The Inca Built This Three-Walled Building to Shape Sound, Study Suggests

In the remote Peruvian town of Huaytara, the Church of San Juan Bautista is more than the building it contains. It was built on a three-walled Incan structure called Almost carp which exchanged stability for something unpredictable.

Although the Incan Empire is best known for its iconic 15th-century citadel Machu PicchuA team of researchers is investigating its acoustic properties Almost carpAnother one-of-a-kind Incan construction probably dates to the same century. Their work emphasizes the importance of studying more than meets the eye when tracing the footprints of past civilizations.

A building with three walls

“We are exploring the possibility that Almost carp can amplify low-frequency sounds like drumming with minimal reverberation,” said Stella Nair, associate professor of Native American art at the University of California, Los Angeles, in a university. statement. “Through this study, for the first time, we can say what the Incas valued sonically in this building.”

D Inca was a pre-Hispanic civilization whose empire rich 15th and early 16th centuries. When the Spanish conquistadors arrived, the Inca Empire extended along the west coast of South America from modern-day Ecuador to modern-day Chile.

Since the building in question had only three walls, possible sounds, like drums, could be directed towards the opening and then out. Almost carpMeaning “tent house”, it refers to the unique structure, and the Incas may have built it specifically to amplify sound and music.

“A lot of people see Inca architecture and are fascinated by the stonework, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg,” Nair explained. “They were also concerned with the ephemeral, the temporary, and the impermanent, and sound was one of those things. Sound was deeply valued and an incredibly important part of Andean and Inca architecture—so much so that the builders allowed some impermanence in this structure just because of its sonorous potential.”

Importance of words

Researchers have known about the building for a long time, but Nair and his colleagues may be the first to recognize the potential for sound amplification. It is the only known survivor Carp go around It has endured for the last 600 years thanks to the stable strength of the church built on top of it. Now, the team is working on a model to explain how word will spread Almost carp and beyond.

“Sound studies are really critical, because we emphasize the visual in how we understand the world around us, including our past,” Nair concluded. “But it’s not just how we experience life—all of our senses are critical. So if you bring sound back into the conversation, how do we understand ourselves and our history.”