Day Two: The work begins

When you do fieldwork, you realize a couple of things quickly: days are long, you're never prepared for all circumstances, and plans change all the time. Often it only takes being caught in the rain once to remember a rain jacket, one sunburn to remember a hat and sunscreen, etc. Or, it should. Sadly, I don't always remember everything, probably because I don't get to do it very often. Of course, knowing what the day's plan is helps.... 

But if you like fieldwork, there is nothing like it, and no matter how long the day, how uncomfortable the car ride, or whatever the uncertainty about where you are headed or for how long, nothing will make you stay at the hotel. For me, these trips are not only a chance to be out of the office and involved in "real" work, they recharge me. Immersed in another culture, surrounded by inspiring people, each single day may drain the energy, but on the whole, I return to the office rejuvenated, and ready, for a while, to tackle the bureaucracy for the greater good of the work. 

S joined us for breakfast, but still wasn't feeling well. (Breakfast was a lovely plate of fruit, bread and jam, tea, and eggs if you wanted them. No surprise there, I didn't.) I hadn't slept very well, as the concert in the Plaza went until 3:30a -- ah festivals! The altitude (11,000 feet) probably didn't help either. After breakfast, our consultant who was in town for the fieldwork was coming to show me the model of the city he'd been working on. Then, we three (curator, consultant, and me) would go to the Sunday markets -- some of the items I wanted for the activity centers R (curator) felt could only be found there. And so, shopping became one of my first official acts for the trip.

 Inka walls remain throughout Cusco, and have been used in other buildings. How amazing are these stones, curved and shaped for the corner. Remember, no axes, iron, or wheels.

 Yes, this wall is now part of an Irish pub. 

 From Cusco, the Inka road radiates out in four directions. Antisuyo mostly heads east, toward the rain forest. On this trip, we walked parts of several roads, mostly in the northern section, Chinchaysuyo.

 Some stone have protrusions. Some have serpents. Are they symbols of the rivers? Of the underground? I have no idea.

 And then there are these amazing, huge blocks of green diorite. Not very many of them, but they are beautiful. And yes, we found a few good handling objects on this street, too. For me, though, the highlight was these rocks.

After lunch, R insisted on making the airport run, so A (consultant) took me on a tour of the city. Nothing like your own private city tour with an architect/archaeologist! He's done a lot of research in the city, particularly on the terraces. It was fabulous. For the first time in years I got to talk about geology and rocks.

One of the hallmarks of the Inka walls -- and, one of the things that makes them easy to spot -- is the lack of mortar. That's right, these walls survive today, 500 years later, without any mortar. I did say Inka engineering and construction was incredible, didn't I? 

 This section of wall is now inside a restaurant. (Yes, we shamelessly just walked in to see the wall.) These niches are also hallmarks of Inka construction. Usually they are trapezoidal in shape. Lintels over doorways are single long slabs, extending further than the width of the doorway. I can't imagine the number of people it took to carve these stones, and then move them into place.....

 For the price of 1 sole, pictures can be had. Her clothing is all hand-made, and as you can see, full of incredible detail. And yes, that's a real baby llama, wearing a hat.

 This wall is now part of a hotel. 

 This one too.

 One of the narrower double-jamb doorways. If things go well, we'll do some 3-D photography next summer on one of these, then reproduce it for the gallery.

 We walked up to the neighborhood known as San Blas, to a work site. It wasn't a quarry exactly, but they did carve stones here. And it affords some remarkable views of the city. It wasn't a hard climb, just a slow one, as I was adjusting to 11,000 feet.

 The city is laid out in the shape of a puma. This day, we largely walked up the spine. At one point, we could see the lower back heading off to the tail. The head is the area known as Sacsayhuaman. We would be there the next day for part of the Inti Raymi festival.

 Quechua flags everywhere! It was fabulous.

 Isn't she beautiful?! I hope the activity centers can use this photo. Too bad her llama wouldn't look up.

We had a dinner meeting, so took a round-about path so as to go by the Qoriqancha, the Inka sun temple. Imagine, if you will, all that dark stone covered by plates of gold, sparkling in the sun.... The Spanish took the gold and built their own church on top. 

 This sun is a symbol of Cusco today, and you see it everywhere.

 Some of the grounds of the temple/church.

I think I have a pretty good imagination, but I really can't picture that wall covered in gold and how bright it must have been. Truly remarkable. 

That evening, we met with two local archaeologists over dinner, to present the model and the exhibition plan. It was a great discussion, with a number of suggestions and ideas. Then, we finally caught up with the city's press secretary to get our passes for the next day. While I had no idea what to expect for the morrow, I knew it would be incredible.