Nexus - 1905 - New Times Magazine-pages

Page Content (OCR)

eliminates polishing as a means of creation. The scale much maligned, since no analyses had been performed.) and form of the phenomenon also preclude carving and The above analysis does point in this direction, but polishing. It would take truly incredible amounts of he location of the test sample raises issues. Clearly, ime to produce a single vestige, let alone the he stone was not moved before or after the glaze was housands that dot the landscape. created: the ceramic paste must have been heated Alfredo Gamarra has identified vitrification on many while on the stone. This means that light must have stones and has argued that the ancients had a been reflected deep into the cave. While it is possible echnology to treat stone with heat and that the stone hat the ancients were capable of producing flat mirrors was soft at the moment of construction. The or the task, it does seem overly complicated. This comparison at the spectrum level with clay and ceramic method could work for stones on the surface, but is pastes is interesting. Ceramic pastes and clay are soft obviously limited in its use deep within a cave. prior to being treated with heat. Conventional One last possibility is that the cave itself was a kiln. geological understanding is not compatible with this | Pots or vases may have been fired in the cave, and the idea, but the impression from the vitrified stonework is | ceramic pastes may have been applied to protect the hat the stone was once soft. In many of the stones, stone mass of the structure. There is a lot of stone here are places where it looks as if objects or moulds discoloration within the cave, and there are ave been pressed into the stone. The perfectly fitting innumerable glazed areas. There are several things that stones in the walls of Cusco and the other Incan could confirm this view. For example, there would be a vestiges could have been created more easily this way. route for the smoke to exit, and there would be evidence If the stones were fired in a kiln, like bricks, the glaze of soot deposits, though they may have been washed could be a result of extremely away over the years. The igh temperatures. It is not comparison to Incan vestiges uncommon for bricks in ancient *Leleg. s with vitrification found out in ilns to get so hot that they One last possibility IS that the open air or in places melt. This usually occurs near the cave itself was a kiln ... without a smoke escape leaves he top of the chamber where many questions open. he heat rises. This prospect, and the ceramic pastes On balance, it has to be owever, only arises with stones i admitted that a method is hat can be placed in a kiln or Meh have been applied to difficult to define. Further with stonework that is part of a protect the stone mass analysis of samples from the iln. various locations needs to be The examples laid onto the of the structure. undertaken to confirm the use sides of huge natural rocks of heat at all of the sites. could not have been produced However, the sample tested by standard firing techniques. The European studies of — shows explicitly that the similarity to ceramic pastes is vitrified forts and experimental work show that it is not near certain. It is obvious to conclude that heat was possible to create the consistent heat required for the used. The treatment method may have been similar to smooth finishes. Compared to the European examples, _ the technology used for ceramic pastes, only on a much there must have been a much more controlled process __ larger scale. It is suggested that further investigations since the layers in Peru are even, over large parts of the __be carried out at the geochemical level to shed more stone surfaces. The scale of giant, perfectly fitting walls light on what happened to these stones and what and some vitrified mountain walls makes the technology technology was used. question even more complicated than in Europe. For the complete version of this paper, including all Another option is the use of sun dishes and _ the data, graphics and pictures, please buy our e-book! concentrated sunlight by the ancients. This is briefly | See our websites Ancient Mysteries Explained and discussed by Professor Ivan Watkins in his 1990 paper _ Secrets of the Sun Sects. 00 on fine Incan stonework. He did consider these stones to be vitrified: "The rock surfaces on Inca stones are | Acknowledgements: similar to those that have been thermally disaggregated. | We thank Jestis Gamarra Farfan especially, for showing, Indeed, some of the slick surfaces on the Inca building explaining and filming these stones. stones are glazed, so it becomes apparent that the Incas The following people we want to thank for their must have used thermal disaggregation." cooperation and feedback: In this seminal paper, his chief concern was the ¢ Professor Roelof D. Schuiling, Tilly Bouten and Anita method used in cutting the stone. Since Prof. Watkins van Leeuwen, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht was proposing that intense heat had been used to cut __ University, the Netherlands the stones, it was not a large step to consider that the stones had been melted. (His conclusions have been Continued on page 83 One last possibility is that the cave itself was a kiln ... and the ceramic pastes may have been applied to protect the stone mass Acknowledgements: We thank Jestis Gamarra Farfan especially, for showing, explaining and filming these stones. The following people we want to thank for their cooperation and feedback: ¢ Professor Roelof D. Schuiling, Tilly Bouten and Anita van Leeuwen, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, the Netherlands 64 * NEXUS of the structure. Continued on page 83 AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2012 www.nexusmagazine.com