8 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 56 



Among the cemeteries seen were some quite extensive ones includ- 

 ing hundreds of graves, while others were small, with only a few 

 score of burials. In a few cases the cemeteries were confluent, but 

 for the most part they were separated, though the distance between 

 them in some instances was no more than a few yards. 



The examination of the skeletal material and other objects made 

 it evident that some of the cemeteries in this valley were more 

 modern than others ; that different cemeteries served for the burial 

 places of dififerent groups, clans, or tribes of people ; and that in 

 numerous instances late and even recent intrusive burials in small 

 number have taken place in the old cemeteries. 



It was possible further to determine that the huacas which dot the 

 lower part of the valley were nothing but construction-cemeteries 

 of the old coast inhabitants. They are burial mounds built of sun- 

 dried brick and earth, instead of earth alone as usually. 



Furthermore, higher in the valley, the cemeteries were evidently 

 those of the agricultural populations of the region, while along the 

 coast they were those of fishermen. 



The burials were for the most part simple, the body being laid 

 in the ground wrapped in a blanket. More elaborate mummy- 

 bundles, however, were occasionally encountered, but nothing was 

 seen or learned that would point to intentional mummification of the 

 body or any of its parts, as at Pachacamac. In rare instances, also, 

 there was cremation. 



As at Pachacamac, so here, too, burials in the contracted position 

 were the rule. 



An indisputable fact, applicable to all the Chicama cemeteries, is 

 the relative scarcity of the remains of children. This is not due to 

 the earlier decay of children's bones, for where such were found 

 they were in just as good condition as those of the adults. It 

 indicates either a general scarcity of children, separated interments, 

 or a low infant mortality. 



Besides the Chicama valley cemeteries, there were examined that 

 of the Cerro de Virgen, near Chan-chan, as well as that about the 

 Huaca of the Moon near Moche ; and skeletal material was seen 

 and in a small part collected from Chan-chan (Gran Chimu) itself. 



The large cemetery about the Cerro de Virgen, was found to be a 

 general burial ground for men and women, but there were seen 

 no bones of children. The Huaca of the Moon appears to be 

 mainly, if not entirely, an immense and archeologically important 

 burial mound, built from sun-dried brick. 



