Purpose / Function
Tolas are piles of fertile dirt that are currently used as intensely-cultivated farmland, capable of supporting populations of thousands. There are hundreds of them scattered throughout the Four Corners.
Design
Tolas are most noticeable for their truncated pyramid appearance. They are made up of ancient artificial top soil that is still good for cultivating crops. This more than anything showcases the true mud roots that shaped the messa territory prior to the innoit’s unifying politics.
They started as elevated cemeteries. Thousands of years later, Tawantinsuyu can count on them mightily to fill the warehouses.
Entries
Culuncos
A complex network of roads carved into the jungle’s floor and hidden amidst the vegetation.
They were eagerly incorporated into the Qhapaq Ñan to make it easier to harvest raw material from the Neverending Forest. Even so, the empire's surveyors are less knowledgeable on their paths that those living on the border.
Alterations
Sources of Soil
It cannot be deprived that Mud Men broke their backs in building these.
Great Green
Nutrient-proven earth tops off and refreshes new and older tolas for continual use.Volcanos
The earliest tolas are found in the inter-montane basin surrounding the Imbabura and Mojanda Volcanos.Water Beds
Mucky discharge found at the bottom of lakes and rivers have a sticky quality that acts as a ready binder.Architecture
Tolas are clusters of large man-made earthen mounds between 30 to 50 feet in height and up to 700 feet on all sides at the base.
They were initially built at elevations above the flood waters so as to protect the dead from being washed away. Alot of personalized art goes into those mud burial rituals too. Artists can be very stingy on who gets their work.Their construction initially had a simple purpose, but overtime fulfilled many niches for the settlements that built them.
Enclosed Terraces
New terraces are often made from the pre-existing tolas rearranged in the shape of a bowl and encased in stone.Elevated Foundation
Overtime, many of the largest cities expanded over old tolas; converting them into the foundation upon which they were built.Water Management
Piles of earthworks redirect water flows to put them out of range of the floods that occur every 50 years.History
These artificial pyramids served many purposes throughout their history:
- Their first use being as burial mounds for all the communitys' dead:
- many skeletons, from thousands of years, can still be found buried deep in the center
- Later, they became platforms for ceremonies:
- layers earth were compacted over many years of people walking across it
- Then as sites for elite residences:
- to displaying social status
- to protect homes against flooding during the rainy seasons
- to serve as lookout points from which to observe their surroundings and check for possible dangers
Alternative Names
Dirt Piles
Type
Megastructure, Land based
Parent Location
Connected Rooms
Related Ethnicities
Owning Organization
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