Three images of the stonework around the observatory used by the Inca priests. It is not known today how they managed to make such perfectly fitted stones without cement or mortar. It is known the Incas had good knowledge of the stars, seasons, sun and moon phases, and used a yearly calander. That is why it is even more surprising the priests carried out frequent sacrifices of young beautiful female to the sun, to royalty and to other important events at Machu Picchu. The poor girls heart was cut out at an altar stone on the site, using a special sacrificial knife, whilst 4 other priests held her down. Early excavations found the remains of 128 young female skeletons. Other bodies of the naturally occurring deaths were buried elsewhere.
The terraces the Incas built were extremely sophisticated. First they had layers of sand, gravel, and rocks and then top soil. This not only meant very fertile land, with good drainage it also prevented soil erosion which is why Inca terraces look in perfect condition even today after 500 years. The water drained from one level onto the next and so on also, being extremely water efficient, and prevented crop spolage when there was too much rain. This multiple draining and water preservation meant they produced 20 tonnes of crops per hectare, which is 10 times higher than modern methods in a flat field using fertilizers today, which only average 2 tonnes per hectare. Because of this old Inca methods are used throughout this region of Peru and is being introduced in other areas of mountainous regions of South America. The drawback is that it is labour intensive, be far more productive. The terraces of Machu Picchu were estimated to be able to produce enough food for twice the population of a 1,000 people allow food to be stored in surplus.
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