Structural Description (part 6)

Construction Stages

It was only until the chamber was emptied that we could understand the precise way the platform was built.

During a first step, the builders dug a square pit with flat bottom, approximately 2.5 x 2.5 m in dimension. In the northern part of the digging surface, they excavated up to 65 cm below surface; in the southern part, almost no excavation was needed, since the natural slope was almost at the same altitude than the deepest dugout (see also Fig. 20). The flanks of the pit were initially meant to be sub-vertical.

From this stage, the builders arranged flat stone slabs vertically against the northern, eastern and western pit flanks. Then they started to build the platform itself around the pit by progressively placing new layers of irregular stones over the first layer. From layer to layer, low quantities of gravel and sediment were added between the stones. Once the eastern and western platform flanks were almost at full height in their center, the builders added more stones toward the southern edge in order to correct the initial sloping.