hy 
: 
315 
structed of enormous masses of masonry, the stones arranged 
in a manner similar to the Cyclopean architecture of Greece 
and Italy. In all the sepulchres which have been yet dis- 
covered, there are remains of food, cooking utensils, and 
different articles emblematical of their calling, which was 
generally that of fishermen. There is no artificial process 
of embalming used, nor were any of the cavities of the body 
opened, so that all the interior of this mummy is in a per- 
fect state. The nature of the earth, and the peculiar dry- 
ness of both it and the atmosphere, are such as to prevent 
the putrefactive process ; and animals thrown loosely in the 
earth are likewise preserved. 
The question of the race of mankind to which this mummy 
belonged is one of great interest. From the pyramidal form 
of the head, and other circumstances, Dr. Wilde conceived it 
should be classed among the great Turanian nations, charac- 
terized by great breadth of cheek bones, lozenge-shaped faces, 
formed by the bases of two triangles meeting on the cheek- 
bones, long straight hair, thin scanty beard, olive com- 
plexion, confluent features, depth of orbits, eyes wide apart, 
and more or less retreating foreheads; peculiarities, several 
of which he noticed as exhibited in the head of the mummy, 
which he did not think had been altered by artificial pres- 
sure, like the head of the modern Peruvian. Humboldt, 
Tiedemann, Dr. Pritchard, and Mr. Pentland, agree in giving 
this race an Asiatic origin; the last gentleman believing 
that the heads were not altered by pressure, and that the 
skulls of those ancient Peruvians belonged to a race of 
mankind now extinct. 
