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Tipon: Insight into Inka Hydraulic Engineering Practice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 December 2019

Charles R. Ortloff
Charles R. Ortloff*
Affiliation:
Research Associate in Anthropology, University of Chicago; CFD Consultants International Ltd., 18310 Southview Ave., Los Gatos, CA95033, USA ([email protected])
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Abstract

The site of Tipon, Peru, located about 30 km east of Cuzco, provides an example of Inka knowledge of hydraulic engineering and the civil engineering practices used in the design and operation of the complex water system. The inhabitants of Tipon used river- and spring-sourced surface and subterranean channels to convey, distribute, and drain water to and from multiple agricultural platforms, reservoirs, and urban ceremonial centers. Intricate intersecting surface and subterranean channel systems that combined and regulated water flows from different sources controlled the water to and drainage from 13 terraced agricultural platforms. This design served to maintain different ground moisture levels to sustain specialty crops. Within the site are fountains and multiple water display features requiring sophisticated hydraulic engineering necessary for aesthetic displays. To understand the technology used by the Inka to design the water systems at Tipon, I used computational fluid dynamics methodology and modern hydraulic engineering theory. I made computer models of key elements of the Principal Fountain and the Main Aqueduct to reproduce water flow patterns in these features as intended by Inka engineers’ designs and calculations. The Inka hydraulic technology used complex engineering principles similar to those in modern civil engineering practice centuries ahead of their formal discovery in Western hydraulic science.

El sitio arqueológico de Tipón, localizado en cercanías de la ciudad de Cuzco, Perú, es un ejemplo del vasto conocimiento Inka en ingeniería hidráulica. Esto se demuestra a través de la complejidad en los sistemas de abastecimiento y distribución de agua con los que cuenta el sitio, como canales superficiales y subterráneos que servían para distribuir agua a varias plataformas agrícolas, así como fuentes de aguas decorativas y muy elaboradas. Como en todos los proyectos hidráulicos, antiguos y modernos, la aplicación del conocimiento básico en ingeniería constituye el soporte para el diseño y funcionamiento de complejos sistemas de abastecimiento y distribución de agua; éste garantiza el éxito en el funcionamiento de dicho sistema. Con el fin de revelar los conocimientos con los que contaban los ingenieros hidráulicos Inkas para diseñar y operar los sistemas hídricos del sitio de Tipón, en este trabajo se utilizan conceptos modernos de análisis en ingeniería hidráulica enfocados en la fuente y en el acueducto principal. El uso de ingeniería a la inversa revela los aspectos básicos de ingeniería hidráulica disponibles para los ingenieros Inka; sin embargo, el uso de estos conceptos reside en un formato pre-científico que es aún desconocido. Los resultados obtenidos indican un conocimiento profundo de dichos principios, comparable, en muchos casos, con las prácticas modernas de diseño hidráulico.

Keywords

InkaTiponhydraulic theory analysisPrincipal FountainMain AqueductInkaTipóningeniería hidráulicafuente mayoracueducto principal
Type
Article
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 30 , Issue 4 , December 2019 , pp. 724 - 740
Copyright
Copyright © 2019 by the Society for American Archaeology

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