Upper Terraces, Machu Picchu, Peru
Upper Terraces, Machu Picchu, Peru — the highest agricultural platforms sit directly below the urban sector, their retaining walls rising to meet the residential buildings above. Water from natural springs flowed through carved channels along each terrace level, a hydraulic system so well designed that it still drains perfectly after five centuries. © bobistraveling, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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