328 



PREHISTORIC FISHING. 



ground at Ancon, a small place situated on the sea-coast, a short distance north 

 of Lima. The originals of Figs. 385, 386, and 387 on the preceding page differ 

 in shape from the hooks shown in Fig. 383 ; the ends of the shanks are bent 

 inwardly to facilitate the attachment of the line. 



Fio. 388. FlO. 389. 



FIGS. 388 and 389. Portions of nets. Ancon. 



Net-making was practised to a great extent in Peru before the conquest of 

 the country by the Spaniards, as the many netted articles found among grave- 

 deposits testify. These nets, knotted exactly like ours, were not only made for 

 purposes of fishing, but served also, in the form of bags, as the receptacles of 

 various articles. Such bags with their contents have frequently been taken from 

 Peruvian graves. The wrappings of the mummies, or rather desiccated bodies, 

 are often externally encompassed by a net-work of bast or twisted straw. 



Figs. 388 and 389 represent portions of nets found in graves at Ancon, and 

 preserved in the Peabody Museum (Nos. 8789 and 7326). These nets differ in 

 no way from those made at the present day. They are of a brownish color and 

 the material is vegetable fibre, the character of which I am unable to determine. 



It is well known that the former inhabitants of Peru excelled in the manu- 

 facture of pottery, producing vessels, which, by their peculiarities of form and 



them for use on their endless journey. Then we have specimens of various kinds of woven garments, evidently 

 of fine texture, and showing great taste in arrangement of color and elaboration of ornament. Spindles and 

 work-baskets, clay figures, a view of the cemetery itself, and a panorama of the district in which it stands are 

 among the other subjects illustrated. As the cemetery at Ancon was a common one, it is obvious that the objects 

 contained in it will illustrate the life of the bulk of the people of Old Peru. This work is monumental in char- 

 acter, and its value to the archaeologist will be of the highest." 



