A man rebuilding the last Inca rope bridge
10 comments
·June 6, 2025taeric
subzero06
Its a tradition, they do everything manual like the Incas did it. They don't like using "wheels" or any sort of technology as it would ruin the tradition. You can see the process here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQl6geeY7CM Oh- and it involves a lot of people not a 1 man job.
taeric
Awesome, thanks for the video!
And I'd expect anything like this to be more than a 1 man job! Apologies if I implied otherwise. I'd expect even using wheels for the turning that you would need more than a single person.
It is obnoxious how hard it is to search on why they would have never invented a wheel for the spinning of thread. AI seems to insist that spinning wheels are directly the result of carting wheels. I'd expect even wheels for a pulley system would have helped with the hanging process.
wahern
The Inca had wheels, they just didn't use them for much. There are Incan toys with wheels, for example. AFAIU the consensus opinion is that carting wheels never took hold in pre-Columbian America because of a lack of draft animals.
The Inca used spindles for spinning thread, which apparently was sufficient for their needs. And the wheelbarrow is, interestingly (TIL), a relatively recent Old World invention, with the earliest depictions from 2nd century AD China. Even the chariot didn't arrive in the Old World until the early 2nd millennia BC. And the chariot wasn't invented by the Egyptians or Chinese, but by peoples in the Eurasian Steppe. (Who probably not coincidentally were some of the first to domestic horses? More primitive wheeled carts were much older but also contemporaneous with emergence of other domesticated draft animals like oxen, I think. Smaller animals can draft, but the utility is severely diminished beyond very favorable terrain.)
soperj
> I'm also curious on how they wound the rope without some sort of wheel involved?
taeric
Right, I know it involves spinning, which fair that you can just use a crank.
My curiosity was more on the very heavy ropes. I'd assume that you would benefit heavily from a geared like setup to run the spinning.
jmward01
Everyone thinks of Machu Picchu but this bridge is pretty high up there on interesting things to see, and cross.
The account of the final weaving of the bridge is awesome. I'd imagine it isn't much different from any job you can do while "dangling," but still. Wow.
I am curious on the idea that wheels would not have been helpful? I get that full blown carriages and such would have been a bit of work to use, but it isn't like a wheel barrow isn't already useful.
I'm also curious on how they wound the rope without some sort of wheel involved?