PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY AND AFFILIATED 



SOCIETIES 



THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



A special meeting of the Society was held on October 28, 1913, at the 

 National Museum. 



Dr. Ales Hrdlicka addressed the Society, his subject being The 

 results of the speaker's recent trip to Peru; with remarks on the anthro- 

 pological problems of Peru, illustrated with lantern slides. In 1910 the 

 speaker made a brief exploratory trip in Peru, which resulted in the ac- 

 quisition of some valuable data and of important skeletal collections. 

 The opportunity to extend the investigations came during the early part 

 of the current year, in connection with the preparation of the anthro- 

 pological exhibits for the Panama-California Exposition at San Diego; 

 and as a consequence three busy months were spent on the Peruvian 

 coast and in certain parts of the mountain region of Peru, in explora- 

 tion of the ruined cities and ancient cemeteries. The principal objects 

 of the trip were, first, the mapping out as far as possible of the anthro- 

 pological distribution of the prehistoric Peruvian, more particularly the 

 coast people; second, the determination of the physical type of the im- 

 portant Nasca group of people, which represent one of the highest 

 American cultures; third, further inquiry as to man's antiquity on the 

 west coast of South America; and fourth, the extension of the speaker's 

 researches on pre-Columbian pathology. The conclusions to which the 

 speaker was formerly led were in the main corroborated. In regard to 

 the mountain regions much remains to be determined in the future. 

 As to the pathology of the native Peruvian before contact with whites, 

 the main work can perhaps be now regarded as done, or nearly so, 

 altho individual variation in different morbid processes seems inexhaust- 

 ible, and much in this hne remains to be secured by future exploration. 

 The ground covered was extensive and the skeletal material examined 

 was enormous, the selections alone filling over thirty boxes. No exca- 

 vation was practiced, attention being restricted, on the coast, to the 

 bones covering the surface of ancient cemeteries, exploited by the peons, 

 and to burial caves and houses in the mountains. 



Since the speaker's trip to Peru three years ago, a change for the 

 worse was observed in the state of preservation of the ancient remains. 

 Also, where formerly there were seemingly inexhaustible quantities of 

 skeletal material there is now a dearth of it. No such collection as 

 that made in 1910, when the speaker gathered 3400 important crania, 

 will ever again be possible from these regions. The major part of the 



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