THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 



among those of ancient peoples. They were acquainted 

 with every style of weaving known to-day, and some of their 

 tapestry, in its fineness of weave, beauty of color and de- 

 sign, has never been excelled. Underneath some exqui- 

 sitely designed and colored ponchos is a specimen secured 

 from a mummy bundle which is the best piece of plain 

 tapestry in the collection and so far as known the finest 

 example of this class of weaving in the world. There are 

 44 warps and between 280 and 300 weft threads per inch 

 The ornamental stripe is in bobbin weave resembling mod- 

 ern Jacquard weave. At the left of the entrance is a case 

 containing exhibits which illustrate the ancient burial cus- 

 toms of the Peruvians. 



From Colombia is a large series of ancient terra-cotta 

 stamps for printing cloth, pottery vessels and stone imple- 

 ments from ancient burial mounds, in both human and ani- 

 mal forms, together with a series of specimens illustrating 

 the manufacture of tapioca. 



From Ecuador is a great variety of pottery and unique 

 stone seats, and in the exhaustive series of pottery, gold, 

 silver and copper objects will be noticed original specimens 

 which are figured by E. G. Squier in "Incidents of Travel 

 and Exploration in the Land of the Incas." 



Numerous interesting objects have been secured from 

 Chile, the most conspicuous, however, being the mummy, 

 in the case near the west end of the room, which was found 

 in a copper mine near Chuquicamata, Chile. The body is 

 that of an Indian who was killed while engaged in mining 



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