Archaeology of South America BY J. Eric Thompson Division of Historical Research, Carnegie Institution of Washington Formerly Assistant Curator of Central and South American Archaeology, Field Museum 12 Plates, 18 Text Figures, 1 Map Anthropology Leaflet 33 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY CHICAGO 1936 The Anthropological Leaflets of Field Museum are designed to give brief, non-technical accounts of some of the more interesting beliefs, habits and customs of the races whose life is illustrated in the Museum's exhibits. ANTHROPOLOGICAL LEAFLETS ISSUED TO DATE 1. The Chinese Gateway (supply exhausted) ... $ — 2. Philippine Forge Group 10 3. Japanese Collections 20 4. New Guinea Masks 15 6. The Thunder Ceremony of the Pawnee 20 6. The Sacrifice to the Morning Star by the Skidi Pawnee 10 7. Purification of the Sacred Bundles, a Ceremony of the Pawnee 10 8. Annual Ceremony of the Pawnee Medicine Men . .10 9. The Use of Sago in New Guinea 10 10. Use of Human Skulls and Bones in Tibet ... .10 11. The Japanese New Year's Festival, Games and Pastimes 15 12. Japanese Costume 20 13. Gods and Heroes of Japan 15 14. Japanese Temples and Houses 15 15. Use of Tobacco among North American Indians . .20 16. Use of Tobacco in Mexico and South America . . .15 17. Use of Tobacco in New Guinea and Neighboring Regions 10 18. Tobacco and Its Use in Asia 25 19. Introduction of Tobacco into Europe 25 20. The Japanese Sword and Its Decoration 15 21. Ivory in China 60 22. Insect-Musicians and Cricket Champions of China . .40 23. Ostrich Egg-shell Cups of Mesopotamia and the Ostrich in Ancient and Modern Times ... .30 24. The Indian Tribes of the Chicago Region with Special Reference to the Illinois and the Potawatomi 25 25. The Civilization of the Mayas (Third Edition) . . .60 26. The Early History of Man (supply exhausted) . . — 27. The Giraffe in History and Art 60 28. The Field Museum -Oxford University Expedition to Kish, Mesopotamia, 1923-1929 50 29. Tobacco and Its Use in Africa 25 30. The Races of Mankind 25 31. Prehistoric Man 25 32. Primitive Hunters of Australia 30 33. Archaeology of South America 75 STEPHEN C. SIMMS. Director FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY CHICAGO, U.S.A. CONTENTS TAGE List of Illustrations 3 I. Environment and Genesis of South Ameri- can Civilization 5 II. Peru: History 18 III. Peru: Religion and Customs ........ 41 IV. Northwest Argentina and Northern Chile . . 72 V. Ecuador 95 VI. Colombia . . 114 List of Cases in Hall 9 149 Bibliography 150 Index 153 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PLATES I. Nazca Pottery, South Coast of Peru. II. Early Chimu Pottery, North Coast of Peru. III. Late Chimu Pottery, North Coast of Peru. IV. Inca Ruins, Southern Highlands of Peru. V. Nazca Pottery, Peru. VI. Diaguite Pottery, Province of Tucuman, Argentina. VII. Pottery Vessels, Colombia. VIII. Chibcha Pottery, Chibcha Region, Central Colombia. IX. Pottery from Colombia. X. Gold Ornaments, Medellin, Colombia. XL Stone Work, North Coast of Colombia. XII. Textile from Peru. TEXT FIGURES PAGE 1. Inca Pottery 31 2. Lacquered Wooden Vessel 55 3. Peruvian Textiles 61 4. Peruvian Metal Work 63 5. Metal and Bone Work 65 6. Peruvian Stone Work 67 7. Inca Stone Work 69 8. Peruvian Lacquer Work 70 9. Diaguite Art, Argentina 81 10. Decorated Gourds 85 11. Andine Art 87 12. Wood Work from Chile 89 13. Carved Bone from Chile . 91 14. Gourds and Other Implements 93 15. Burial Customs 103 16. Pottery Vessel from Colombia 139 17. Pottery Spindle Whorls 141 18. Colombian Pottery 145 MAP Archaeological Map of Western South America 4 3 ARCHAEOLOGICAL MAP OF WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA 4 Field Museum of Natural History DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY Chicago, 1936 Leaflet Number 33 Copyright 1936 by Field Museum of Natural History ARCHAEOLOGY OF SOUTH AMERICA I. ENVIRONMENT AND GENESIS OF SOUTH AMERICAN CIVILIZATION South America is a continent of marked physical contrasts. In the same latitude one can pass from arid coastal plains across the snow-clad peaks of the Andes into the tropical jungle of the low Amazon basin. Within a distance of three hundred miles one finds these over- whelming contrasts of sandy waste and impenetrable jungle teeming with life. Traveling from north to south the transition is less abrupt, but in the course of not far short of five thousand miles one passes from the steaming jungles of the north across the plateau land of Brazil and the woodlands and swamps of Paraguay over the treeless pampas of the Argentine and down into south Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, a region of sub-antarctic flora and fauna. South America, then, presents the extremes of heat and cold, of wastelands, forests, and plain within its shores. Somewhere within these extremes every type of vegetation can be found. The coastal plains of the Pacific and the valleys of the Andes hinterland produced one general type of civilization, the highest attained in South America. The humid jungle lands of the Amazon and Orinoco basins molded a different culture, lower than that of the Pacific coast, but with its distinctive contributions to progress. The southern Brazilian plateau and the woodlands of Paraguay and North Argentina were responsible for a distinct modification of the forest pattern, while in the 6 Field Museum of Natural History north-central plateau of Brazil, the open plains of central Argentina and Patagonia and the plains and mountains of Tierra del Fuego and southern Chile little progress in civilization was made. The contrasts in civilization are as marked as those of physical geography. On the one hand, the Andes region nurtured one of the most advanced civilizations of the New World; on the other hand, Tierra del Fuego, a peripheral region, was the home of some of the most primitive tribes in the world. Peru witnessed a great development of arts and crafts in combination with a variety of highly organized communism blended with autocracy. In Tierra del Fuego the natives had practi- cally no social organization, no knowledge of agriculture, weaving or metals, used no pottery, and did not even know how to polish stone. Although the peak of South American civilization was reached in Peru, it would be wrong to consider the other cultural areas as having derived their civilization in entirety from this center of greatest development. Such features as the cultivation of manioc and the pineapple, the use of poisoned darts in blowguns, and the substitution of the hammock for mats or a bed proba- bly originated in the forest regions of the Amazon or Orinoco basins, while even southern Chile made its contri- bution to cultural progress by the use of the plank- built canoe. Such, then, in brief outline was the situation in South America at the time Columbus was setting forth on the first of his voyages. Some areas had progressed far along the path of civilization, others had lagged behind. Much of this progress was of recent date. Had South America been discovered some three thousand years earlier, a very different picture would have met the eyes of the first Europeans. The high lights would have been largely absent, and South America would have stood forth as a continent of fairly uniform culture. Perhaps agriculture South American Civilization 7 would have been a little less widely distributed, cultivated plants possibly would have been fewer in number, but such elements as metal-working, national government, and highly organized religion would not yet have ap- peared on the scene. South America was probably first inhabited some fifteen or twenty thousand years ago. These first immi- grants apparently passed across from Asia by way of Bering Strait and Alaska, either in boats or across the ice. Almost certainly there was no concerted migration, but the immigrants must have passed across in small unrelated groups, possibly hundreds of years elapsing in some cases between the crossing of one group and the next. In the course of centuries these immigrants and their descendants drifted southwards, gradually filtering into South America. These first immigrants were on a very low cultural plane, probably resembling in this respect middle or late palaeolithic man in Europe. Wearing skins for warmth, they hunted game with spears propelled by spear-throwers, and lived either in caves and rock-shelters or in very primitive shelters erected in the open. For food they depended on game they could shoot or trap, fish and clams, seeds, berries, and roots. In these occupations they used chipped stone knives, spearheads and scrapers, and probably bone harpoon points. Many animals now extinct, such as the mastodon, giant sloth and certain species of buffalo, appear to have roamed the New World at this time. At least signs of human occupation have been found with such fauna under conditions which would seem definitely to preclude accidental association in every case and which would lead us to conclude that man and such animals were in all probability contempo- raneous. This does not necessarily imply a great an- tiquity for man in the New World, but suggests rather that these animals continued to exist under favorable circumstances for long after they were previously believed 8 Field Museum of Natural History to have become extinct. On the other hand the estimate that man has existed in the New World only for about ten thousand years is probably too short. An occupation of fifteen or twenty thousand years is tentatively sug- gested, but such statements lack definite proof. The most primitive skulls so far reported from South America were first found in caves at Lagoa Santa in the south of the State of Minas Geraes, Brazil. Subsequent finds of skulls of the same general type show that the race was at one time widely distributed. These skulls belonged to a people with small heads, which were long but of exceptional height. Faces, which were marked by broad noses, were wide and short, and showed marked prognathism. These skulls resemble those of the Australian aborigines, suggesting not a migration across the Pacific but a common ancestral stock. It is probable that these Lagoa Santa people were among the first inhabitants of America, but there were other immigrants, probably of later arrival, who were also narrow-headed, but with much narrower noses. A third and numerically larger race was marked by very pronounced roundness of the head. From these three main stocks, so far as is at present known, all the present American Indians are descended, although the strains are generally very mixed, and may have been so in many cases before migration to the New World. The Lagoa Santa type has died out, but many modern tribes probably have a large percentage of this blood in their veins as shown by certain peculiar physical features. Possibly the later round-headed peoples brought with them from Asia later inventions such as basketry, the bow and arrow, polishing of stone and the domestic dog. The American Indians form a homogeneous group, distinctive from other racial groups of the world, but allied to the Mongoloid races, with which they form the great Mongoloid division of man. Somatological evidence points to the Chinese and American Indians as being part South American Civilization 9 of this same Mongoloid group. This does not imply that the American Indian is descended from Chinese stock, but that both have a common ancestor. The most prominent physical features of the South American Indian and the Mongoloid race in general are the presence of very prominent high cheek-bones and straight black hair. In addition, the South American is generally of a copper color, rather broad-nosed and of medium stature, although the Patagonians form a remarkable exception, being one of the tallest races of the world. The South American Indian appears on the whole to have more muscular development in the legs than in the arms. Contrary to popular belief he is neither grave nor taciturn, although centuries of mistreatment have made many Indian tribes sullen in the presence of Europeans. Although the great majority of anthropologists favor the Bering Strait as the sole route by which America was populated, in recent years there has been a tendency to inquire more closely into the possibility of some of South America's early inhabitants having reached its shores from the Pacific. Many cultural elements of apparent great antiquity found scattered through South America are paralleled by similar elements in the islands of the Pacific. There are arguments both for and against this thesis, but this is not the place to take them up in detail; for the present it would be best to return an open verdict. We can be sure, however, that the claims that South American civilizations, such as those of Peru, were wholesale importations are absolutely fallacious. The agricultural products of South America, which, with one or two possible exceptions, were different from those of the Old World, clearly point to New World civilization having been mainly if not entirely of New World origin. Speculations deriving South American civilizations from lost continents of the Pacific, or even of the Atlantic, are based on fantastic distortions of cultural and geological evidence, and can be safely thrown 10 Field Museum of Natural History into the discard. Such theories are originated by persons with little or no scientific training, and are voraciously swallowed by those who eternally seek the sensational and bizarre. Although civilization gradually evolved in the higher centers of South American culture, some backward peoples of remote areas climbed but few rungs up the ladder of progress. By examining one of the most primitive of the present-day peoples of South America one should get a fair picture of the level of general culture of South America at the end of the period that preceded agriculture. A little must be discounted for subsequent progress of the peripheral tribe, and possibly a little should be added on the grounds that degeneration may have taken place. The most backward tribes of South America are to be found in Tierra del Fuego. The following summary of the culture of the Yahgans, one of the Tierra del Fuego tribes now fast approaching extinction, is based on S. K. Lothrop's "The Indians of Tierra del Fuego." The Yahgans, contrary to the belief that the languages of primitive peoples are extremely simple, possessed a very rich vocabulary, no less than 32,000 words having been recorded by students of the language. In contrast, Shakespeare used a total of 24,000 words in all his works. On the other hand the Yahgans only possessed numerals for 1, 2, 3, 5 (one hand), and 10 (two hands). Despite the cold climate men and women of all ages frequently went completely naked. Clothing, when worn, consisted of sealskin capes worn over the shoulders, pubic coverings of skin worn by the women, sealskin moccasins, and, rarely, mittens or guanaco leggings. The hair was cut across the forehead, but other- wise was seldom touched, while facial and body hair was removed with a pair of mussel-shells. Bands of guanaco- hide, painted white, were worn as wristlets and anklets, while as additional ornaments beads, made from the leg- bones of ducks or from shells, were strung on braided sinew South American Civilization 11 and worn as necklaces. Bodies were decorated with red paint obtained by burning earth, black paint made from charcoal, and white paint made from a certain clay. Dwellings were of the wigwam type, covered with leaves, grass, bark, or kelp in summer, but with the addition of sealskins in winter. Fire, which was conserved as long as possible, was made by using flint and pyrites. Basketr}' of the coiled type represented the most advanced craft, while bark buckets and sealskin bags were also made. The principal tools were a scraper made by setting a mussel-shell on a stone handle, a leaf-shaped knife made of chipped stone, a whale-bone tool for removing bark from trees, and a crude hammer-stone. Canoes were made of bark, and when in use a fire was always kept burning amidships. The task of paddling fell to the women, who used paddles with sharply pointed handles. Spears were usually made with serrated whale-bone heads, but there were many types, in addition to excellent har- poons. Bows and arrows were also used, the latter having well-shaped heads of bone. Other weapons of the chase or for fighting were slings, clubs, and bird snares. Fish were caught with nets, weirs, a noose on a line, or spears, while four-pronged wooden spears were used to catch crabs and sea-urchins. To open fish for cleaning, a hole was bitten in the fish's belly. Organized warfare was unknown, but feuds between two individuals sometimes developed into regular battles. There was no higher unit than the family. Marriage with first or second cousins was forbidden. Marriage ties were loose, and there was a tendency to exchange husbands and wives. Children, contrary to the general Indian custom, did not receive much attention, and abortion was, apparently, a common practice. Simple games existed, and very primitive masks were used in certain ceremonies. Adolescents of both sexes underwent initiation cere- monies, which included a strict fast, instruction in morals 12 Field Museum of Natural History and industry, baths in the icy ocean, a sort of tattooing, and ceremonial dancing. Religion was extremely primitive. There was a su- preme being who controlled nature by sending or with- holding the food supply, dispensed justice, and caused death. Prayers were offered to this deity in times of sick- ness and grief, and at moments of thanksgiving. There were also innumerable spirits of the sea, rocks, trees, and others, as well as the ghosts of shamans, the medicine- men of the tribe. The dead were buried. If death, however, took place far from home, cremation was resorted to in order to prevent the bones falling into unfriendly hands. Mourners covered themselves with black paint, and danced wearing special head-bands adorned with goose feathers. These dances were repeated at intervals for several months after death. There was apparently a belief in survival beyond the grave, but the ideas held on this subject were vague. Legends existed of a flood and culture bearers. Such in brief is the outline of Yahgan culture as it existed until a few decades ago. The early cultures of South America of about 10,000 years ago probably were not very different. Allowance must be made for environ- ment, which is so clearly reflected in the cultures of Tierra del Fuego. It is unnecessary to state that a primitive tribe of the Amazon basin obviously used other material than whale-bone for spearheads, and did not dress in sealskin capes, but in general the patterns of the two cultures must have matched to a remarkable degree. The discovery of agriculture, which probably took place some five to eight thousand years ago, was instrumental in greatly accelerating the progress of the majority of American Indian tribes. This may first have taken place in the highlands of Middle America with the domestication of maize. In this region is to be found a wild grass known as Teocentli (Euchlaena mexicana), from which a number of botanists believe maize was developed. Once estab- South American Civilization 13 lished as a domesticated plant, the spread of maize must have been rapid. It has been claimed that maize was first developed in arid areas with the aid of irrigation, but the writer knows of no authenticated example of very early irrigation in the Middle American region. Hill- sides were frequently terraced, but the primary purpose of this was clearly to conserve the soil against erosion. The coastal zone of Peru, an area of great aridity in many parts, was a center of irrigation in ancient times, but no one has seriously suggested that maize was first cultivated on the coastal plains of Peru. So many cultural traits, common to Central and South America, can be traced to a South American origin (p. 17) that the southern continent should not be neglected as the possible scene of the first cultivation of agricul- tural plants. Furthermore, Middle America, despite the fact that it is the home of maize, at present yields no evidence of cultures of great antiquity, for the earliest known cultures of Central America and Mexico have a sophistication which would point to many centuries of progress having preceded their development. Further- more, influences, apparently from South America, are visible in the earliest known cultures of Central America. It has been so generally assumed that maize, because of its economic importance and wide distribution, was the first plant cultivated by the inhabitants of the New World, that the possibility of some other plant having had that honor has been practically ignored. It is by no means impossible that some other plant, possibly manioc, was cultivated before maize. Manioc is a native of eastern South America, which is a region where no high culture was developed. However, manioc may have been the ladder by which early man in America climbed the first few rungs from nomadic savagery to an organized communal culture. The distribution of manioc is less wide than that of maize, but this is undoubtedly 14 Field Museum of Natural History due to the fact that climatic factors barred its progress north of central Mexico or south of the Chaco region. That eastern South America was a center of agricul- ture for very many centuries is proved by the seedless pineapple, a native of this region, for a lengthy period of cultivation must have elapsed to reduce this fruit to a position where it is dependent on artificial propagation. Manioc may first have been cultivated for the poison it contains, which is still used in Brazil as a fish poison. The pulp from which the poison had been extracted may subsequently have been utilized as a food stuff, and from this stage it would have been a simple step to cultivation of the plant to insure an adequate supply of food and poison. Once manioc had been extensively spread in South and Central America, maize may have been brought under cultivation, and owing to its superior qualities replaced manioc as the staple food of large areas, and permitted a wider extension of agriculture. Actually there is no definite proof that manioc was cultivated before maize, but it is a distinct possibility, and should not be entirely overlooked in favor of the prevalent theory that maize was the first plant cultivated in the New World, and is the fons et origo of the New World civilization. The invention of agriculture gave a great impetus to progress. Prior to this event man had been forced to spend the greater part of his time, either directly or indi- rectly, in the search for food. The hunting of game and the collecting of shell-fish, roots, and berries consumed much of his time, and what remained was devoted to the preparation of hunting weapons and traps. Consequently he had little leisure for invention. After the development of agriculture much less time was required for assuring a food supply. Instead of a constant search for food, which often required him to travel great distances, he could assure himself a plentiful supply by a few months of hard South American Civilization 15 work. With an assured food supply specialization was possible, and the farmer had a food surplus that he was prepared to barter for the non-agricultural products of others. With specialization and added leisure invention was speeded up. At about the same time as the introduction of agricul- ture, pottery was invented. This also marked an important advance in civilization. It appears probable that pottery developed through the custom of daubing baskets with clay to make them water-tight. In the southwestern part of the United States, stages from this point upwards have been traced in archaeological deposits, but this does not necessarily imply that pottery was first developed in this area, for these stages may represent a local development of pottery stimulated by the knowledge that other peoples manufactured it. The peoples of the earliest dateable cultures of South America possessed pottery, but doubtless earlier stages will some day be found in South America, in which pottery will be absent. Of course, the absence of pottery among a certain people does not necessarily indicate that pottery was unknown in the area, for, as we have seen, the Yahgans of Tierra del Fuego made no use of pottery in the nine- teenth century, whereas some two thousand years earlier pottery-making had reached a very high level in Peru. Cotton was probably first cultivated within a few centuries of the beginnings of agriculture in the New World. Weaving undoubtedly developed from basket- making. A host of new plants must have been brought under cultivation at about the same time, including such varied products as squashes, beans, fruit trees, and tobacco, while the grouping of population in permanent villages and settlements would have been one of the first results of the adoption of farming. There is a very marked uniformity among the high civilizations of the New World, and it is clear that they are closely connected. They share in common many 16 Field Museum of Natural History agricultural plants, basically uniform religious concepts and similar manual techniques. It has been very generally assumed that South American cultures are almost entirely of Middle American origin, although with many local developments. Recently Lothrop and others have chal- lenged this view, which is largely based on the assumption that maize was the first plant cultivated, and therefore the foundation upon which New World civilizations were built. It is difficult to obtain evidence of the original centers from which cultural traits were diffused, but such as exists points rather to South America as the original center of dissemination. A number of pottery shapes found in South America have been generally considered to have been diffused from Middle America. But it is possible that they originated in South America since these shapes are found there in larger quantities. These shapes include cups with flaring bases, pot stands, vessels in the form of men lying on their backs with the hollowed stomachs forming the bowls, bowls with fish details in relief on their rims, and tetrapod bowls, the feet of which are frequently shaped as women's breasts. Several of these shapes are early in Central America, suggesting that they passed from South America at a relatively early period (p. 140). Traits, which, in all probability, passed from South America to Middle America at a later date, include such agricultural plants as manioc, the tomato, and the pine- apple (the last, very late), metal-working, wax-casting, wax-painting of pottery, the hammock, a religious ball game in which the ball could only be hit with the hips, knees, or head, the blow-gun, urn burial (possibly an early diffusion), the use of a datura to produce hallu- cinations, and the mixing of lime with tobacco (probably borrowed from the mixing of lime with coca leaves). Most of these traits are not widely distributed in Central America, but are very diffused in South America. South American Civilization 17 Gold-working is known to have been practiced during the earliest horizon at present known in Peru, but was un- known to the Mayas during the height of their culture. Indeed, the southern origin of metal-working in Mexico is shown by many of the shapes and techniques. Simi- larly the ball game appears to have been a fairly late introduction into Middle America, yet in a less elaborate form it was known early enough in South America to have been carried into the West Indies by the Arawaks. The hammock, which was also carried into the West Indies by the Arawaks, was gradually extending into Central America at the time of the arrival of the Spaniards. The pineapple, too, passed into the West Indies, presumably, at the time of the Arawak invasions, but had only obtained a precarious footing in southern Central America when the Spaniards first landed. Child sacrifice, too, may well be of South American origin. On the other hand Middle America also passed certain cultural traits to South America. These include cacao and, in all probability, maize, tripod bowls, and the prac- tice of counting time over long periods. Late Ecuadorian pottery and pottery figurines and day of birth naming (p. 110) suggest a backwash from Middle America. In many cases it is impossible to indicate the original foci of diffusion of many traits, while many primitive features found in outlying parts of South America, such as Tierra del Fuego, are probably remnants of the cultures that preceded agriculture. Certain geometric designs occur almost throughout the New World, and probably are of great antiquity, but certain religious similarities (p. 128) may represent later diffusions. In the following chapters the most important civili- zations of ancient South America will be discussed, although with a brevity imposed by the necessity of com- pressing into a limited space the history of half a dozen centers of high culture. The greater part of the material was compiled from published sources. II. PERU: HISTORY Peru witnessed the highest development of civilization on the South American continent. Along the coast and in the mountainous region behind, a bewildering succession of cultures mingled and succeeded one another. Climatic conditions on the Peruvian coast have been particularly favorable to the conservation of perishable material. It is a region of little rainfall, at times approximating desert conditions. A series of rivers carries the rain and melted snow from the Andes across this dry coastal zone to the sea. The ancient Peruvian settlements of the coast are to be found in these valleys under ideal conditions of con- servation. Irrigation converted these barren valleys into lands capable of carrying heavy crops of native produce, but the introduction in colonial times of sugar cane has altered conditions. Sugar cane requires a much larger quantity of water. Consequently, the supply of water for the whole valley was not sufficient, and large tracts of land have gone out of cultivation. In these outlying sections have been found large numbers of cemeteries, and their contents have permitted of a reconstruction of the history of the coastal region. The sequence of cultures can be traced backward from Inca times over long periods at two points on the Peruvian coast. The first of these comprises the Nazca and lea valleys on the southern-central coast; the second, the valleys of Santa, Viru, Moche, and Chicama on the northern-central coastal sector. The early civilization of the former is known as Early Nazca; that of the latter is called Early Chimu. There are certain indications that lead one to suppose that Early Nazca is more ancient than Early Chimu. Metallurgy and pyramidal construction were both more advanced in the Chimu area than in the Nazca area to the south. This suggests that the former was of later date, but there is a slight possibility that the explanation 18 Peru: History 19 of this northern superiority lies in the Chimu area having been closer to the original center from which these traits were diffused. This, however, is not very probable. There is no evidence that metallurgy was diffused from the north, for the working of metals probably was an invention that took place in Peru itself. Secondly, no traces of an early culture have so far been found to the immediate north of the limited Early Chimu region. Early Nazca culture is remarkable for the very fine pottery it produced. Well-made vessels of hard, thor- oughly baked clay were painted in as many as eleven different colors. These comprise two shades each of red, yellow, and brown in addition to gray, violet, flesh, black, and white. There are also intermediate shades. Each color was generally outlined in black, and as many as nine colors sometimes occur on a single vessel, although such a number is rare. The largest number on an exhibited vessel of the Field Museum collection is six (Case 29). The designs of the earliest period are somewhat archaic in feeling, but the restrained effect, quite apart from the wealth of color, is very pleasing. Geometric, naturalistic, and mythological designs are used. The naturalistic designs consist largely of birds, fishes, snakes, and food plants. The painters kept close to nature in portraying animal designs, but the food plants are often strongly conventionalized (Plates I and V). The geometric motifs include a step-fret, diamonds, and zigzags. Two peculiar mythological animals are fre- quently represented. One is a peculiar centipede monster, the other an amazing amalgamation of a fairly naturalistic feline head, a long caterpillar-like human body with human legs trailing horizontally below, and an upturned tail, frequently terminating in a human face. Variants of this deity are widely represented in Peruvian art. Ex- amples in the Chimu region show more realistic paintings of the jaguar elements of the deity, but with a tail depicted 20 Field Museum of Natural History as a snake (Case 19, east side). This deity may be Vira- cocha, a sky and fertility god, probably of Andine origin. Representations of human heads are common on Early Nazca pottery. Sometimes they are shown dan- gling head downward from belts or clothing, or placed by themselves as the sole decoration of a vessel. Such designs point strongly to the practice of head-hunting. It is even possible that the custom of shrinking heads, as practiced by the Jivaros, was also known to the Nazcans, but of this there is no definite proof beyond the small heads to be seen on these vessels. Very beautiful textiles with intricate needle-work embroideries are also found in Early Nazca graves. The designs show a striking similarity to those on pottery, allowing for the different media. Tapestry-working was apparently unknown at this early period. Textiles from the earliest Nazca horizon are, unfortunately, very scarce. Furthermore, many examples in collections have no data on the associated finds, thus making their age uncertain except on stylistic grounds. Both llama wool and cotton were employed. As the llama does not inhabit the coastal plains, there must have been trade between the mountainous country of the Andes and the coast, but wool must have been imported and woven on the coast, as the designs are clearly Nazca in style. The quantity of wool employed would also suggest that the llama was already domesticated, since the quan- tity obtained from hunted game would not suffice to supply the home market and leave a surplus for export to the coast. The cotton, also employed for weaving, was grown on the hot coastal plains. Other agricultural plants already domesticated at this period probably comprised the great majority of cultivated plants found in Peru at the time of the Spanish conquest, but only maize, Lima beans, and the pods of the semi-domesticated guarango (Acacia punctata) have been found in graves of the earliest period. Peru: History 21 Small pyramids were made of oval or round hand-made adobes, but pyramidal structures were of relatively little importance compared with the later structures of the cen- tral and northern coast. The hills and bluffs of the valleys were shaped into terraces faced with adobes, pre- sumably to prevent erosion and to extend the available area adaptable to agricultural use. In graves of this period are found pan-pipes of well- made pottery, slings for throwing stones, spear-throwers and darts, but no bows and arrows. Indeed, the bow and arrow were never commonly used in Peru. From graves of this same period we also learn that obsidian was used, baskets of wickerwork manufactured, and parrots kept. Heads were deformed, and clothing worn. Gold was worked on a small scale, but other metals appear to have been unknown. In other graves which may belong to this same Early Nazca period well-worked tubular beads of lapis lazuli, buttons of mother-of-pearl and other more elaborate articles have been found. This earliest Nazca culture appears on the scene with an art already well developed, varied agriculture, the beginnings of metallurgy, excellent textiles and pottery, and a well-developed commerce, as the presence of wool, obsidian, and, possibly, lapis lazuli in this period shows. It is clearly a well-established civilization with many cen- turies of development behind it. Yet no earlier stages have so far been discovered from which Early Nazca could have evolved. They must have existed, but so far, despite search in the vicinity, they have not been located. Peru is a large and archaeologically unknown country. Some day traces of the earlier stages will be found, but at present all that can be said is that the culture suddenly appears full blown. Starting with the already developed Early Nazca, Kroeber lists no less than eight styles and phases that occur in this area, the last being contemporaneous with 22 Field Museum of Natural History the Spanish conquest. Most of these phases are shown in Case 29, arranged in chronological order. One can follow the evolution of Nazca art from the severity of the Early Nazca through the incipient early transitional period into the flamboyancy of Middle Nazca. This transition is well exemplified by the development of the monster motifs. These are not very commonly represented in Early Nazca, but in Middle Nazca a bewildering series of complex varieties develops. Some of the monsters are provided with innumerable tentacles, almost completely obscuring the original design; others carry a multiplication of human trophy heads. Degen- eration is also visible. Monsters are abbreviated until only the head remains. Nevertheless Nazca civilization was clearly more complex at this period than during Early Nazca. Metals were coming into commoner use; trade was increasing and new inventions were multiplying. Although flamboyancy and, at the close, degeneration set in, there are many new art motifs developed during the Transitional and Middle periods. There succeeds a Late Nazca period, during which art degeneration is even more marked. The monster heads would be unrecognizable if the prototypes were unknown. Nazca art is clearly played out. At this time clear traces of influences from the High- lands are discernible. These do not necessarily connote conquest, but certainly a cultural infiltration. Pottery is made in only three colors— red, white, and black. The designs are extremely simple, and many of the old Nazca shapes are replaced by Highland shapes. This Highland infiltration is observable all along the Peruvian coast. Subsequent to the Highland influences, others from the lea Valley are found in the Nazca Valley. These also show certain Highland strains. With the latest of these mingle Inca objects dating from the fifteenth and six- teenth centuries, and contemporaneous with the Spanish conquest. Peru: History 23 For want of an exact chronology Early Nazca is gen- erally considered to be about two thousand years old. Fifteen hundred years does not seem an excessive length of time for no less than eight periods of development, although some of these periods overlap to a certain extent. The Early Chimu culture, which apparently flourished shortly after Early Nazca, occupied certain valleys of the northern half of the central coast. In some respects it differed radically from the Early Nazca. This difference is particularly noticeable in ceramic art. Early Chimu witnessed the development of a remarkable art of por- traiture in pottery. Closed jars with stirrup-shaped spouts and modeled in human and animal shapes are particularly typical of this culture. The ware is painted in red and white, or, very occasionally, in black. Some of the vessels in the shape of human heads are masterpieces of the art of plastic modeling (Plate II and Cases 19 and 20). Of this same period are some of the remarkable vessels in the shapes of agricultural produce. In Case 21 a series of these is displayed. Vessels showing representations of maize, peanuts, potatoes, sweet potatoes, achira roots, squashes, gourds, and Chachapoya almonds date from the Early Chimu period; the rest in black ware belong to the Late Chimu period. In some cases mythological or battle scenes are painted in red on a creamy white background. Scenes showing the catching on a hook of a peculiar fish with human attributes are particularly common. Battle scenes show the use of stone club-heads and copper axes, the hafts of which are frequently depicted as snakes (Case 19). A series of vessels in the same case show men suffering from various diseases. Yet other vessels carry scenes in low relief. These vessels with their simple colors, relying for effect mainly on modeling, supply a strange contrast to the Early Nazca vessels, which depended for their effect very largely on their free use of brilliant colors. It is hard 24 Field Museum of Natural History to realize that these two arts, so widely divergent, could have flourished practically at the same time at a distance of little more than five hundred miles from each other. Indeed, for a considerable period they must have been contemporaneous. In the Chimu area pyramidal construction was carried to a higher degree of perfection than in any other area of the New World outside of Middle America. Pyramids of the Early Chimu period are often of a considerable height, the so-called Pyramid of the Sun at Moche having a height of over 130 feet. Generally speaking the structures of this early period are rectangular blocks with steep sides, usually with narrow terraces on three or four sides. Often there is a ramp approach which either leads straight up to the summit or follows the sides of the pyramid so that it is necessary to coast three sides before reaching the summit. Sometimes there is a large burial terrace in front of the pyramid. The core of a Chimu pyramid was usually made of rectangular adobe bricks, averaging about one foot in length and some eight inches in breadth, but sometimes stone was employed, especially for foundations. Adobes were laid in a mud mortar. The structure was formed by constructing a series of adjacent parallel walls of this mate- rial not bonded together in any way. The groups of parallel walls were often set at right angles to one another. This at first appears to be a weak form of construction, but its very massiveness seems to have given it strength. Kroeber suggests that each contingent of a community was allotted its task of building a specified length of wall. A somewhat similar system of pyramidal construction was followed by the Mayas, although square blocks of boulders served as units instead of the walls of Chimu constructions, but in some Chimu pyramids short walls crisscrossed, forming rectangular columns, approaching closer to the Maya method of construction. Peru: History 25 Walls of the upper zones of pyramids were often covered with frescoes. At the west end of Hall 9 are shown reproductions of a partially destroyed fresco from the "Pyramid of the Moon" at Moche. These were copied by Kroeber, and represent an old myth that relates how the domestic animals and household utensils once rose in revolt against the human race, destroying it. The myth is of peculiar interest for it has also been recorded from the Maya area. The outlines of the figures were first incised and then filled with black paint. The colors employed are red, pink, yellow, light blue, white, black, and brown. The last of these, however, may be the natural adobe. Fronto-occipital deformation of the skull was prac- ticed to a certain extent by the Early Chimu, but was by no means a general custom. The dead were buried in rectangular tombs in a number of positions, including the extended. Gold and copper, as well as an alloy of these two, were cast, and silver may have been used. Tin and bronze were not yet known. Influences from the Highlands are discernible in some of the vessels. A small proportion shows definite Chavin style, and a few show shapes reminiscent of the pottery of Recuay. Kroeber is of the opinion that Early Chimu did not form a unified state, but was formed by a number of local communities sharing in the same culture but probably often at war with one another. Early Chimu culture must have lasted a considerable time, to judge by the large quantities of pottery of this period as well as by the advanced pyramidal structures carried to a successful conclusion, but again there is no trace of anything that can definitely be shown to be earlier than it is in this region. There are, as noted above, certain signs of Chavin influences, but we have no actual proof that the Chavin culture is earlier in date than Early Chimu. 26 Field Museum of Natural History During Middle Chimu, influences from the Highlands, somewhat similar to those found in Middle Nazca, but more complex, appear. New shapes replace those of the early period. Some, such as tripod bowls, may be derived from the Ecuadorian Highlands. The majority belong to a widespread Highland culture, of which Tiahuanaco is probably a local development. The blotting out of the old culture may mean only an irruption of culture from the Highlands, but it is more than probable that it represents a conquest of the coastal area by a Highland empire. The heterogeneous pottery introduced at this time would suggest that the rise of this empire of the Andes was a recent feature, since there had not been time to weld the components into a uniform style. The term "empire" is not used here necessarily in the sense of a great territory ruled over by an actual emperor, but rather as a group of peoples loosely federated by conquests or alliances. The relative scarcity of Middle Chimu products and the fact that a uniform art was not developed indicate that this period was one of short duration. The variety of styles it embraced may be realized by examining the contents of Case 21. Late Chimu, which succeeds the Middle period, shows in many respects a return to Early Chimu styles in pottery, but with a certain admixture of Highland traits, and even some that appear to have traveled up the coast from as far south as Nazca. This sudden reappearance of strong Early Chimu features suggests that Early Chimu was probably never blotted out entirely, but continued to flourish north of the original area. The most distinguishing feature of Late Chimu is the almost exclusive use of black pottery. There is a return to the old use of modeled pottery, but a falling off in portraiture (Case 22). The double spout, so typical of Nazca, is carried over from the Middle period, but the spouts are divergent, not parallel as in Nazca. The stirrup handle of the Early period reappears, now fre- Peru: History 27 quently adorned by a tiny modeled monkey at its base. Double jars are also very common. These whistle when water is poured out or swished from one compartment to another. This is achieved by a small intake in the half that has no spout. Kroeber summarizes Late Chimu pottery in the following sentences: "Late-north Chimu is a composite of traits whose earlier occurrence can be traced somewhere else in almost all cases .... It has lost the old feeling for vigor of form, but treats its originally heterogeneous materials with uniform, shallow elegance." (Plate III.) The pyramids constructed in Late Chimu times were inferior in size to those of the Early period, but Late Chimu witnessed the construction of regular cities — a feature not met with in Early Chimu. Chanchan in the Moche Valley, which is the best-known ruins, was, apparently a civil city. It is some two kilometers long and over one kilometer broad. There are a large number of enormous courts surrounded by high walls. Some of these courts are bare; others are filled with a maze of smaller walled structures. It has been suggested that these served as residential buildings. A peculiar feature is the presence of certain rectangular depressions. These are very numerous in the city, varying considerably in size. An average measurement shows a length of 450 feet, a width of 195 feet and a depth of 60 feet. It has been suggested that these served as reservoirs, but of this there is no definite evidence. Squier, who visited Chanchan some sixty years ago, considered that the walled courts might have served as city wards. In one court he counted thirty-nine sepa- rate buildings, altogether containing 111 rooms, and twenty-two small structures facing the central square, in the center of which is a single large structure. It is not impossible that these walled courts housed the members of a single clan or sib, and that the large central structure 28 Field Museum of Natural History served as a clan meeting house or men's house. This, of course, is pure speculation. Structures were still made largely of adobe with occa- sional use of stone. Well-executed scenes in stucco-relief are occasionally found on the walls, and were, doubtless, once in common use. Geometric and life scenes are shown. Textiles of this period are very well executed. Many colors are employed, and the designs resemble to a certain extent those on the contemporaneous pottery. Metals were used in abundance. Bronze had by this time come into general use, in addition to gold and silver alloys. The area covered by the Late Chimu was far greater than the extent of Early Chimu. During the Late period the Chimu confederacy came under Inca domination. The Incas, under the ruler Pachacuti, began to conquer the coastal regions, and on their attacking Cajamarca the Chimu came into conflict with them. Notwithstanding the support of the Chimu, Cajamarca was subdued, upon which the Incas turned on the Chimus, apparently forcing them into subjection by the device of cutting off their water supply by seizing the higher ground at the foot of the Andes. The Chimu confederacy was forced to surrender, and thenceforward formed part of the Inca empire. It should be noted in passing that the term Inca should rightfully be reserved for the ruling caste of the Cuzco civilization, but it has crept into use to describe the whole people. In this guide popular usage is followed in describ- ing the people and the civilization as Incas and Inca respectively. The conquest of the Chimu area by the Incas during the Late Chimu period is borne out by archaeological finds, for Inca pottery is found in association with the Late period in various parts of the Chimu region, as well as in practically all the coastal cultures of the Late period. Lack of space does not permit of a description of the numerous local cultures that occupied the valleys between Peru: History 29 the Chimu area of the north and the Nazca of the south, but a word should be said concerning the Early Ancon culture. At Ancon and Supe, Max Uhle found remains of a very primitive culture, distinct from anything else so far reported from Peru. In shell heaps were found many sherds of heavy pottery of simple shapes. Decoration is usually by incision, but in one single case a sherd carries two colors. Primitive pottery figurines occur, and the presence of spindle whorls suggests the use of textiles. No metals have so far been found, but it must be remem- bered that the collections are not large. Probably metal was not known, for in the much more advanced Early Nazca metal is very scarce (p. 21). Whereas Early Ancon shows a preponderance of in- cised ware, this feature is rare in the later periods at Ancon, polychrome ware largely replacing it. This sug- gests that there was not a continuous development from one horizon to another. Field Museum possesses no examples of this Early Ancon culture, but examples of the later civilizations from this and the adjacent valley of Chancay may be seen in Case 23. Civilization appears to have developed quite as early in the highlands as in the coastal valleys, but little work has so far been carried out in the former area, and the succession of cultures is largely problematical. There seem, however, to have been two fairly definite strains. The first of these is known through work at Chavin and other centers in the northern Andes. The other, with an apparently local development at Tiahuanaco, occupies the southern and central Andes region and is known chiefly through intrusions on the coast. At Chavin have been found a number of stone monu- ments elaborately carved with intricate designs which in some cases somewhat resemble Nazca demon designs of the Middle period. A number of archaeologists have 30 Field Museum of Natural History seen Maya similarities in some of the sculptures, but the writer has not been able to convince himself of their presence, feeling that all Chavin stone work is closer to Middle Nazca than to Maya. Chavin pottery is found in Early Chimu deposits. This association is not incompatible with the presence of Chavin stylistic features in Middle Nazca, since the former area is much closer geographically to Chavin, and probably of rather later date than Early Nazca. Little is known of the origin of the Tiahuanacoid culture. It appears on the coast in the middle of history, and is of undoubted Highland origin. Kroeber has sug- gested that it was a widespread culture, and that Tia- huanaco might be considered as a local manifestation, artistically superior to contemporary developments in other parts. Tradition speaks of a pre-Inca empire of the south, which would correspond well with Tiahuanacoid. This may have been the Chanca confederacy, the territory of which was supposed to have been around Andahuaylas, and which was, therefore, geographically in a position to influence the coast. It is precisely in the coastal areas closest to this territory that Highland influences are strongest during the Middle period, the more distant Chimu throwing off Highland influences with greater success. There is no clear mention in history of any confederacy centering around Chavin. If such existed, it doubtless antedated that of the Tiahuanacoid horizon. The third influx of Highland influence into the coastal region, and the one most clearly defined both archaeologi- cally and historically, is that of the Inca. Inca objects are sometimes found in association with glass beads and other objects of European origin, clearly showing that Inca culture was in full swing at the time of Pizarro's arrival. A- INCHES Fig. 1. Inca pottery. Vessels which in designs and shapes are typically Inca. Cuzco and neighboring regions of the Highlands of Peru (Case 30). 31 32 Field Museum of Natural History Inca civilization in terms of ceramics appears on the scene already fully developed. Pottery shapes and designs are for the most part totally different from those of any other known Peruvian cultures. An examination of the Inca pottery in Cases 30 and 31 shows new types such as the aryballus, the flat-handled plate, and various types of handles, not represented in any of the earlier cultures (Fig. 1). A few shapes are reminiscent of the Tiahuana- coid period, in particular the straight-sided goblet. The red-brown backgrounds with designs, mainly geometric, applied in subdued colors show little affinity with any of the other known cultures. More intensive work in the Highlands will no doubt eventually solve the problem of the origin of the Inca civilization. That the civilization is of local origin is shown by the metal tools, the majority of which are of types already known from the earlier coastal areas. Legend, however, gives us a full account of the origin of the Incas which makes up in romance what it lacks in fact. According to this story, the early settlers migrated from a locality called the Tavern of the Dawn under the leadership of four brothers, who claimed to be children of the sun. The rank and file were divided into ten sections, probably clans, the members of which were probably related by geographical or family ties. Without haste the wanderers advanced in the direction of Cuzco, stopping en route to sow and harvest their crops. Manco, the chief of the four brothers, carried a golden staff. An oracle had announced that they were to settle at the spot where the staff should sink entirely into the ground. This, of course, meant a fertile valley, for only in such a place would sufficient soil be found. Manco also carried a falcon-like bird in a basket. This was the familiar spirit of the leader, and was considered sacred by his followers. It may have been a totemic emblem. One of the brothers, Cachi, was much feared by the remainder. He appears to have been an earthquake god, Peru: History 33 for we are told that with each shot he hurled with his sling he pulled down a mountain and filled up a ravine. The other brothers decided to kill him. They told him to go back to the Tavern of the Dawn to fetch certain gold ornaments, including a gold llama, which they had left in a cave. Cachi returned to the Tavern of the Dawn. When he entered the cave, his companion rolled a great stone across the entrance. Cachi exerted all his strength, but although he made the mountain tremble he could not escape, and eventually died. This part of the legend would appear to be of great antiquity, for it duplicates a Maya legend recounted in the Popol Vuh. In that case the victim, Zipacna, who is also an earthquake god, is lured into a cave, the bait this time being not gold vessels but an edible crab, of a kind of which Zipacna was very fond. As soon as the giant was in the cave, his enemies toppled over a part of the mountain, which they had previously undermined. Zipacna, thus imprisoned in the cave, was converted into stone. Manco resolved to get rid of the other two brothers. One of them he induced to touch a sacred idol on the top of a mountain. As soon as the second brother touched the idol, he was converted into stone. The third brother had wings and was able to fly. Manco told him to fly to a certain pile of stones, which were considered sacred. As soon as the third brother alighted on the stones, he was immediately converted into another stone. A little later Manco hurled his golden staff as far as he could. It sank deep in the soil, and the people knew that this was to be their home. The place was Cuzco, which was to become the capital of the Inca Empire. Within a short space of time the Incas had subdued the other inhabitants of the Cuzco Valley, dividing the land among the ten clans. Although no date is given for the Inca migration to Cuzco, the order of Inca rulers is well known. These were twelve in number. If an average of 34 Field Museum of Natural History twenty-five years is allowed for each reign, this would carry the arrival of Manco at Cuzco back to the first half of the fourteenth century (the last twelve rulers of England have reigned for 276 years). Nevertheless the story of Manco is so full of legend that it is uncertain if he was actually the first Inca or whether he was some legendary culture hero grafted on the Inca succession. Apart from the miracles associated with the march to Cuzco, he was said to have lived to the ripe age of 144. The second Inca was Sinchi Rocca, a son of Manco by his sister. During his rule no wars were fought. He was succeeded by a younger son, Lloqui Yupanqui, who also maintained peace during his reign. The fourth Inca was Mayta Ccapac, whose reign was also comparatively peaceful. In a series of local wars he secured final control of the Cuzco Valley, which up to this time had been occupied by two other small tribal groups. There is little doubt that up to the end of this reign the Inca people were very small fry. The next Inca was Ccapac Yupanqui, a younger son of Mayta Ccapac. History relates that his elder brother was passed over in the succession because he had an ugly face! Ccapac Yupanqui was the first Inca to extend the Inca dominions beyond the Cuzco Valley, but even he did not extend Inca rule more than fifteen or twenty miles from Cuzco. His successor, Rocca II, pushed the Inca frontiers a little farther afield and planned aqueducts to bring water to the Cuzco Valley, but we are told that he gave himself up to pleasures and banquets, preferring to live in idleness. He is credited with the division of the people of Cuzco into two geographical groups known as Upper Cuzcans and Lower Cuzcans. However, it seems more probable that this division was a survival from a time when some form of dual organization existed. Yahuar- Huaccac, the seventh Inca, had been kidnapped in his childhood. This happened when the boy was visiting relations of his mother, who belonged to a small neighbor- Peru: History 35 ing tribe. One day while the men were working in their fields, members of the Ayamarca tribe stole the boy. His captors, the story relates, intended to put him to death, but tears of blood welled up into his eyes, and he was spared. His name means "tears of blood." Some time later he was rescued and returned to his father. During his reign the Inca power was greatly extended. In a series of campaigns many of the surrounding tribes were reduced, and their territories incorporated into the Inca realm. Others were driven into submission by the terrible examples made of some tribes that resisted. Among the tribes thus subjected were the Ayamarcas, who had captured the Inca when a boy. The policy of con- quest and annexation was pursued under the succeeding Inca, Viracocha. During this period the whole region between the Apurimac and Vilcamayu rivers was brought under Inca domination. Previously the conquests had been more in the nature of raids, the subjected peoples soon regaining their liberty, but under the Inca Vira- cocha the subjection was complete, and garrisons were left among the conquered tribes. The successes of the Incas brought on hostilities with the powerful Chanca confederacy. It has been suggested (p. 30) that the Chancas may have been the people re- sponsible for the introduction of Highland influences into the coastal regions during the Middle period. If this were indeed the case, Chanca influence had doubtlessly de- clined to a very marked extent. This decline is probably portrayed in the archaeological finds, for Highland in- fluences soon disappear in the Chimu area, and do not seem to have lasted long in the Nazca area. One must also bear in mind that the artistic impulses introduced from the Highlands may well have lasted long after the power of their introducers had been largely destroyed, and their coastal domination overthrown. At the time of the Inca-Chanca hostilities, the Chanca confederacy 36 Field Museum of Natural History had probably sunk to about the level to which the Inca kingdom had risen. The early fighting was entirely in favor of the Chancas. Viracocha, who by this time was an old man, fled from Cuzco, taking refuge in the mountains. One of his sons, Cusi, rallied the Inca forces that remained, and at the very gates of Cuzco stood his ground. The Chancas actually penetrated into the suburbs of the city, but the Incas put up a strong resistance. Meanwhile the Inca vassals were watching the fight from the hillside, appar- ently sitting on the fence to see which side looked like winning. When they saw that the Incas were more than holding their own, they descended from the hills and at- tacked the enemy. These Peruvian Prussians were the Chancas' Waterloo. Soon they were in headlong flight with the Incas and their vassals in pursuit. The defeat of the Chancas assured the future of the Inca empire. The Chanca vassal states rapidly transferred their allegi- ance to the Incas, either voluntarily, or by conquest. Cusi, the son of the Inca and the hero of the Chanca campaign, was ever afterwards known as Pachacuti, the title of reformer having been given him for this triumph. Soon after this success he became ruling Inca. Urco, an illegitimate son of Viracocha and the favorite son of the old ruler, wished to seize the throne, but he was defeated by Cusi Pachacuti and killed. Apparently Viracocha was still alive at this time, but had so lost the respect of his people by his cowardice during the Chanca invasion, that his supersession was not challenged. During Cusi Pachacuti's long reign of fifty years Inca domination was extended over the whole Chanca con- federacy and along the coast from Nazca to the Chimu region in the north. The extension in the Highlands was more a matter of welding together a series of small tribes and confederacies, which were closely allied to the Incas in customs, language, and general religious concepts. In the coastal regions Inca expansion meant the absorption Peru: History 37 into the empire of peoples with different customs, lan- guages, and religion. The people living in the hot coastal plains, for instance, did not pay particular attention to the sun, which was the center of Inca religion. However, the Incas had the wisdom to tolerate native cults, permit- ting the worship of local gods so long as the sun was given a position of pre-eminence in the pantheon. Cusi Pachacuti even organized an expedition that penetrated as far as Tucuman in northwest Argentina, but it is doubtful if this was a permanent conquest at this time. At least the Titicaca region was added to the empire. Aside from territorial expansion Cusi Pachacuti initi- ated many improvements of a more pacific nature. He increased the amount of land under cultivation by ter- racing the hills that flank the valley of Cuzco. These terraces averaged about two hundred yards in length and about twenty-five yards in width. Under his supervision the great temple of the sun was rebuilt and enriched with gold ornaments and furnishings. The bodies of the eight Incas who had preceded him were decked with gold orna- ments, and special festivals decreed in honor of each one. In the city itself many new edifices were erected and streets laid out. The calendar was also reformed. The year was divided into twelve or thirteen lunar months, which were brought into line with the solar year by ob- servations to determine when the sun was overhead in late spring and early autumn. This was achieved by setting up a series of posts in a circle. A throne was placed on top of the center post, and it was believed that the sun descended to sit on this throne when no shadow was cast. This occurred at Cuzco about February 5 and November 7 of each year, the former being the autumn, the latter the spring. Cusi Pachacuti is of particular interest for archaeolo- gists, since he was America's first archaeologist, or at 38 Field Museum of Natural History least the earliest known American to take an interest in antiquities. We are told that he made a trip to the Tavern of the Dawn, from which Manco was said to have issued forth on starting his march to Cuzco. There he made a thorough inspection, for, as Sarmiento says, "he was curious about the things of antiquity." He also called a general assembly of the oldest and wisest men of his dominions, bidding them examine with all possible care the histories and antiquities of the land. The findings of this commission were subsequently preserved for posterity by being painted in their proper sequence. The system of colonizing conquered territories with families from the vicinity of Cuzco was instituted during this reign. At the same time great transfers of the con- quered populations were inaugurated. Tribes from the mountainous regions were sent into the plains, and those from the plains into the mountains. Small groups were also separated from each conquered tribe and removed to remote areas of the empire. In this way concerted rebel- lions became extremely difficult. Communications be- tween different parts of the empire were also improved by means of well-built roads. Before his death, Cusi Pachacuti turned over his authority to one of his sons, Tupac Yupanqui. An elder brother, also called Tupac, had previously been chosen to inherit, but his father did not consider him to be possessed of sufficient statesmanship to rule the empire, although he was recognized as a skillful and brave general. Tupac Yupanqui was accordingly nominated heir, his elder brother loyally deferring to him. Tupac Yupanqui was also responsible for many of the triumphs of his father's reign, such as the subjugation of the Chimus. His greatest triumph was the addition of much of Ecuador to the empire. In later times, Quito was to become a second capital of the empire, holding a position Peru: History 39 similar to that of Constantinople in the Roman empire. The coastal region of Ecuador west of Quito was also con- quered. This added the great emerald -producing area to the empire. It is also related that an expedition under Tupac Yupanqui sailed across the ocean to the Galapagos Islands. This is hardly credible. The islands are four hundred miles from the coast, and the Incas were never good sailors, navigating solely with clumsy balsas (p. 54). Furthermore, the islands have never been inhabited, and, had the Ecuadorians had knowledge of their existence, there would have been little object in making such a perilous trip. It is more probable that a sea voyage was made hugging the coast, or the objective may have been La Plata Island, where Inca remains have been found (p. 112). After his father's death, Tupac Yupanqui continued his campaigns. In one he added the north of Chile to the empire, but was unable to penetrate into the territory of the Araucanians beyond the River Maule. An attempt to conquer the Amazon Valley met with failure. The dank tropical forest region of the lowlands was something outside the ken of the Highland folk, and the heat and diseases of this region were fatal to the mountaineers. Parts of the eastern slopes of the Andes, however, were brought under Inca control, and became a source for tropical products, such as the pineapple, not obtainable in other parts of the empire. Tupac Yupanqui's successor was the last great Inca. He was named Huayna Ccapac because of his youthful appearance at the time of his succession. After a regal tour of the whole Inca realm from Chile to Quito, he conducted a successful campaign north of Quito, put- ting down a local rising. Probably the empire was never entirely at peace. As soon as one area was pacified, fight- ing started in another part. Thus while the campaign was being waged in northern Ecuador, the Chiriguanos, a Guarani tribe inhabiting the Bolivian and Argentine Chaco, made an incursion into the Inca empire at that 40 Field Museum of Natural History point. Forces were sent from the Ecuadorian front. These, marching through the enormous intervening dis- trict, defeated the Chiriguano invaders, sending prisoners to the Inca to give him an idea of the appearance and manners of these strange people. However, they were unable to subdue the country owing to the difficult geographical conditions. Huayna Ccapac died in the year 1525 in Quito. He had nominated as his successor one of his sons called Huascar. Another son, Atahualpa, was with him in Quito at the time of his death. Huascar was pro- claimed Inca at Cuzco, and Atahualpa sent an embassy to offer his submission and homage to the new ruler. Rightly or wrongly Huascar suspected that Atahualpa had no intention of accepting his half-brother as the ruler. He accused the members of the embassy of being spies and put most of them to death. In the campaign that followed Atahualpa was victorious, army after army of Huascar's forces being defeated. Eventually in a battle near Cuzco Huascar was ambushed and taken prisoner. With his downfall all resistance ceased, and Atahualpa was proclaimed Inca. Meanwhile Pizarro had landed on the coast of Peru, and Atahualpa.. who was residing at Cajamarca, was him- self taken prisoner by the Spaniards. Pizarro offered to mediate between the two brothers. This offer caused Huascar to lose his life, for Atahualpa promptly sent orders that his brother and all his relations should be slain. Pizarro, on hearing the news of Huascar's death, put Atahualpa to death, and the payments of the ransom of gold, which the Peruvians were making for his release, promptly ceased. The Inca empire, with its two leaders slain, collapsed like a house of cards. III. PERU: RELIGION AND CUSTOMS The ancient Peruvians believed in a creator god, who was also a supreme deity in the eyes of the better educated classes, if not in the opinion of the whole population. This god was known as Viracocha. According to a widespread legend he created the world and peopled it, but the world was at this time still without light. The people he had created were disobedient, and he wiped them out. Ac- cording to one version they were turned into stone, but another version says they were drowned in a flood. Later, with the aid of two or three assistants, he re- created men at Lake Titicaca, subsequently creating the sun, moon, and stars. These men he placed in different parts of the country, and when his work was done he disappeared into the sea accompanied by his assistants. He is also said to have filled the sea with fish and to have given each animal its attributes, blessing the eagle with great strength and endurance, cursing the skunk with the necessity of emitting its noxious fluid. At this time he wandered the earth in the guise of a poverty- stricken man. Many of the features of this creation are paralleled by the creation story in the Maya Popol Vuh, to which reference has already been made (p. 33), and there is reason to believe that the two accounts, geographi- cally so far apart, have the same origin. This creator's full title is Con Tici Viracocha, but he had many other titles. Tello is of the belief that the creator god is represented in Peruvian art by the jaguar or puma, which also represents the Pleiades. He thinks that the ancient Peruvians also believed that this creator god had the power of transforming himself into other animals, and, arising in lakes or mountains, caused thunder and lightning, rains, or hail. It is probable that Pachacamac, supreme god of the Chimu and central coastal region, was merely a local variant of Viracocha. Legend relates that he introduced 41 42 Field Museum of Natural History agriculture. According to this story Pachacamac was the son of the sun. The sun also had a child by a human woman. Pachacamac was jealous because this woman accorded more worship to her son than to him, whereas he was of greater importance and more powerful. In his rage he slew the infant. He sowed the dead child's teeth, and maize sprang up. The child's bones produced manioc and other roots, while from the flesh Pachacamac pro- duced a crop of fruits and vegetables such as the Pacay and the Peruvian cucumber (pepino). The statement that Pachacamac was a son of the sun is probably a result of Inca influence. This god, whose name means "soul of the universe," is identified by Mark- ham as the fish god, but it is probable that this was only one of his manifestations. Apparently, the name is Quechua, a language not originally spoken on the central and north coast, but it is possible that the name was translated into Quechua when this language, in later times, became the official language of the Inca empire. In addition to the creator god, who was at the same time a fertility god, worshipped under different names in different parts of ancient Peru, ancestor worship, probably of totemic derivation, was a very important element in Peruvian religion. Arriaga, whose publication on the extirpation of idolatry appeared a little less than a cen- tury after the arrival of the Spaniards, writes: "They are persuaded that each ayllu and group of the Indians has its founder and Pacarina, which they call their own, wor- ship and offer sacrifices. They call it the Pacarina Camac, which means creator, and each one says that it has its creator, some claiming such and such a hill, others such and such a spring. Others relate many fables and stories about their Pacarinas." The Pacarina was apparently the natural object or animal from which the ayllu or clan claimed descent. The members of each ayllu claimed to be related to each other by this common descent, and the clans were to a Peru: Religion and Customs 43 large extent geographical. This, however, may have been a later development. The sun, apparently, was the Pacarina of the Inca ayllu. For this reason it was ac- corded great honor by all the subjects of the Incas, and on the extension of the empire to its final limits, sun wor- ship became the official religion, although other worship was tolerated. The great sun temple of Cuzco was called Coricancha or "The Place of Gold" from the enormous quantities of this material used in its ornamentation. There was a principal building to which were attached a number of smaller temples. The structure, which was built of huge stones fitted together with such care that no mortar was required, faced the east. On the west wall was a great sun disk of gold, so placed that the rays of the rising sun, shining through the east entrance, lit it up at the time of the equinoxes. The ceilings and walls were encrusted with gold decorations while a broad band of gold, let into the exterior walls, passed all around the temple. The adjacent temples were dedicated to the moon, the stars, thunder and lightning, and the rainbow. In connection with this official cult of sun worship there was a well-organized priesthood. At the head of the hierarchy was a high priest known as "the head which counsels." He was frequently a brother of the ruling Inca. He was vowed to a life of abstinence, vegetarianism, abstention from intoxicants, and almost perpetual con- templation. Under him were ten or twelve other high priests, corresponding in authority to the bishops of the Christian church. Each one had his diocese, and was in charge of all the junior priests within that area. A peculiar institution was that of the virgins of the sun, of whom there were said to have been no less than three thousand in Cuzco alone. There were also large numbers attached to the temples of the provinces. Most girls of noble birth entered the order, which was really an educational institution. During a residence of three 44 Field Museum of Natural History years in seclusion they were taught by matrons to sew and weave and at the same time received a general education. In addition to attending to the sweeping of the temple of the sun, they were directly responsible for tending the sacred fire, which was always kept alight. Should this happen to go out, terrible calamities might be expected. At the end of three years, when the girls had reached a marriageable age, most of them left to wed members of the nobility, some being taken into the ruling Inca's household. A few chose to remain permanently in the school, rising eventually to be instructors. Those who chose to continue as virgins of the sun were dressed in a special white robe and wore a gold band in their hair. They wove and embroidered the fine textiles which were used in the temple services. In addition to the worship of the creator god and the sun, each person worshipped his totemic ancestor. These ancestors were frequently large stones or hilltops, and, although the special object of worship of their descendants, were also accorded reverence by members of other clans. Besides the regular priests, there were orders of diviners, who practiced their craft by counting heaps of maize, examining the hairy legs of the tarantula or some related spider, watching the flights of birds, or scrutinizing the intestines of llamas and other animals offered in sacrifice. Sacrifices consisted of llamas and related species, birds and plumage, dogs, gold and silver, textiles, coca, shells, maize, and other agricultural produce. Human sacrifice was very rare, if not quite unknown. Early Spanish chroniclers contradict each other on this point. Part of the confusion is probably due to the fact that the Quechua words for children and llama kids are the same, hence it was believed that when speaking of the sacrifice of llama kids, children were meant. However, as we shall see, the Peru: Religion and Customs 45 sacrifice of children was practiced in one area which was incorporated into the Inca empire, and probably at a date subsequent to its incorporation. In addition to this regular worship associated with sacrifice, the Peruvians believed thoroughly in animism; that is, that every object, whether animate or inanimate, had an intelligent indwelling spirit. Accordingly, prayers were addressed to anything in nature. Offerings, for instance, were made to the corner posts of a house to protect the inmates, but apparently there was a conflicting belief, held largely by the more educated class, that there was a supreme deity, who was ultimately responsible for all the actions of nature. The Peruvians believed in an existence after death, but information on the next world is somewhat vague. Garcilasso de la Vega states that the wicked went to a place of punishment, whereas those who had led good lives on earth went to a next world, where only happiness was in store for them. This division savors very much of Christianity. It is more probable that there was a heaven for the nobility and an underworld, but not necessarily a place of punishment, to which the souls of com- moners went. In some parts of Peru dogs were believed to conduct the souls to the next world. Dogs were bred for this purpose and sacrificed on the death of a person. Mummi- fied dogs are occasionally found in tombs. The Aztecs had a similar belief, also sacrificing dogs to lead the deceased to the next world. Worldly possessions were buried with the dead, and it is owing to this practice that we have so much informa- tion on Peruvian art. Practically all the Peruvian collections in Field Mu- seum, with the possible exception of the Inca material, have been removed from graves. In Case 26 may be seen the contents of a typical grave of the Late period at Ancon. 46 Field Museum of Natural History The mummy, wrapped in beautiful textiles and provided with a false head, sits surrounded by pottery vessels and gourds containing originally maize and beans. Two smaller mummy bundles contain the remains of children, possibly children of the mummy herself. The female sex of the mummy is indicated by the presence of two work-baskets containing implements for weaving. The spindles in one basket are provided with beautifully made whorls to give momentum to the spindle. Several of the bags, slung around the mummy so that they hang from the shoulder, contain leaves of the coca plant, from which the modern drug cocaine is made. Coca leaves were chewed in ancient as well as modern times all over the Andine region and as far north as Colombia as an antidote to fatigue. Frequently they were mixed with lime. Hair combs and a few simple ornaments of silver were also found in this burial and are shown with the other contents of the grave. The mummy bundles sometimes contain more than one body, but when this is the case the bundle is still provided with only one false head. The bodies of the dead were usually wrapped in leaves, and sometimes ears of maize, objects of metal or other personal objects were inserted in the bundle before it was tied up. The bodies themselves were usually arranged with the legs bent so that the knees were almost touching the chin, but some- times, and especially in the case of children, the bodies were laid full length. However, there is great variation in the methods used, depending on locality and period. X-ray photographs of Peruvian mummies are shown in the hall. These were made by Miss Anna R. Bolan, formerly of the Division of Roentgenology, Field Museum. A Memoir based on the examination of X-ray photo- graphs of Peruvian and Egyptian mummies has been published by Field Museum. Peru: Religion and Customs 47 Whereas on the coast the mummies were usually placed in rectangular pits dug in the ground and roofed with tree trunks and straw mats, in the Highlands they were usually deposited in caves. Artificial mummification was sometimes practiced in ancient Peru, the viscera being removed from the body, and the corpses artificially desiccated. There are some grounds for thinking that resin was also occasionally used as a preservative, but in the case of the great majority of mummies, the preservation is due to the natural aridity of the coastal region and the salts impregnating the soil in which the tombs were made. Actually most mummy bundles contain mere skeletons, the flesh having com- pletely rotted away. Two well-preserved bodies stripped of their enveloping cloths are shown in Case 27. North of the Titicaca basin, in the region inhabited by the Collas, the dead were buried in large towers of very well-made masonry. Most of these towers are round, but a few are square or in the shape of an inverted truncated cone. A small entrance at the base allowed a man to squeeze through, while inside there were one or more chambers, in which the dead were deposited. Sons of the nobility were educated in special semi- naries, corresponding to the educational institution of the virgins of the sun. Here they were taught history, morals, religion, and their civic duties as future leaders of the people. They were obliged to study the laws of the country and to learn how to read the quipu cords. The instruction was in the hands of the wise men called Amautas. The children of the lower classes received no education apart from instruction in husbandry and household duties, which knowledge they acquired from their parents and their paternal uncles. This was a studied policy of the Incas, for they were fond of saying that higher education was not meant for the people, as the duty of governing was not for the lower classes, and education only made the latter arrogant and lazy. 48 Field Museum of Natural History Young men married at the age of twenty-four, while a girl was considered marriageable at eighteen. Once a year all the marriageable youths and maidens were as- sembled and summarily married. Wives were chosen from the same clan, but the consent of the parents was required. If a young man had not found a suitable bride, one was arbitrarily chosen for him by the presiding official. The marriage ceremony was of the simplest, for joining the hands of bride and groom was all that was necessary. Each community was required to prepare huts for the newly wedded couples, and allot them their quota of agricultural land. In the case of members of the nobility, that is to say, of Inca blood, the Inca himself presided over the ceremony. Men of Inca blood were allowed more than one wife, but the commoners were kept to a rigid monogamy. As all the weddings took place on the same day throughout the Inca realm and were followed by festivities among the relations and friends of the brides and grooms, there was, to quote Prescott, one universal bridal jubilee throughout the empire. This peculiar marriage custom well illustrates the paternalism of the feudal-communistic state evolved in Peru. Young men of the nobility went through an initiation ceremony at the conclusion of their instruction. This commenced with a six day fast, after which a foot race was run, sham battles were fought between one-half of the candidates and the other, and tests of their skill in hurling stones from a sling or in throwing spears were made. Subsequently they were beaten with sticks and forced to stand unflinching while an instructor whirled a club around their bodies, so that it almost touched their faces. A single cry while he was being beaten or the slight- est sign of flinching from the club branded the candidate as a coward. At the end of a month, those who had successfully passed the tests paid homage to the ruling Inca, who Peru: Religion and Customs 49 pierced their ears in the presence of the nobility and higher priests. In the holes made in the lobes of the ears ear- plugs were inserted. The wearing of ear-plugs was the privilege of the Inca nobility, and from the large size of the plugs members of the Inca caste came to be called orejones or "big ears" by the Spaniards. All the members of this royal caste were exempt from tribute; in fact, they were supported out of general taxes in view of their royal blood and their administrative functions. With the excep- tion of certain posts in the provinces left i» the hands of the conquered peoples, all important posts were filled by members of the Inca caste. No one of humble birth was permitted to occupy any administrative position of importance. The vast semi-communistic organization of the country was based on the ayllu or endogamous clan. Each clan owned its own land. The arable land was assigned each year to the heads of the families comprising the clan, while the pasture lands and wooded areas were used by all its members. In late Inca times the clan had become little more than a geographical group, known as Pachaca. To each clan were assigned one hundred families. Ten pachacas formed another division called huaranca, which was administered by a local chief. Four districts, each comprising a varying number of huarancas, formed the district administered by an Incan overseer. Finally, the whole Inca empire was divided into four quarters, each of which was ruled by an Incan viceroy, usually a brother or close relation of the ruling Inca. In addition to the land allotted to each family, sec- tions were set aside for the maintenance of the priesthood and the upkeep of the temples and also for the maintenance of the state organization. Of this last a part went to main- tain local officials, widows, and orphans, a part went into a general reserve against famine, and a part was sent to help support the army and the Inca caste at Cuzco. The system was that of the primitive community, resembling 50 Field Museum of Natural History closely the system employed among the Aztecs and kin- dred peoples of Mexico. The whole community worked together in the cultiva- tion of the lands. First, the sections devoted to religious upkeep were worked, next, the lands assigned to the individual families, and, finally, the sections for the mainte- nance of the central government. The land was prepared with the aid of pointed wooden digging sticks supplied with a cross bar on which the weight of the foot rested. The men were responsible for this work, while the women were employed in pulverizing the clods. Apparently small groups aided one another in the preparation of the private lands. The flocks of llamas and related wool-bearing animals were state property. They were assigned to different communities in the colder regions. After shearing, all the wool was deposited in communal stores. Each family was supplied with its requirements, and the rest of the wool assigned to the state, some of it being reserved for religious uses or for the usage of the Inca caste and other senior officials, some of it being sent to other parts of the empire where llamas could not be raised. This last item was not a severe drain on the supplies, since in the districts too warm to permit of the raising of flocks of llamas, cotton was grown and used for everyday clothing. Female llamas were reserved entirely for breeding, but a certain proportion of the males was used for sacrificial purposes both in Cuzco and the provinces. Trade by barter between different parts of the empire did not exist in Inca times, but products of different regions were distributed from one end of the empire to another, the share of all produce set aside for the state being largely available for this purpose. In addition to the contribution of a part of all produce for state purposes, there was a system of conscription. All births and deaths were registered by the clan chiefs and transmitted through higher authorities all the way up the line to the federal Peru: Religion and Customs 51 government in Cuzco. Thereby the whole male population was divided into ten age groups, varying from infants in arms to the very aged. These age groups were based on the physical capacities of the members of each group for certain labor. Thus, men over sixty— a considerable age among a semi-primitive people — were called "Old men sleeping." Labor, such as road- or aqueduct-making, was obtained by requiring each district to supply its quota of men for a certain period, at the end of which a fresh quota arrived to take the place of the first. The number of men required from any one district was adjusted to the available man power in that district. This was known from the census returns kept by means of quipus and from the information supplied by local chiefs. As the vast majority of the population was engaged in agriculture, care was ap- parently taken to undertake these communal labors when agricultural needs were least. Workers in other industries, such as metallurgy, similarly worked for the state. All their production was taken over by the state and stored in warehouses or shipped to some distant part of the country, while the workers themselves received in return from the state their food supplies, fuel, and housing. The system worked admirably. This tremendous example of communism must not be looked upon as a highly successful experimental applica- tion of socialistic theories. It was not the experiment of a people who had tried capitalism, but a natural evolution of the communism of a small primitive community, which by expansion had become an empire. The Incas them- selves certainly had little sympathy with theories that all men are equal. As the brains of the communistic state they considered themselves to be far superior to the rank and file, and lived in a style befitting their station. Never- theless, everyone able to do so was made to work — the 52 Field Museum of Natural History rank and file in manual labor, the Inca caste as brain- workers. Special men were in charge of the quipus. Using them as mnemonic aids, they were apparently able to keep tallies of population, supplies, drafting of labor, llama herds, and probably a skeletal history. The abacus was also employed in counting. All the known quipus that exist at the present time have been found in graves. Nordenskiold has recently shown that these represent calculations of years and months together with calculations of lunar periods. He suggests with a good deal of probability that these quipus were owned by sorcerers or medicine-men, and were used for divinatory purposes. The years are calculated at 365 days, and sometimes grouped in ten year periods, the Peruvian reckoning being based on the decimal system. Although only chronological quipus with a magical basis appear to have been buried in graves, others were used for other purposes. The typical quipu (Case 28) consists of a long cord from which hang a number of major cords, varying in number from one to more than a hundred. The major cords have an average length of about one foot. Minor cords were attached to these. The reckoning was made by means of knots. Each cord was divided into zones, the lowest representing the numbers one to nine; higher up the second digits, ten to ninety, were recorded by knots. Higher again was the space for the third digits, one hundred to nine hundred, and if necessary the spaces could be continued indefinitely in the decimal system. Each unit of a digit was expressed by a knot. Thus 257 was expressed by two knots at the top, a space, three knots, a space, and finally seven knots. There are other complications too involved to be discussed in this publication. Colors appear to have indicated the subject of a calculation. Early writers tell us that red cords dealt with war, black with the calendar, carmine with the Peru: Religion and Customs 53 Inca, gray with provincial matters, and so forth. The minor cords apparently must have been used for sub- headings. Thus, if a cord gave the population of a prov- ince, town by town, the minor cords may have given the number of children or members of each age group in each town. There is no definite proof of this statement, but it is quite possible that the method was such as has been indicated. In their use of roads the Peruvians were more advanced than their contemporaries in Europe or the New World. Well-built roads were used in certain restricted parts of the Maya area, around the valley of Mexico and in Co- lombia, but they reached their highest level in Peru during the period of the Inca Empire. A series of roads linked the extremes of the empire to Cuzco. The construction of these in the mountainous areas involved a considerable amount of engineering ingenuity. Cieza (Markham trans- lation) makes the following comments on the High- land roads: "Some of them extended for over one thousand one hundred leagues, along such dizzy and frightful abysses that, looking down, the sight failed one. In some places, to secure the regular width, it was necessary to hew a path out of the living rock; all of which was done with fire and their picks. In other places the ascents were so steep and high that steps had to be cut from below to enable the ascent to be made, with wider spaces at intervals for resting places. In other parts there were great heaps of snow, which were more to be feared, and not at one spot only, but often recurring. Where the snows obstructed the way, and where there were forests of trees and loose clods of earth, the road was levelled and paved with stones when necessary." Suspension bridges were constructed for the traversing of broad rivers or gorges. The cables were made of osier or agave rope, and fastened to rocks, or, failing these, 54 Field Museum of Natural History masonry piles. Over the cables were placed planks or hurdles, and supplementary cables served as hand-rails. These bridges were sometimes as much as two hundred feet long. With the natural sag and the oscillation such a crossing must have been a nerve-racking ordeal. For crossing rivers where the current was not strong, balsas, the Peruvian reed boats, were employed. These consist of bundles of reeds tied together to form a raft, roughly shaped as a boat, and provided with a sail. A chain of these balsas occasionally served as a floating bridge. Along the main roads small houses were built at inter- vals of about a mile and a half. At each house were two runners, selected for their speed. Their duty was to relay messages from one post to another. By this means mes- sages were sent from Quito to Cuzco, a distance of over one thousand miles in a direct line, in seven days. In addition to messages, they also relayed game, fish, and fresh fruits from the coast to Cuzco. The runners, who wore a special uniform, were known as chasquis, and in this connection it is interesting to note that the word survives at the present time in far-off Argentina to describe a messenger or a mail carrier on horseback. The word probably penetrated to the Argentine at the time northwest Argentina was incorporated into the Inca empire. The roads also served for the movements of the army, and the transportation of supplies to the forces in time of war and for the interchange of products in time of peace as described above. On the coast, where sand took the place of mountains, gorges, and snow as the chief obstacles, the roads ran between walls, and trees were planted along the edges to provide shade. Perhaps the engineering skill of the Incas is better shown in the construction of the fortresses. Some of the p*> - & EE 0.0