Wondering about the Ancients

There’s a lot we can learn from the ancients. And a lot that we just don’t know. One might think that there wouldn’t be a mystery about most things that happened in the 1500’s. We have historical records, technology, greater knowledge in the last five hundred years, but some things cannot be explained. 

In Cusco, Peru we went on a guided history tour and learned that Cusco was the capital of the Inca Empire and currently has about 420,000 citizens. They speak mostly Spanish which was the language of the conquerors, some Quechua, the language of the natives, and some English which was mostly for the tourists. The people were delightful and proud of their heritage and history. And like many cities, there was a wall that protected the city; this was built around 1520.

The left side was built by the Incas and in 1975 an earthquake struck and damaged the right side.  Our guide, Jair, explained that in the original construction the Incas put the boulders together like legos and that each one weighed several hundred pounds. He could not explain how the Incas constructed the wall without modern tools, without mortar, and yet fit them so tightly that you couldn’t even fit a credit card between the stones. 

Nor could Jair explain how the right side, rebuilt with modern technology and tools, could not replicate what the ancients had done. The difference between the two sides is remarkable and I, for one, want to know how the Incas built their walls and why our contemporaries cannot do the same. What did the Incas know that we don’t? 

Maybe some things are better left unknown. This allows us to speculate. To wonder. To appreciate what "primitive" cultures could do. Not everything requires an explanation.