55 WISCONSIISr ACADEMY SCIENCES, ARTS, AND LETTERS. 



ON THE ANCIENT CIVILIZATION OF AMERICA. 



BY PROF. AV. J. L. NICODEMUS, A. M., C. E. 



The ancient works divide themselves into three great geographi- 

 cal divisions, viz.. South America on the west coast between Chili, 

 and the second degree of north latitude; Central America and Mex- 

 ico, and the valleys of the Mississippi and Ohio. 



The rains of ancient Peru, which form the first, division, are 

 found chiefly on the elevated table-lands of the Andes, between 

 Quito and Lnke Titacaca, but they can be traced five hundred miles 

 further south to Chili and throughout the region connecting these 

 high plateaus with the Pacific coast. The entire district extends 

 north and south about two thousand miles. 



Before the Spanish conquest the whole country was the seat of a 

 populous and prosperous empire, rich in its industries and far ad- 

 vanced in civilization. It is now accepted that the Peruvian an- 

 tiquities represent two distinct periods in their ancient history, one 

 being much older than the other, one before and the other after the 

 fi.rst Inca. Among the ruins which belong to the older civiliza- 

 tion are those of Lake Titicaca, old Huanaco, Tiahuanaco, and 

 Gran-Chimu, and probably the roads and aqueducts were originated 

 by it. On Titicaca Island are the ruins of an edifice supposed to 

 be a palace or temple. It was built of hewn stone, and had doors 

 and windows, with posts, sills, and thresholds of stone. At Tiah- 

 uanaco, a few miles from Lake Titicaca are what are supposed to 

 be the oldest ruins in Peru. They are described by Cieca de Leon, 

 who accompanied Pizarro. He mentions great edifices " that were 

 in ruins," two stone idols resembling the human figure, and appar- 

 ently made by skillful artificers." These idols were great statues, 

 ten or tv/elve feet high. He describes large gateways with hinges, 

 platforms, and porches, each made of a single stone, some of which 

 were thirty feet long, fifteen high, and six thick. Along the whole 

 length of some above the stone ran a cornice covered with sculp- 

 tured figures. "The whole neighborhood," says Mr. Squier, "is 



