BONES OF THE ANCIENT PERUVIANS 



A Review 



THE July-September number of 

 the American Journal of Physi- 

 cal Anthropology is devoted to 

 a treatise on "Human Skeletal Re- 

 mains from the Highlands of Peru," 

 by George Grant ISIcCurdy. The ma- 

 terial was secured in 1914 and 1915 

 by the Peruvian Expedition of Yale 

 University and the National Geo- 

 graphic Society, conducted by Pro- 

 fessor Hiram Bingham, and was most- 

 ly from caves in the upper Urubamba 

 Valley, the principal seat of the Inca 

 civilization. 



The ancient burials were largely in 

 caves where the mummies were placed 

 in a sitting posture wound with braid- 

 ed grass rope and supported by "seat- 

 rings" of withes, tv/isted together and 

 loosely wrapped with cords or strips 

 of bark. 



Of 341 crania examined, 147 showed 

 the so-called "Aymara type" of de- 

 formation, "produced by circular con- 

 striction and compensatory elonga- 

 tion." Skulls of both sexes were de- 

 formed and a larger proportion of fe- 

 male skulls, sixty per cent, than of 

 male, forty-three per cent. In cases 

 of very pronounced deformation the 

 foramen magnum may be reduced in 

 size and the spinal cord constricted. 

 Also the cranial capacity was found to 

 be somewhat less in such skulls. Hence 

 the conclusion is drawn that "excessive 

 Aymara deformation has an inhibitory 

 effect on the growth of the brain." It 

 is easy to understand that the growth 

 of the skull may be restricted by the 

 tight-fitting woolen caps that the na- 

 tives of the Peruvian highlands put on 

 their babies' heads — and apparently 

 leave on indefinitely. 



Bv far the longest chapter is de- 

 voted to surgery, and relates mostly 

 to the trephining of the skull, an oper- 

 ation which evidently was popular 



among the ancient Peruvians. Forty- 

 seven trephined skulls were found in 

 a series of 273 adults and in several 

 cases more than one operation was per- 

 formed, one of the skulls having five 

 apertures. Of the forty-seven tre- 

 I)hined skulls twenty-nine were recog- 

 nized as males, sixteen as females and 

 two as vouths. Twenty-six cases were 

 successful, and partial healing occurred 

 in eleven other cases. The operations 

 were chiefly on the left side of the 

 head, which with other facts is taken 

 to mean that the principal object was 

 to relieve depressed fractures produced 

 by star-shaped stone club-heads, which 

 seem to have been the favorite weapon 

 of the time. 



That so many female skulls were 

 trephined makes it seem questionable 

 that the injuries were received in war- 

 fare. Did the women fight in war 

 with the men, or was clubbing a neigh- 

 borhood pastime? 



Other injuries and abnormalities of 

 the skull and other bones are also de- 

 scribed in detail, including especially 

 the teeth, which were often imperfect 

 or diseased. There were no cases of 

 supernumerary teeth, but milk^ teeth 

 were often retained and caused irregu- 

 larities in the permanent teeth. Pyor- 

 rhea, alveolar absesses, and other dental 

 diseases were recognized in many 

 cases. "In 12 jaws out of 422, the 

 teeth had all disappeared prior to the 

 decease of the individual." 



No comparisons are made in relative 

 frequency of the abnormalities or 

 diseased conditions in other parts of 

 the world. Though the colonizing 

 policy of the Incas may be supposed to 

 have resulted in a great deal of mixing 

 of tribal stocks in some of the outlying 

 regions, there probably was a general 

 condition of inbreeding and congestion 

 with resulting pressure upon the means 



367 



