10 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 66 



THE "ANCIENT MAN OF CUZCO," PEKU 



The Ciizco (.liscoveries represent one of those rare fortunate in- 

 stances in which a serious earlier error in the clironological determi- 

 nation of human remains is fully corrected by some of those who were 

 responsible for the oriG;inal claims. 



In 1911-12, just before the publication of Early Man in South 

 America/ in which were indicated certain fallacies in the numerous 

 reports of geologically ancient human remains from South America, a 

 considerable stir was caused by the announcement that human bones 

 of " glacial age " had been found in the Cuzco gravels by the Yale 

 Peru\ian Expedition. The news reached the press, and because of 

 Ihe prominence of the expedition was given wide publicity long before 

 tlie actual report on the finds could be made. In April, 1912, this re- 

 port, by three authors, appeared in Tlie Avierican Journal of Science. 

 It consisted of a section by Prof. Hiram Bingham, director of the 

 expedition, on " The Discovery of Prehistoric Human Remains near 

 Cuzco, Peru '" ;- of an account by the geologist of the expedition, Prof. 

 Isaiah Bowman, on "The Ceologic Relations of the Cuzco Remains";^ 

 and of a " Report on the Remains of Man and of Lower Animals 

 from the Vicinity of Cuzco, Peru," by Dr. George F. Eaton.* 



Professor Bingham gave a concise account of the circumstances of 

 the lind, which may well be repeated practically in full. 



The Yale Peruvian Expedition was organized to do archaeological, geographi- 

 cal, geological, and topographical reconnaissance. We spent the first part of 

 July, 1911, in and about Cuzco. On the morning of July 6. while walking up a 

 gulch called Ayahuaijcco quehrada west of Cuzco, ... I noticed a few bones 

 and several pieces of pottery interstratifled with the gravel bank of the gulch 

 and apparently exposed by recent erosion. This led me to examine both sides of 

 the gulch very carefully. A hundred yards above the point where the first 

 b;»nes were noticed we found that erosion had cut through an ancient ash heap 

 containing a large number of fragments of bones and pottery. Still farther up 

 the gulch and on the side toward Cuzco I discovered a section of stone wall 

 built of roughly finished stones more or less carefully fitted together. At first 

 sight this wall appeared to have liecn l)uilt to prevent further washing away of 

 that side of tlie gulch. Then I noticed that above the wall and flush with its 

 surface the bank appeared to consist of stratified material, indicating that per- 

 haps the wall antedated the gravel deposits. 



Fifty feet uji the quebrada another portion of wall appeared. Between 

 this and the section first seen the gi-avel bank somewhat protruded. On top 

 of the bank was a cultivati'd field. In order to see whether the wall extended 

 behind this gravel bank, under the field, and whether the two portions were 

 continuous, I excavated and found, after half an hour's work on the compact 

 gravel, that there was more wall behind the stratified sides of the gulch. 

 The prefect of Cuzco later helped me to secure the services of six Indians, 



1 Bttll. 52, Bur. Amer. Etlin.; 1912. 



" Amer. Joiim. Bel, itii f?er., vol. xxxiii, pp. 297-305, Now Haven, Apr., 1912. 



3 Ibid., pp. 300-325. 



* Ibid., pp. 325-333. 



