■ 26 S//e/is as evidence of the MigTatioiis. 



. ly artists obtained this colour from some now unknown 

 fp V mineral or vei^etal dye, it may be assumed that they also 

 t/^r^ used the purpura dye in preparing their paint and in 



/depicting personages with body paint and garments dyed 

 b}^ means of the same shell-fish.'"'' 



The employment of purple paint in ancient Mexican 

 manuscripts is decidedh' interesting and recalls the use 

 made of this famous colour for d}'eing 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 lateh' been 

 furnished by the discover}- of broken Purpura 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 sh.ells, in the, 

 course of road improvements, the road in c]uestion being 

 found to traverse an Inca burying ground. Adams states : 

 " Several human skeletons were Jx'ing 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 stud\- the dentition." 



" In addition to human remains, were skulls of some 

 large species of dolphin, skulls of .sea-lions (? Otaria 



jubatn), the rib of a small whale, and dogs both large and 



-■ NuilMll. ,'/. <//.. p. 3S1. 



'" /otiii/. oj Coii<ho/oi^y, x'w.. 191 5. p. 349. 



I 



