Ashlar is finely dressed, precisely squared stone masonry laid in even, closely fitted courses with thin mortar joints, contrasted with rougher rubble masonry that uses irregular, minimally worked stones. The technique requires skilled cutting to achieve flush, tight joints and has been used since antiquity in monumental construction, from Egyptian and Greek temples to medieval European cathedrals and Renaissance palazzo facades, where its regularity conveyed permanence and status. Ashlar can be worked from limestone, sandstone, granite or marble, and its precision made it especially suited to load-bearing walls and to the visible facing of a rubble-cored wall.
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Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationWikipedia: Ashlar, introductory paragraph, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AshlarQuote, Wikipedia: Ashlar, introductory paragraph, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashlar
is cut and dressed stone worked to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular; a structure built from such stones; and the look created by the dressing technique.
Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationWikipedia: Ashlar, Description section, on Inca ashlar at Machu PicchuQuote, Wikipedia: Ashlar, Description section, on Inca ashlar at Machu Picchu
The dry ashlar of Inca architecture in Cusco and Machu Picchu is particularly fine and famous.
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