44 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 6 1 



was present, but of simple design, and even this was said to be rare 

 in this vicinity. 



From Ocucaje the road leads over a swell in the ground to the 

 valley of lea. Just where the road enters that valley, a low artifi- 

 cial elevation was seen and the ground in the neighborhood was 

 strewn with skulls and bones, for the most part very defective due 

 to long exposure. The type of the crania and bones was that of the 

 ordinary coast population, and the majority of the skulls presented 

 more or less of a fronto-occipital flattening. 



In the valley of lea, thickly overgrown by the huarango, a number 

 of localities were heard of at which there were old burial grounds, 

 and traces of ruins, or huacas ; but evidently none of these are of 

 great size or much importance. On the day following his arrival at 

 lea, the writer, with the kind assistance of the prefect of the district, 

 made an excursion to a rather large mound and cemetery located 

 at Chalcaca (or Chulpaca), near Pueblo Nuevo, about five miles 

 southeast of lea. The place was found thoroughly dug over by the 

 peons, and the work was evidently completed a number of years 

 ago, for the skeletal remains were in poor condition. The burials, 

 or at least some of them, were made in large cylindrical earthen- 

 ware jars or urns, about two and a half feet high and nearly the 

 same in diameter. A number of these jars, not unlike the sections 

 of a huge sewer-pipe, lay about one of the neighboring huts, appar- 

 ently too substantial to be broken and too large to be made any use 

 of by the present people. The skeletal remains showed a prevalence 

 of the ordinary coast type people, with moderate fronto-occipital 

 deformation of the skull ; but there was a very perceptible admixture 

 of the more oblong-headed element, well known from other places 

 referred to in this report. At the house of one of the wealthier men 

 of the neighborhood was seen a collection of pottery and other 

 objects, showing the ancient culture of this vicinity. The specimens 

 resembled closely those of Ocucaje, the pottery, however, showing 

 decoration still more at variance in designs from that of Nasca. 

 A large percentage of the vessels were more or less globular water 

 jars of different sizes, with a narrow neck. The collection embraced 

 very few fabrics, but included 20 or more stout staffs with well- 

 executed carvings at one extremity, and set in the ground in front 

 of the house was a carved post showing an attempt at a represen- 

 tation of a human figure. The bows and arrows were like those 

 at Ocucaje. 



