26 Shells as evidence of the Migrations. 
artists obtained this colour from some now unknown 
mineral or vegetal dye, it may be assumed that they also 
used the purpura dye in preparing their paint and in 
depicting personages with body paint and garments dyed 
by means of the same shell-fish.” % 
: The employment of purple paint in ancient Mexican 
manuscripts is decidedly interesting and recalls the use 
made of this famous colour for dyeing the ecclesiastical! 
parchments in Europe during early times, In like manner 
the purple facial-painting of the Aztecs, as demonstrated 
by their manuscripts, is a curious parallel to the em- 
ployment of purple for the cheeks and lips in Roman 
times, 
Some further important evidence of the use of shell- 
fish in dyeing in precolumbian times has lately been 
furnished by the discovery of broken Puspura shells in 
Inca graves in. North Chile. L. E. Adams, in his “ Con- 
chological Notes from Chile and Brazil,”* mentions the 
occurrence of broken shells of Purpura in a “kitchen 
midden” on the steep mountain-side at Pisagua. These 
were discovered, along with other marine shells, in the 
course of road improvements, the road in question being 
found to traverse an Inca burying ground. Adams states : 
“Several human skeletons were lying on or just below 
the surface, all in the characteristic doubled-up attitude ; 
they had been buried wrapped up in a coarse grass 
matting. None of the skulls were perfect, the upper and 
lower jaws were all missing, as if the excavators had taken 
them to study the dentition.” 
“In addition to human remains, were skulls of some 
large species of dolphin, skulls of sea-lions (? Ofaria 
Jubata), the rib of a small whale, and dogs both large and 
** Nuttall, of. c77., p. 381. 
oe °° Journ, of Conchology, xiv., 1915, p. 349. 
ae 
