Cast, Not Carved · source record · paper

Ancient geopolymers in South-American Monuments, Part IV: use of natural andesite volcanic sand (not crushed)

Joseph Davidovits; Frédéric Davidovits · 2020

AI-verified citationSRC-DAVIDOVITS-2020

identifier / locator: doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.10021.93929/2
url: https://www.geopolymer.org/library/gpsa/2020-davidovits-andesite-sand/
verification note: text retrieved and shown to the drafter on 2026-09-08 (run 2026-09-08-draft-megalithic-casting-132902); passages checked by the verify verb
reliability notes: Published in the Geopolymer Institute's own Journal on Geopolymer Science Applied to Archaeology (vol. 1, pp. 36–43); proponent venue, not independent peer review.
Only the abstract/landing page was shown; the PDF body was not opened. Statements recorded here are from the abstract.
Same authors and institute as SRC-DAVIDOVITS-2019-ML/CI and SRC-DAVIDOVITS-2024 — same independence group.

Evidence drawn from this source

Supports· strongGEO-E035

what the source states: The abstract states that to make geopolymer andesite around AD 600–700 the builders could have transported an andesite stony material with the consistency of sand from the Cerro Khapia volcano, adding an organo-mineral binder from local biomass; that "They did not use the many quadrangular volcanic blocks", the famous piedras cansadas lying on both sides of Lake Titicaca; that they exploited a natural volcanic andesite sand from Cerro Khapia, "transported and stored it at the shore village of Iwawe", Stratum (V) in the excavation by Isbell & Burkholder (2002); and that they did not need to crush andesite rock, the sand resembling the Roman pozzolana called carbunculus.
what we infer: Editor's inference: this is the primary statement of the model GEO-C903 describes, so it supports that descriptive claim directly. It also fixes two checkable objects: the Iwawe Stratum V deposit (GEO-R009) and the abandoned quadrangular blocks. Both parties now place the andesite's origin at Khapia/Ccapia, which is why quarry geochemistry alone cannot separate them (GEO-C030 in its narrow form).
limitations: Abstract only; the PDF (DOI 10.13140/RG.2.2.10021.93929/2) returned HTTP 403 and was not read.
Proponent-authored, self-published journal (Journal on Geopolymer Science Applied to Archaeology).

Supports· weakGEO-E036

what the source states: The abstract opens: the studies carried out in 2017–2018 on the monumental stones of Pumapunku "provided evidence that the stones are ancient artificial geopolymers" (Parts I to III).
what we infer: Editor's inference: a restatement by the same team of the results already entered as GEO-E006 and GEO-E007; it adds no new observation and carries no independent weight toward GEO-C021. Recorded so that the model's continuity with the earlier papers is on the ledger, and because the default is in.
limitations: Self-citation of the authors' own prior work; not new evidence.
Abstract only.