2 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 56 



languages and dialects and to have differed from each other in other 

 respects, but their exact classification has not yet been determined, 

 and from the standpoint of physical anthropology most of the 

 groups are still enveloped in a haze of uncertainty. 1 Even ethnic 

 units of such importance as the Ouechua and Aymara are so little 

 known physically that from the literature on the subject alone it 

 would be impossible to form a clear notion as to their main char- 

 acteristics. 



The dearth of knowledge concerning the somatology of the peoples 

 of Peru is due, on the one hand, to an almost complete lack of an- 

 thropological observations on the living, and, on the other hand, to 

 the nature of the skeletal material which has thus far been collected. 

 Not that the material is wanting, for there are many hundreds 

 of Peruvian skulls scattered in our collections ; but a very large 

 majority of these skulls are more or less deformed, either arti- 

 ficially or accidentally, which renders them unsuitable for anthro- 

 pological determinations, and other parts of the skeleton have been 

 neglected. As to the skulls, there is no equally extensive territory 

 in the world where cranial deformations, both intentional and unin- 

 tentional, are as numerous as in Peru. Skulls of normal form from 

 that country have actually thus far been rarities. 



The accessions of Bolivian and Peruvian skeletal material in the 

 principal American museums during the past few years have begun 

 to shed more light on the physical characteristics of at least the 

 Aymara and on a portion of the middle coast population of Peru. 

 In consequence, it may be said to-day with comparative certainty 

 that these two groups differ radically, at least so far as the cranial 

 type is concerned; one (the Aymara) representing dolichocephalic, 

 the other (middle coast) brachycephalic stock. Furthermore, we 

 know to-day (due principally to Bandelier's collections) that the 

 Aymara were in the main a people of relatively small stature, of 

 only moderate muscular development, and often of rather small 

 cranial capacity. The coast people from Ancon, Pachacamac, and 

 one or two other localities, were also of rather low stature, but of 

 somewhat stronger build, and had seemingly on the average a per- 

 ceptibly larger skull. In both groups there was a relatively frequent 

 occurrence of decidedly short and small-headed individuals. Be- 

 yond these few facts, however, things were problematical. 



It was under these conditions that an opportunity, regrettably a 



1 For literature on the physical anthropology of Peru, see the end of this 

 paper. 



