ABSTRACT
The site of Tipon, located in the proximity of Cuzco, provides an example of Inka hydraulic engineering knowledge and civil engineering practice as demonstrated by the design and operation of the site’s complex water system. Results of the analysis show an Inka hydraulic technology utilizing complex engineering principles similar to those used in modern civil engineering practice centuries ahead of their formal discovery in western hydraulic science. The analysis serves to yield new information about Inka water technology not previously reported in the literature and provide refined estimates of important flow parameters in two main hydraulic structures at Tipon. The utilization of multiple spring water sources together with a river sourced aqueduct used to supply surface and subsurface channel networks controlling the water supply and drainage systems of Tipon was part of an intricate Inka design to control the moisture content of the agricultural platforms for specialty crops.
