At the top is a ruling class, which oversees the rest of the society. Below the ruling class are usually skilled artisans and warriors. At the bottom of the social structure are service people as who are responsible for all manual labor in the city. They may include low-level artisans, farmers, and slaves. (http:home.eol.casmithdaclassstructure.html, 1)
Monumental architecture refers to public buildings of many different forms of architecture, whether it be temples, tombs, roads or other works which took many man hours to produce (Erickson Lecture, 111500). This represents the social surplus of a society or civilization. The large public works represent a social surplus as it takes an immense amount of human hours to create such monuments (Childe, 1950:11).
Now that the conditions are defined, it is now possible to apply them to real societies. The Inca and Maya societies are two perfect examples that demonstrate both class stratification as well as monumental architecture within a civilization.
The Incas had a very clear social structure. At the top was the ruler, the Sapa Inca, who had supreme control over the empire. Directly under the ruler was the high priest as well as the army commande
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thin a society. At the top is a ruling class, which oversees the rest of the society. Below the ruling class are usually skilled artisans and warriors. At the bottom of the social structure are service people as who are responsible for all manual labor in the city. They may include low-level artisans, farmers, and slaves. (http:home.eol.casmithdaclassstructure.html, 1)
ilding of Sacsawaman, Cieza wrote that four thousand laborers quarried and cut the stones, six thousand dug the ditch and laid the foundations, while still other cut poles and beams for the timbers. Other chroniclers have stated that Sacsawaman took over 50 years to build(Hagen and Morris, 1998: 10). It is unquestionable that the Incas put many hours into their architectural structures therefore fulfilling Childes characteristic.
In determining whether or not the Incas demonstrated forms of monumental architecture, it is essential to recall the definition stated earlier. A monumental work is one that requires many man hours to create(Erickson Lecture, 111500). Following this definition, it is apparent that the Incas did demonstrate monumental architecture with their elaborate temples and intricate road system. A Descriptive example of the architectural skill of the Incas can be captured through a personal text from Sancho, a Spaniard in Cuzco during the Spanish invasion. While describing the walls of Sacsawaman, a temple fortress in Cuzco, Sancho states that . . . because they are of such big stones that no one who sees them would say that they have been placed there by the hand of a man. All this, and the Incas did not even discover the wheel. The man hours needed to move stones of that size was very high. Another account from a Spanish invader was that o
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