Images

The monumental stepped entrance to the sacred Kalasasaya precinct at Tiwanaku, Bolivia, c. 300 CE. Framed by the sandstone portal is one of the huge stone statues found at the site.

One of the sandstone interior walls from the Semi-Subterranean Temple court at Tiwanaku, Bolivia, c. 300 CE. The sunken court was reserved for more select religious ceremonies and the stone heads suggest those involving human sacrifice. The...

The Kalasasaya sacred precinct at Tiwanaku, Bolivia, c. 300 CE. The walled compound of sandstone blocks created a sacred space measuring 130 by 120 metres used for public and religious ceremonies.

Marble portrait of Caligula (with traces of polychromy), 37-41 CE. (Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen)

Cuirassed bust of Caligula, found in Rome, 37-41 CE. (Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen)

The colossal statue of Vercingetorix, near the village of Alise-Sainte-Reine, France. Napoleon III erected this seven-meter-tall statue of Vercingétorix in 1865 on the supposed site of Alesia.

The monumental stone statue from Tiwanaku, Bolivia, known as the Ponce Monolith. Such statues perhaps represented the race of stone giants which first populated the world in pan-Andean mythology. Gold pins and traces of piant indicate they...

The Gateway of the Sun in Tiwanaku (Tiahuanaco), Bolivia. Carved from a single massive block of andesite stone, the Gateway is 2.8 metres high and 3.8 metres wide. The opening in the gate is 1.4 metres wide. The top portion has relief carvings...

Typical imperial Inca trapezoid windows from the sacred precinct of Coricancha, Cuzco, c. 1438 CE.

The famous stone from an Inca wall in Cuzco, Peru. The stone has 12 angles and illustrates the great precision Inca masons employed in ensuring their stone blocks fitted so well together that no mortar was needed. (15th century CE).