536 ARCHEOLOGY 



over the Isthmus of Panama. This is proved by the languages 

 and the civilization of the remains of the native population; and 

 the same lesson, as far as our investigations have carried us, is 

 taught by the archeological material. A limited region, includ- 

 ing the old settlements on the slopes of the volcano of Irazu and 

 certain groups of hills which extend down into the Atlantic low- 

 lands, has lately been investigated in a really exemplary manner 

 by E. V. Hartman, whose results have been published in a sump- 

 tuous work distinguished by the Swedish Academy with the Duke 

 of Loubat's prize. Outside of this, to be sure, we still lack exca- 

 vations undertaken in a scientific manner and authenticated by 

 documents. But the whole mass of material the eagles worn 

 on the breast which struck Columbus and his companions, the 

 gold ornaments found, the form of the vessels, the frequently 

 repeated lizard and toad motif prove that a similar civiliza- 

 tion prevailed on both sides of the Isthmus of Panama, however 

 widely the tribes were separated in language, and from whatever 

 different points they migrated to the valleys, hills, and forests 

 of this region. A special place belongs to the plateau of Bogota, 

 which marks the centre of a distinct region of civilization, the 

 land of El Dorado, the cacique of Guatavita, who, covered with 

 gold-dust, went out on a raft to the middle of the lagoon, and there, 

 plunging beneath the waters, offered his costly decorations in 

 sacrifice to the gods. It is an interesting archeological fact that 

 an image of this cacique and his attendants, executed in gold, 

 has actually been found in the lagoon of Siecha. Other sites of 

 ancient worship are still buried in the primeval forests, such as 

 the great monuments of San Agustin near the head-waters of 

 the Rio Magdalena, from which Alphons Stiibel has brought us 

 drawings. 



To the south of Popayan a new world opens before us, the 

 kingdom of the Incas, in which a number of the most diverse ele- 

 ments, tribes of totally different origin and various development, 

 were fused into an external unity. Peru especially the seaboard 

 region is the paradise of archeologists. On the whole coast, 

 extending over thirty degrees of latitude, from Tumbez to the Rio 

 Maule, not a drop of rain falls the whole year through. The sandy 

 soil is fertilized by rivers which, rising in the snow of the ranges 

 lying just back of the coast, bring down in their long and tortuous 

 course a mass of particles dissolved or suspended, and are care- 

 fully conducted by the hand of man over fields, gardens, and plan- 

 tations. Along these rivers and canals populous cities and towns 

 long ago arose, whose inhabitants were well trained in the arts of 

 both peace and war. The dry sand has preserved their dead, wrapped 

 in mummy-coverings, with their property, their clothes and orna- 



