Peru -- Primarily Machu Picchu (Dec 2010)

Again, some of the nice stonework, where the stones are precisely shaped to fit into one another, with no mortar.

If I recall correctly, the story on the "knobs" sticking out from some of them is related to this temple being unfinished. I think the story was that those "knobs" were used (in some way) to handle, move, and position the large stones. Then, when the stone was in it's final position, the surface would be ground down or polished to remove the "knob". The work on this temple was interrupted before they had finished grinding off all these knobs.

The not-yet-finished aspect of this temple may also be related to what may be similar "knobs" in the large vertical stone slabs shown two images previously.