14 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 6l 



III. EXPLORATIONS ALONG THE COAST 

 NORTH OF LIMA 



Ancon. — Due to its accessibility from Lima, the large cemetery 

 of Ancon has been visited, explored, and described more than any 

 other single burial ground in Peru. Notwithstanding this it is 

 still fairly rich in material, some of which throws additional light 

 on the people and conditions of the region. 



The first effects of the view of this cemetery on the writer, who 

 was led from the report of the place to expect something extraor- 

 dinarily extended and interesting even for Peru, were rather dis- 

 appointing. It cannot compare with the burial grounds of 

 Pachacamac, Chan-Chan, and other localities. Also there are no 

 ruins near by. There are in fact no signs of any settlement in the 

 vicinity with the exception of the refuse heaps within and near the 

 present small town. 1 



The surface of the cemetery was rather poor in material, espe- 

 cially such as would be fit for examination. A good many of the 

 skulls, were found broken by stones — one of the amusements of the 

 Ancon excursionists. On close examination and repeated visits, nev- 

 ertheless, a number of interesting specimens were discovered. 



The refuse heaps are composed mainly of shells and contain 

 an occasional burial. There seems no reason why they should be 

 regarded otherwise than as contemporaneous with the cemetery, 

 for they are neither so great nor so diversified as to indicate a dif- 

 ferent age. 



As to the cemetery itself, there are indications that some parts 

 of it are older than others, and the graves nearer the railroad 

 tracks to Lima seem post-Columbian. The older burials yield 

 bones that are freer from remains of the soft parts and skulls 

 that generally show a marked fronto-occipital flattening. In the 

 more recent and generally more superficial graves, more flesh re- 

 mains on the bones, the skulls are frequently undeformed or show 

 but moderate antero-posterior flattening, and the bones on the 

 whole are fresher and more resistant. Notwithstanding the differences 

 in age of the burials, however, the Ancon skulls are all or very nearly 

 all the same type. They are the brachycephals of the coast ; the rare 

 exceptions belong to the oblong type such as found in the moun- 

 tains. Also, the bones of all ages at Ancon indicate about the same 

 stature of the people, which was rather moderate, and, for the men at 



1 See in this connection Uhle, M. : Die Muschelhugel von Ancon, Peru. 

 Trans. 18th Int. Congr. Americanists, 1913, Vol. 1, p. 22, et seq. 



