Читать книгу Monument Future - Siegfried Siegesmund - Страница 315

The pre-Columbian astronomical and meteorological observatory of El Infiernito or ‘Little Hell’ is situated within the Monquirá Archaeological Park, near the colonial town of Villa de Leyva in the Colombian Boyacá-Department. Several burial mounds and a variety of phallic-shaped monoliths, made of local sandstone, bear witness to the culture and unique masonry of the ancient Muisca culture. The El Infiernito ranks among the most important historical and cultural monuments in Colombia. The monoliths were erected nearly two millennia ago and show severe damages today that developed over the time since its construction. Depending on their exposition, various weathering phenomena like differential back-weathering, scaling, cracking and discoloration can be observed. In order to identify the main damage causes and understand their relation with the stone properties, in-situ investigations, in the form of lithology and damage mapping, as well as laboratory work regarding petrography, petrophysical properties and weathering behavior of four sandstones were done. The research demonstrates the differential weathering behavior of the analyzed sandstones and identifies thermal and thermohygric expansion as the main weathering agents.

Keywords: Colombia, El Infiernito, monoliths, sandstone decay, damage assessment, weathering processes