A 15th-century Inca building in the remote Peruvian town of Huaytará may have been built to amplify sound and music.
this capausiThe tent house is made of stone and is the only known tent house of its kind, with three walls and an opening on one side. It is thought to have been built in the mid-15th century, and its open structure makes the building less stable than most other Inca structures. The structure survived because a Christian church was built on top of it, which stabilized the structure below.
This kind of architecture is unusual for the Incas, who were known for designing complex and durable buildings. As such, it caught the attention of UCLA art historian Stella Nair, who began researching the purpose of its construction.
Nair and her colleagues speculated that the design would amplify low sounds, such as drum beats, to announce the beginning and end of battle. For example, they believed that drum beats would be aimed at openings in buildings and echo outward.
Working with a team of acoustic experts led by Stanford music professor Jonathan Berger, Nair took measurements of the existing structure and will use drawings, photos and 3D modeling to try to reconstruct the roof. Through further research, they will try to understand how a building’s form affects its overall functionality and develop a model for how sound could theoretically travel.
“We are exploring the possibility capausi “Low-frequency sounds, such as drum beats, may be amplified with minimal reverberation,” Nair said in a statement. “With this study, we will be able to understand for the first time what sounds the Incas valued in this building.”
Nair’s work was supported by a grant from the UCLA School of Humanities, and Berger received a project grant from the Templeton Religious Trust.
