Machu Picchu & the Colosseum

Social Studies     World History     World Geography & Cultures

The Incas, who built Machu Picchu high in the Andes Mountains, were amazing engineers. Miles of stone roads, used for trade and communication, connected their huge empire along the west coast of South America. The Incan architecture remaining at Machu Picchu, and in modern Cuzco, reveals huge stone works fitted together so precisely that a knife cannot be inserted in the seams.

Rome's most famous and infamous building, the Colosseum, was built to provide Rome's restless populace with such violent entertainment as gladiator contests and bloody sacrifices of Christians and animals. It represents Roman engineering genius, with an intricate network of arched entrances, ramps, elevators, and passageways, built around a central arena, covered in sand to absorb blood, or even in water for staged battles between ships!