32 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 6l 



made of the wool of the llama — exactly similar to the rope used at 

 this day by the more primitive mountaineers just to the east of this 

 region. Such a pack would be buried in a pit three and a half to 

 six feet deep, sometimes without, sometimes with, a piece of dec- 

 orated pottery. 



Huarato. — Three miles from Otapara, farther up the valley, is a 

 locality known as Huarato, now occupied by a moderate-sized haci- 

 enda. From this place the roads divide, one leading farther up into 

 the narrow valley, while another ascends a high mountain and leads 

 to Sta. Lucia, Puquio and Andamarca. 



In the past, the neighborhood of Huarato was evidently well 

 peopled. On a low sandy elevation across the river are seen the 

 ruins of a moderate-sized old town, with rectangular pebble-stone 

 foundations, as at Tambo Vie jo. This belongs doubtless to the 

 valley and coast culture. On the north side of the river, however, 

 and just beyond the hacienda — in fact including a part of the 

 ground of the present buildings — is found a large and highly inter- 

 esting earthwork rather than a ruin, unlike anything seen elsewere 

 in the valley (fig. 2). It consists of a low artificial ridge, not unlike 

 a breastwork, made of earth and adobes and running for about 300 

 feet from west to east. From this run at right angles four or five 

 similar though less distinct ridges, 200 feet down the slight slope 

 in the direction of the river. Within the two enclosures formed 

 by the more eastern ridges are seen the remnants of adobe foun- 

 dations of the dwellings, and also low elevations the nature of which 

 could only be determined by excavation. 



One of the more western transverse ridges of these curious 

 remains of antiquity contained a number of superficial burials 

 which were dug out by the peons from the hacienda, and, most 

 unexpectedly, the crania from these showed without exception a 

 typical " Aymara " deformation. This was the first instance of 

 such an occurrence met with on the coast — nor was anything like 

 it seen in the further explorations to the west of the mountains. 



Having secured with considerable difficulty the help of a man 

 and a single heavy spade, the writer chose, more within the ruin, 

 a spot which looked as if it might contain a burial and made excava- 

 tion. We passed through a layer of sandy earth, then through one 

 of earth and ash, through another layer of earth, and through 

 an accumulation of chunks of adobe and numerous fair-sized cob- 

 blestones. Finally, at the depth of four feet, lay a bundle con- 

 taining a skeleton. The body was buried in the contracted posture, 



