán, in the capital city of Cuzco. It took 20,000 workers 50 years to build the pyramid, constructed from huge stones fitted together without mortar. The Incas, Latin America’s last great indigenous civilization to survive, used the same building techniques to construct their marvelous stone city, Machu Picchu, high in the Andes. It was made out of 186 stones weighing an average of 2.2 tons each. Twelve quarrymen carved 186 stones in 22 days, and the structure was erected using 44 men. They used iron hammers, chisels and levers (this is a modern shortcut, as the ancient Egyptians were limited to using copper and later bronze and wood). It took 20,000 workers 50 years to build the pyramid, constructed from huge stones fitted together without mortar. The Incas, Latin America's last great indigenous civilization to survive, used the same building techniques to construct their marvelous stone city, Machu Picchu, high in the Andes. Pyramids of Maya are perhaps most known for their many majestic pyramids. They built two kinds of pyramids. Both types of pyramids were similar in many ways. They each had the familiar pyramid shape. They each had steep steps up the side that would allow someone to climb to the top. They each were built for religious purposes and for the gods. However, they had their differences as well. The first type of pyramid had a temple on the top and was meant to be climbed by the priests to make sacrifices to the gods. The stairs going up the sides of these pyramids were steep, but not too steep for the priests to climb. The most important religious ceremonies were held at the top of these pyramids. The second type of pyramid was a sacred pyramid built to a god. These pyramids were not to be climbed or touched by humans. There were still steps going up the sides of these pyramids, but they were often too steep to climb without a lot of effort. These pyramids were sometimes built with secret doors, tunnels, and traps. Famous Pyramids El Castillo - This pyramid was built as a temple to the god Kukulcan in the city of Chichen Itza. The total height of the pyramid is just under 100 feet. Each side of El Castillo has 91 steps. When you add up the steps on all four sides and then add in the top platform as a step, you get 365 steps, one for each day of the year. El Castillo by Lfyenrcnhan Temple IV at Tikal - Temple IV at Tikal is part of a number of very tall pyramids in the city of Tikal. It is 230 feet tall and was built to mark the reign of King Yik'in Chan K'awiil. La Danta - This pyramid is thought to be one of the largest pyramids in the world by total volume. It is 250 feet tall and has a volume of 2.8 million cubic meters. Nohoch Mul - A temple pyramid in the city of Coba, Nohoch Mul is one of the tallest pyramids on the Yucatan Peninsula at 138 feet high. The Nohoch Mul Pyramid by Ken Thomas Palaces for the Kings Each Maya city-state would have a large palace inside the city for their king and the royal family. These palaces were sometimes large monuments to powerful kings. One of the most famous palaces is the palace at Palenque built by King Pakal. It was a large complex of many buildings and courtyards including a tall tower that looked over the city. It was covered with colorful hieroglyphics and carvings of the king and his family. Ball Courts The Maya also built giant ball courts where they would play their game with a rubber ball. Some major cities had multiple courts. Sometimes ball courts were attached to temples. The courts had two long stone walls, sometimes built with sloped sides. Maya ball court by Ken Thomas Interesting Facts about Maya Pyramids and Architecture Maya pyramids had a flat top. The pyramids of the Aztecs were very similar to those of the Maya. The main difference was that the Aztec would sometimes build more than one temple on the top of a pyramid. Many times new pyramids were built on top of old pyramids. Archeologists have found several more pyramids inside and under existing pyramids. Some pyramids served as burial chambers for kings similar to the ancient Egyptians. Many Maya buildings and temples were aligned with celestial events such as the path of the sun. Activities Mesoamerican peoples had built pyramids from around 1000 B.C. up until the time of the Spanish conquest in the early 16th century. (Egyptian pyramids are much older than American ones; the earliest Egyptian pyramid, the Pyramid of Djoser, was built in the 27 century BC). The earliest known pyramid in the Americas stands at La Venta in Tabasco, Mexico. Built by the Olmecs, the first major Mesoamerican civilization (a group famous for other firsts, like chocolate and the use of for sports), the pyramid dates to between 1000 B.C. and 400 B.C. American pyramids were generally built of earth and then faced with stone, typically in a stepped, or layered, shape topped by a platform or temple structure. They are often referred to as “stepped pyramids.” Investigation of the area around Tucume in northern Peru resulted in an incredible new archaeological discovery of 26 pyramids. Forty tombs pre-dating the arrival of the Spaniards were opened, and enough Inca and Chimu artifacts unearthed to justify the building of a museum at Tucume, Peru. Civilizations like the Olmec, Maya, Aztec and Inca all built pyramids to house their deities, as well as to bury their kings. Maya pyramids had a flat top. The pyramids of the Aztecs were very similar to those of the Maya. The main difference was that the Aztec would sometimes build more than one temple on the top of a pyramid. ... Many Maya buildings and temples were aligned with celestial events such as the path of the sun. Pyramid of the Sun, large pyramid in the ancient city of Teotihuacán, Mexico, that was built about 100 CE and is one of the largest structures of its type in the Western Hemisphere. The pyramid rises 216 feet (66 metres) above ground level, and it measures approximately 720 by 760 feet (220 by 230 metres) at its base. Teotihuacán: Temple of the Sun Pyramid of the Sun, dominating the ruined city of Teotihuacán, Mexico. The Pyramid of the Sun dominates central Teotihuacán from the east side of the Avenue of the Dead, the main north–south artery of the city. It was constructed of about 1,000,000 cubic yards (765,000 cubic metres) of material, including hewed tezontle, a red coarse volcanic rock of the region. During hastily organized restoration work in 1905–10, the architect Leopoldo Batres arbitrarily added a fifth terrace, and many of the original facing stones were removed. On the pyramid’s west side, there are 248 uneven stair steps that lead to the top of the structure. The Pyramid of the Sun, in Teotihuacán (Mexico). Little is known of the people who built Teotihuacán, and the purpose of the Pyramid of the Sun remains largely a matter of conjecture. Archaeologists believe that there was once a temple atop the pyramid. In the early 1970s exploration below the pyramid revealed a system of caves and tunnel chambers, and other tunnels were later found throughout the city. Further discoveries were made in the ensuing decades. In 2011, archaeologists working under the pyramid’s centre reported finding a cache containing shards of clay pots, pieces of obsidian, animal bones, three greenstone human figurines, and a greenstone mask. In addition, walls of what appeared to be three earlier buildings were uncovered. It was announced in 2013 that workers had discovered a covered pit beneath the platform that forms the pyramid’s summit. Within the pit were two pillars and what was described as a figure of the god Huehueteotl, a deity found in the pantheons of several Mesoamerican civilizations. Pyramid of the Sun The best known include the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon at Teotihuacán in central Mexico, the Castillo at Chichén Itzá, and various Inca and Chimú structures in Andean settlements. American pyramids were generally built of earth and then faced with stone, and they are typically… Teotihuacán The Pyramid of the Sun is one of the largest structures of its type in the Western Hemisphere. It dominates the central city from the east side of the Avenue of the Dead. The pyramid rises 216 feet (66 metres) above ground level, and it… Pyramid Of Khafre Architecture pyramid, in architecture, a monumental structure constructed of or faced with stone or brick and having a rectangular base and four sloping triangular (or sometimes trapezoidal) sides meeting at an apex (or truncated to form a platform). Pyramids have been built at various times in Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, western Asia, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, India, Thailand, Mexico, South America, and on some islands of the Pacific Ocean. Those of Egypt and of Central and South America are the best known. The pyramids of ancient Egypt were funerary edifices. They were built over a period of 2,700 years, ranging from the beginning of the Old Kingdom to the close of the Ptolemaic period. But the time at which pyramid building reached its acme, the pyramid age par excellence, was that commencing with the 3rd dynasty and ending at roughly the 6th (c. 2686–2325 BCE). During those years the pyramid was the usual type of royal tomb. It was not, as such, an isolated structure but was always part of an architectural complex. The essential components, at least during the Old Kingdom, were the pyramid itself, containing or surmounting the grave proper and standing within an enclosure on high desert ground; an adjacent mortuary temple; and a causeway leading down to a pavilion (usually called the valley temple), situated at the edge of the cultivation and probably connected with the Nile by a canal. Scores of royal pyramids have been found in Egypt, but many of them were reduced to mere mounds of debris and long ago plundered of their treasures. The prototype of the pyramid was the mastaba, a form of tomb known in Egypt from the beginning of the dynastic era. It was characterized by a flat-topped rectangular superstructure of mud brick or stone with a shaft descending to the burial chamber far below it. Djoser, the second king of the 3rd dynasty, employing Imhotep as architect, undertook for the first time the construction of a mastaba entirely of stone; it was 8 metres (26 feet) high and had a square ground plan with sides of about 63 metres (207 feet) each. Once completed it was extended on the ground on all four sides, and its height was increased by building rectangular additions of diminishing size superimposed upon its top. Thus Djoser’s original mastaba became a terraced structure rising in six unequal stages to a height of 60 metres (197 feet), its base measuring 120 metres (394 feet) by 108 metres (354 feet). This monument, which lies at Ṣaqqārah, is known as the Step Pyramid; it is probably the earliest stone building of importance erected in Egypt. The substructure has an intricate system of underground corridors and rooms, its main feature being a central shaft 25 metres (82 feet) deep and 8 metres (26 feet) wide, at the bottom of which is the sepulchral chamber built of granite from Aswān. The Step Pyramid rises within a vast walled court 544 metres (1,785 feet) long and 277 metres (909 feet) wide, in which are the remnants of several other stone edifices built to supply the wants of the king in the hereafter. Step Pyramid of Djoser A structure of peculiar shape called the Bent, Blunted, False, or Rhomboidal Pyramid, which stands at Dahshūr a short distance south of Ṣaqqārah, marks an advance in development toward the strictly pyramidal tomb. Built by Snefru, of the 4th dynasty, it is 188 square metres (2,024 square feet) at the base and approximately 98 metres (322 feet) high. Peculiar in that it has a double slope, it changes inclination about halfway up, the lower portion being steeper than the upper. It comes nearer than Djoser’s terraced tomb to being a true pyramid. A monumental structure at Maydūm, also ascribed to Snefru, was a true pyramid, though not originally planned as such. The initial structure was gradually enlarged until it became a gigantic eight-terraced mass of masonry; then the steps were filled in with a packing of stone to form a continuous slope. The entire structure was eventually covered with a smooth facing of limestone; a geometrically true pyramid was the final result. In its ruined condition, however, it has the appearance of a three-stepped pyramid rising to a height of about 70 metres (230 feet). The earliest tomb known to have been designed and executed throughout as a true pyramid is the Red Pyramid at Dahshūr, thought by some to have also been erected by Snefru. It is about 220 metres (722 feet) wide at the base and 104 metres (341 feet) high. The greatest of the Egyptian pyramids are those of the pharaohs Khufu, Khafre, and Menkure at Giza (see Pyramids of Giza). The Blunted, Bent, False, or Rhomboidal Pyramid, so named because of its peculiar double slope, built by Snefru in the 4th dynasty (c. 2575–c. 2465 BCE), Dahshūr, Egypt. Ivrienen Pyramids of Giza Among American pyramids the best known include the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon at Teotihuacán in central Mexico, the Castillo at Chichén Itzá, and various Inca and Chimú structures in Andean settlements. American pyramids were generally built of earth and then faced with stone, and they are typically of stepped form and topped by a platform or temple structure. The Pyramid of the Sun, with base dimensions of 220 by 230 metres (722 by 755 feet), rivals in size the Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza, which measures 230 square metres (2,476 square feet). Pyramid of the Sun The most famous single pyramid in Latin America is the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacán, Mexico. The Teotihuacán was one of the most dominant societies in Mesoamerica; their namesake capital, located northeast of today’s Mexico City, had a population of 100,000 to 200,000 during the fifth and sixth centuries. According to Aztec tradition, the sun and the moon, as well as the rest of the universe, traced their origins to Teotihuacán. More temples have been discovered there than in any other Mesoamerican city. The Teotihuacán built the Pyramids of the Sun and of the Moon between A.D. 1 and 250. Like many Mesoamerican pyramids, each was constructed around a core of rubble held in place by retaining walls. The walls were then faced with adobe bricks, and then covered with limestone. The base of the Pyramid of the Sun measures 730 feet per side, with five stepped terraces reaching a height of some 200 feet. Its massive size rivals that of the Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza. Within the current pyramid is another, earlier pyramid structure of almost the same size. In 1971, archaeologists discovered a cave underneath the Pyramid of the Sun, leading to a chamber in the shape of a four-leaf clover. Artifacts found in the cave indicated the room’s use as a shrine, long before the pyramid itself was built. The Pyramid of the Moon, though similar, was built on a smaller scale; it sits at the north end of the city’s main axis, called the Avenue of the Dead. Teotihuacán also contains a smaller stepped, stone-covered temple-pyramid called the Temple of the Feathered Serpent (an early form of the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl). It was dedicated around A.D. 200, and evidence has been found of some 200 individuals who were sacrificed in the ceremony to honor it. Teotihuacán declined between the seventh and 10th centuries and was eventually abandoned. Recommended for you Maya The Maya, another dominant civilization of Mesoamerica, made temple-pyramids the glorious centers of their great stone cities. One of the most famous, the magnificently carved Temple of the Inscriptions at Palenque (Mexico), was a funerary monument to the seventh century king Hanab Pakal. The tallest Maya pyramid, located in Tikal, Guatemala, dates to the eighth century A.D., before the civilization’s mysterious decline. Another Maya monument, built in the ninth and 10th centuries A.D., is at the center of the city of Uxmal in the Yucatan. Known as the Pyramid of the Magician or Sorcerer, it was (according to Maya legend) built by the god of magic, Itzamná, as a training center for shamans, healers and priests. The Maya city of Chichén Itzá contains the Castillo, or Temple of Kukulcan (“feathered serpent,” the Maya equivalent of Quetzalcoatl). Constructed around A.D. 1100, the 180-square-foot Castillo was constructed over another temple-pyramid built 100 years earlier. Its four stairways have 91 steps each, which combined with the single step at the entrance to the temple adds up to 365 stairs exactly–the number of days in the Mayan year. (The Maya had a complex astronomical and cosmological system, and often angled their ceremonial buildings, like pyramids, so that they would face sunrise or sunset at particular times of the year.) Aztec Pyramids. The Aztecs, who lived in the Mexican valley between the 12th and 16th centuries, also built pyramids in order to house and honor their deities. The elaborate nature of Aztec pyramids and other architecture was also connected to the Aztec’s warrior culture: The Aztec symbol for conquest was a burning pyramid, with a conqueror destroying the temple at its top. Tenochtitlan, the great Aztec capital, housed the Great Pyramid, a four-stepped structure some 60 meters high. At its top, two shrines honored Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec god of sun and war, and Tlaloc, god of rain and fertility. The Great Pyramid was destroyed along with the rest of the Aztec civilization by the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes and his army in 1521. Underneath its ruins, the remains of six earlier pyramids were later found, evidence of the constant rebuilding process common to the Mesoamerican pyramids. Located in the plains surrounding the city of Puebla (founded by the Spanish colonists), the pyramid complex of Cholula (named for the Mesoamerican people that built it) was the largest single structure in pre-Columbian Mexico. Constructed from adobe in four stages of construction beginning around the second century B.C., the Pyramid of Cholula measured 1,083 by 1,034 feet at the base and was about 82 feet high. The warrior Toltecs conquered the region around 1200 and rebuilt the pyramid as their ceremonial center. The Aztecs later claimed it as their own, dedicating it to the god Quetzalcoatl. When the Spaniards destroyed the holy city of Cholula in the 16th century, they built a church atop the ruins of the huge pyramid complex in a conscious attempt to claim the New World for Christianity. Pyramids to the South: Moche & Inca More pyramids can be found in South America, which was home to indigenous populations like the Moche, Chimú and Incas. The Moche, who lived along the northern coast of what is now Peru, built their pyramids of adobe, or sun-dried mud-bricks. The Huaca del Sol (or Holy Place of the Sun) was almost 100 feet tall and built of more than 143 million bricks, while the Huaca de la Luna (dedicated to the moon) was rebuilt multiple times over a 600-year period. Some 80 years before the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro arrived in the Andes, the Inca ruler Pachacuti Yupanqui (A.D. 1438 to 1471) began the construction of a great temple-pyramid, Sascahuamán, in the capital city of Cuzco. It took 20,000 workers 50 years to build the pyramid, constructed from huge stones fitted together without mortar. The Incas, Latin America’s last great indigenous civilization to survive, used the same building techniques to construct their marvelous stone city, Machu Picchu, high in the Andes. https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/pyramids-in-latin-america https://johnwhye.com/2015/08/29/pyramids-and-the-incas/ Mesoamerican pyramids form a prominent part of ancient Mesoamerican architecture. Although similar in some ways to Egyptian pyramids, these New World structures have flat tops (many with temples on the top) and stairs ascending their faces.[1][2] The largest pyramid in the world by volume is the Great Pyramid of Cholula, in the east-central Mexican state of Puebla. The builders of certain classic Mesoamerican pyramids have decorated them copiously with stories about the Hero Twins, the feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl, Mesoamerican creation myths, ritualistic sacrifice, etc. written in the form of hieroglyphs on the rises of the steps of the pyramids, on the walls, and on the sculptures contained within. AZTEC PYRAMIDS Santa Cecilia Acatitlan pyramid The Aztecs, a people with a rich mythology and cultural heritage, dominated central Mexico in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries.[4] Their capital was Tenochtitlan on the shore of Lake Texcoco – the site of modern-day Mexico City. They were related to the preceding cultures in the basin of Mexico such as the culture of Teotihuacan whose building style they adopted and adaptedSites involving Aztec pyramids include: El Tepozteco Malinalco Santa Cecilia Acatitlan Templo Mayor Tenayuca Tenochtitlan MAYAN PYRAMIDS Edzna The Maya are a people of southern Mexico and northern Central America (Guatemala, Belize, western Honduras, and El Salvador).[6] Archaeological evidence shows that by the Preclassic Maya (1000 B.C., approximately 3,000 years ago) they were building pyramidal-plaza ceremonial architecture. The earliest monuments consisted of simple burial mounds, the precursors to the spectacular stepped pyramids from the Terminal Pre-classic period and beyond. These pyramids relied on intricate carved stone in order to create a stair-stepped design. Many of these structures featured a top platform upon which a smaller dedicatory building was constructed, associated with a particular Maya deity. Maya pyramid-like structures were also erected to serve as a place of interment for powerful rulers. Maya pyramidal structures occur in a great variety of forms and functions, bounded by regional and periodical differences. Aguateca Altun Ha Bonampak Calakmul Caracol Chichen Itza Cholula Coba Comalcalco Copan Dos Pilas Edzna El Mirador El Tigre La Danta Kaminaljuyu Lamanai La Venta Los Monos Lubaantun Mayapan Mixco Viejo Moral Reforma Nim Li Punit Palenque: Temple of the Inscriptions San Andrés, El Salvador Tazumal Tikal: Tikal Temple I; Tikal Temple II; Tikal Temple III; Tikal Temple IV; Tikal Temple V; Lost World Pyramid; Talud-Tablero Temple Tonina Uxmal Yaxchilan Yaxha Xunantunich Purépechan architecture The Tarascan state was a precolumbian culture located in the modern day Mexican state of Michoacán. The region is currently inhabited by the modern descendants of the Purépecha. Purépechan architecture is noted for "T"-shaped step pyramids known as yácatas. Tzintzuntzan El Tajín Pyramid of the Sun The Teotihuacan civilization, which flourished from around 300 BCE to 500 CE, at its greatest extent included most of Mesoamerica. Teotihuacano culture collapsed around 550 and was followed by several large city-states such as Xochicalco (whose inhabitants were probably of Matlatzinca ethnicity), Cholula (whose inhabitants were probably Oto-Manguean), and later the ceremonial site of Tula (which has traditionally been claimed to have been built by Toltecs but which now is thought to have been founded by the Huastec culture). El Castillo & High Priest's Temple in Chichen Itza Pyramids of the Sun, the Moon and Temple of the Feathered Serpent in Teotihuacan Xochicalco Talud-tablero The site called Tula, the Toltec capital, in the state of Mexico is one of the best preserved five-tier pyramids in Mesoamerican civilization. The ground plan of the site has two pyramids, Pyramid B and Pyramid C. The Toltec empire lasted from around 700 to 1100. Although the origin of the Toltec Empire is a mystery, they are said to have migrated Mexico's northern plateau until they set up their empire’s capital in central Mexico, called Tula, which is 70 km/40 mi northwest of modern day Mexico City. When the city of Tula was in its prime it had around 40,000 people living in it and the city flourished from 900 to 1100. The city of Tula had a main plaza surrounded by 2 pyramids and a ritual ball courtThe most popular pyramid on this site (pyramid b) is the pyramid of Quetzalcoatl which is a five-tiered pyramid with four giant carved pillars on top. The pyramid of Quetzalcoatl was named after a story of a legendary priest, also named Quetzalcoatl who was exiled from Tula around the year 1000. He is said to have ended warfare between Mayan city states and after that the Toltecs started worshiping Quetzalcoatl. The best known Classic Veracruz pyramid, the Pyramid of Niches in El Tajín, is smaller than those of their neighbours and successors but more intricate. El Tajín The Zapotecs were one of the earliest Mesoamerican cultures and held sway over the Valley of Oaxaca region from the early first millennium BCE to about the 14th century.[18] Monte Albán Mitla The following sites are from northern Mesoamerica, built by cultures whose ethnic affiliations are unknown: Altavista[edit] Votive Pyramid at La Quemada This astronomical and also ceremonial center was the product of the Chalchihuite culture. Its occupation and development had a period of approximately 800 years (ca. 200—1000). This zone is considered an important archaeological center because of the astonishing, accurate functions of the edifications. The ones that stand out the most are: The Moon Plaza, The Votive Pyramid, the Ladder of Gamio and The labyrinth. In The Labyrinth you can appreciate with precision and accuracy, the respective equinoxes and the seasons. La Quemada A great quantity of buildings were constructed on artificial terraces upon the slopes of a hill. The materials used here include stone slab and clay. The most important structures are: The Hall of Columns, The Ball Court, The Votive Pyramid, and The Palace and the Barracks. On the most elevated part of the hill is The Fortress. This is composed of a small pyramid and a platform, encircled by a wall that is more than 800m long and up to six feet high. La Quemada was occupied from 800 to 1200. Their founders and occupants have not been identified with certainty but probably belonged to either the Chalchihuites culture or that of the neighbouring Malpaso culture. Inca architecture Inca architecture is the most significant pre-Columbian architecture in South America. The Incas inherited an architectural legacy from Tiwanaku, founded in the 2nd century B.C.E. in present-day Bolivia. A core characteristic of the architectural style was to use the topography and existing materials of the land as part of the design. The capital of the Inca empire, Cuzco, still contains many fine examples of Inca architecture, although many walls of Inca masonry have been incorporated into Spanish Colonial structures. The famous royal estate of Machu Picchu (Machu Pikchu) is a surviving example of Inca architecture. Other significant sites include Sacsayhuamán and Ollantaytambo. The Incas also developed an extensive road system spanning most of the western length of the continent and placed their distinctive architecture along the way, thereby visually asserting their imperial rule along the frontier. distinctiveness: Inca buildings were made out of fieldstones or semi-worked stone blocks and dirt set in mortar; adobe walls were also quite common, usually laid over stone foundations.[2] The material used in the Inca buildings depended on the region, for instance, in the coast they used large rectangular adobe blocks while in the Andes they used local stones. The most common shape in Inca architecture was the rectangular building without any internal walls and roofed with wooden beams and thatch. There were several variations of this basic design, including gabled roofs, rooms with one or two of the long sides opened and rooms that shared a long wall.[5] Rectangular buildings were used for quite different functions in almost all Inca buildings, from humble houses to palaces and temples.[6] Even so, there are some examples of curved walls on Inca buildings, mostly in regions outside the central area of Peru.[7] Two-story buildings were infrequent; when they were built the second floor was accessed from the outside via a stairway or high terrain rather than from the first floor. Wall apertures, including doors, niches and windows, usually had a trapezoidal shape; they could be fitted with double or triple jambs as a form of ornamentation. Other kinds of decoration were scarce; some walls were painted or adorned with metal plaques, in rare cases walls were sculpted with small animals or geometric patterns. Twelve-angled stone in the Hatun Rumiyoc street of Cusco, is an example of Inca masonry The most common composite form in Inca architecture was the kancha, a rectangular enclosure housing three or more rectangular buildings placed symmetrically around a central courtyard.[11] Kancha units served widely different purposes as they formed the basis of simple dwellings as well as of temples and palaces; furthermore, several kancha could be grouped together to form blocks in Inca settlements. A testimony of the importance of these compounds in Inca architecture is that the central part of the Inca capital of Cusco consisted of large kancha, including Qurikancha and the Inca palaces. The best preserved examples of kancha are found at Ollantaytambo, an Inca settlement located along the Urubamba River. Inca architecture is widely known for its fine masonry, which features precisely cut and shaped stones closely fitted without mortar ("dry").However, despite this fame, most Inca buildings were actually made out of fieldstone and adobe as described above. In the 1940s, American archaeologist John H. Rowe classified Inca fine masonry in two types: coursed, which features rectangular shaped stones, and polygonal, which features blocks of irregular shape. Forty years later, Peruvian architect Santiago Agurto established four subtypes by dividing the categories identified by Rowe: Cellular polygonal masonry: with small blocks Ashlar polygonal masonry: with very large stones Encased coursed masonry: in which stone blocks are not aligned Sedimentary coursed masonry: in which stones are laid out in horizontal rows (i.e., ashlars) The first two types were used on important buildings or perimeter walls while the last two were employed mostly on terrace walls and river canalization. Ashlar polygonal masonry at Sacsayhuamán According to Graziano Gasparini and Luise Margolies, Inca stonemasonry was inspired by the architecture of Tiwanaku, an archaeological site in modern Bolivia built several centuries before the Inca Empire. They argue that according to ethnohistorical accounts the Incas were impressed by these monuments and employed large numbers of stoneworkers from nearby regions in the construction of their own buildings. In addition to these references, they also identified some formal similarities between Tiwanaku and Inca architecture including the use of cut and polished stone blocks, as well as of double jambs. A problem with this hypothesis is the question of how expertise was preserved in the three hundred years between the collapse of Tiwanaku and the appearance of the Inca Empire and its architecture. As a solution, John Hyslop has argued that the Tiahuanaco stonemasonry tradition was preserved in the Lake Titicaca region in sites such as Tanka Tanka, which features walls resembling Inca polygonal masonry. A second major influence on Inca architecture came from the Wari culture, a civilization contemporary to Tiwanaku. According to Ann Kendall, the Huari introduced their tradition of building rectangular enclosures in the Cusco region, which formed a model for the development of the Inca kancha. There is evidence that such traditions were preserved in the Cusco region after the decline of the Wari as is attested by the enclosures found at sites such as Choquequirao (Chuqi K'iraw), 28 kilometers southeast of the Inca capital. MASONARY and METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION Inca wall in Cuzco Digital reconstruction of original Inca painting on Room 42 wall, Tambo Colorado; this late Inca period fortress/palace is still largely intact despite being constructed of adobe and located in an earthquake-prone area of Peru. Remaining traces of the original paint guided this 2005 reconstruction. Laser scan data taken from a CyArk/University of California research partnership Water engineer Ken Wright estimates that 60 percent of the Inca construction effort was underground. The Inca built their cities with locally available materials, usually including limestone or granite. To cut these hard rocks the Inca used stone, bronze or copper tools, usually splitting the stones along the natural fracture lines. Without the wheel the stones were rolled up with wood beams on earth ramps. Extraordinary manpower would have been necessary. The Inca Empire employed a system of tribute to the Inca government in the form of labor, called Mit'a that required all males between 15-50 to work on large public construction projects. Wall of the Coricancha temple, at Cuzco, the capital city of the Inca Empire.// Palace of Diego Sayri Túpac, Yucay Hyslop comments that the 'secret' to the production of fine Inca masonry “…was the social organization necessary to maintain the great numbers of people creating such energy-consuming monuments.” It is speculated that the stones were swung into place using friction to create perfectly convex and concave sides. Visible marks of facture like stone bosses were made using rope; these elements demonstrated the artistic value of labor and the power of Inca rule. Usually the walls of Incan buildings were slightly inclined inside and the corners were rounded. This, in combination with masonry thoroughness, led Incan buildings to have a peerless seismic resistance,] thanks to high static and dynamic steadiness, absence of resonant frequencies and stress concentration points. During an earthquake with a small or moderate magnitude, masonry was stable, and during a strong earthquake stone blocks were “ dancing ” near their normal positions and lay down exactly in right order after an earthquake. Another building method was called "pillow-faced" architecture. The Incas would sand large, finely shaped stones which they would fit together in jigsaw like patterns. Pillow-faced architecture was typically used for temples and royal places like Machu Picchu. Ashlar masonry was used in the most sacred, elite Inca structure; for example, the Acllawasi ("House of the Chosen Woman"), the Coricancha ("Golden Enclosure") in Cuzco, and the Sun Temple at Machu Picchu. Thus it seems that ashlar may have been more greatly valued by the Inca, perhaps considered more difficult than polygonal ("pillow-faced") masonry. Though polygonal masonry may be aesthetically more impressive, the facture of ashlar masonry tends to be unforgiving to mistakes; if a corner is broken in the process it can be reshaped to fit into the mosaic of polygonal masonry whereas you cannot recover a damaged rock in ashlar masonry. Aesthetics: Combining the Built and Natural Environments Inca architecture is strongly characterized by its use of the natural environmentThe Inca managed to seamlessly merge their architecture into the surrounding land and its specificities. At its peak, the Inca Empire spanned from Ecuador to Chile. Yet despite geographic variances, Inca architecture remained consistent in its ability to visually blend the built and natural environment. In particular, Inca walls practiced mortarless masonry and used partially worked, irregularly shaped rocks to complement the organic qualities and diversity of the natural environment. Through the dry fitted masonry techniques of caninacukpirca, the Incas shaped their stone to conceal natural outcrops, fit tight crevices, and ultimately incorporate the landscape into their infrastructure. The Inca also used natural bedrock as their structural foundations (to help keep the buildings stable). This pragmatically stabilized their structures built in the Andes mountain range of South America, while aesthetically disguising the boundaries between mountain and edifice. In combination, the diversity of stone shape, materiality, and facture all furthered the naturalistic illusion of the Inca's built environment. Politics: Expansionist and Subservient Ideologies Inca employment and integration of the natural environment into their architecture played an essential role in their program of civilizational expansion and cultural imperialism. Patronage of powerful elites and rulers of the Inca empire was a major impetus behind the construction of Inca structures, and much of the remaining architecture we see today was most likely royal estates or mobile capitals for Sapa Inca to inhabit.  The Sapa Inca naturalized and asserted their political rule through their palaces' aesthetic appeal to a reciprocal relationship between their imperialism and the earth itself.  The blended, architectural aesthetic colored their political expansion in a sense of inseparable, timeless, and spiritual authority.  For example, in the royal estate of Chinchero, the Incas adapted their large-scale earthwork and massive stone construction to the land's dramatically steep valley in order to create intense, visual drama  Similarly to the architecture of other mountainous Inca citadels, such as Machu Picchu, the Chinchero estate's dynamic construction into the severe landscape demonstrated the raw, physical power of the Incas, and projected an authoritative aura for those who approached 19