The Combination of Stone and Earth to Produce Earthquake-Resistant Constructions in the Peruvian Pre-Columbian Era

Abstract eng:
The immense architectural heritage of Peru was built with stones and earth, the two most accessible natural materials, with which humanity has built the oldest historical building sand higher cultural value. V ariations of stone masonry with mud mortar havebeen developedin Peru, where theirancient buildersinvestigated (based on trial and error) different ways to connect and combine the stones looking for earthquake resistant stability through design criteria based on the strength, the stability and the performance, as in the modern world. Engineers at the Catholic University of Perú carried out 40 years of experimental studies on how to strengthen earthen houses, and for 30 years studies on how to conserve heritage buildings with different construction techniques of stone and earth. Recent studies of two archaeological sites, the oldest (Caral, 3000 B.C.) and the modern (Machu Picchu, 1500 A.D.), reveal common concepts ofstable core pyramids,by controlling therelative displacementbetween the stones, through the useof mud mortars and mechanical methods such as vegetal thin ropes and bags. Regarding mud mortars, it has been discovered that the balanced clay-coarse sand is the most efficient way of giving better cohesive properties and dry strength. On the other hand, the use of rope bags provides stability to the stone massive volumes, and also allows developing systems that isolate buildings foundation, and dissipate seismic energy. This papers presents two case studiesof declared W orld Heritage sites, to explain how theseismicstability problems were solved, how to preserve their cultural value and mainly to inspire future conservation solutions in stone buildings.

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