HOLMES] ABORIGINAL AMERICAN" ANTIQUITIES PART I 139 



ings include chvellinii's, community houses, palaces, convents, temples, 



storehouses, observatories, fortifications, fortified strongholds, tombs, 



bridges, aqueducts, corrals, and also structures of un- 



Megaiithic Build- ^.^^q^^j^ ^^gp_ j^^ ^j^^ (j,^^^^ ^.ggj^j^ ^ mcgalithic stvlc, 



probably of ancient origin, prevailed and was still in 

 vogue in the Inca period. The fortifications of Olantaytambo and 

 Sachsahauman are marvels of their kind, and Machu Picchu, re- 

 cently explored by Bingham, is one of the most astonishing achieve- 

 ments in city building and fortification in the western world. Re- 

 mains of stone building of less note occur throughout the Sierra 

 region from Quito to Tucuman. 



The remains of the Titicacan basin are not less noteworthy than 



those of Cuzco. The i-uins of Tiahuanaco are among 

 Tiahuanaco the most extraordinary achievements of American 



architectural genius, doubtless the result of some 

 powerful religious impulse, which caused a comparatively primitive 

 community to undertake a work entirely beyond the normal, reason- 

 able requirements of such a people. In this region occur tombs 



called chuljxis^ towerlike in form, constructed of cut 

 Chuipas stone. In the coastal centers adobe was largely em- 



ployed in the construction of buildings of all classes. 

 Some of the cities were of large size and many of the principal 

 structures were of complicated plan and great extent. 



Without a knowledge of the keystone arch the aborigines were 



unable to construct stone bridges of wide span, but 

 Bridges short spans were erected by means of the offset arch. 



Long spans were constructed by means of cables of 

 vines or osiers fixed to the living rock or to heavy buttresses of 

 masonry. Traces of the latter structures are still to be found. 



The minor artifacts of the area^ — Incan, extra-Incan, and pre- 

 Incan — include implements, utensils, ornaments, and problematical 

 objects of stone, metal, clay, wood, bone, and shell in the greatest 

 possible varietj^, and in metal and clay the diversity of form exceeds 

 that of any other American area. Remarkable ability is shown in 

 modeling in clay the human face and, indeed, almost every natural 

 form, animal and vegetable, found in the country, but this ability 

 does not seem to have extended to sculpture except in the more 

 minute forms of lapidarian work, in which bi'anch, however, 

 superior workmanship is shown. There is nothing in the entire 

 Incan area to compare with the masterly sculptures of Guatemala 

 and Honduras, and the larger monuments, probably of the olden time, 

 are extremely primitive in type. 



Stone implements and utensils were necessarily a feature of great 

 importance with a people who worked stone and metal on an exten- 



