What method was used to build El Castillo?

Answer 1

Essentially a 9 step structure, with a flat platform at the top, which supports a 2 storey temple, El Castillois a credit to the architects and the people who built it. The chief building materials are Limestone,Native hardwood[for beams] and mortar. The site would have been first cleared of vegetation,then leveled.The Limestone blocks quarried from a nearby site, then dragged to the construction area. First the outer casing stones, which are finely trimmed and dressed, would have been erected. The stones were cut to a size that made them easy to manouver into place by two people. As the outer casing rose, the interior space was back filled with closely packed stones/rubble, then set in mortar. The mortar was made by burning limestone in wood fired kilns to produce lime, then the lime was mixed with white soil[sahcab] and water to make a very good mortar. Some of the ceiling beams and door lintels are made with Chicozapote beams, a native hardwood cut from the surrounding area. As the structure grew the four staircases on each side side of the pyramid were used to bring up the stones,rubble,Chicozapote beams and mortar required by the builders. As each of the 9 steps was completed, there would have been an opportunity to check measurements, do any levelling required and set measurements for the next tier. Using these principles El Castillo was built, but the structure itself, is so much more than a building.