We know that the Incas did not have the wheel. It is also
pretty clear that the Spanish did no quarrying at Kachiqhata. They didn't
need to. They simply tore down existing structures and re-used the stones
for their own purpose.
So why is this wheel here, perched so nicely 2,000 feet above the river
in the quarries? It is apparently a millwheel, 62" in diameter with
a good part of the back side split off. (You can see a hairline crack around
the circumference of the remaining piece.) Whoever attempted to make this
wheel obviously lacked the skill of those who quarried stones for the temple.
An expert quarryman would have seen this fracture coming and found another
rock for the job.
