the graves. is 



Grave 9. 



An immense rock-shelter, largely artificial in its structure, is situated on the mountain 

 slope southeast of the ruins of the city and at an elevation 800 feet or 900 feet higher. It 

 is the most perfect shelter of the kind that I have ever seen, the roof being formed by the 

 horizontal under surface of a great bowlder, which is supported by stone work at the back 

 and at the ends, while the entire front of the shelter is open to light and air. The nearly 

 rectangular floor area is about 30 feet long and 15 feet wide, the headroom being ample 

 for the average Peruvian Indian, though it was found to be insufficient for the taller members 

 of the Expedition. Views of this shelter are reproduced in text-figures 11 and 12. It was the 

 first burial place examined in what may be termed the upper cave region of Machu Picchu. 



Potsherds lay strewn on the floor, many of them representing finely decorated vessels. One 

 of these (M. P. 900), a handsome vase of the aryballus type, has since been restored from 

 sherds that we have saved. It is shown on Plate V, figure 2. 



Grave robbing is at best an unholy venture. The scientific collector of bones doubtless has 

 better intentions than the mere treasure-hunter, but both follow, in part, the same course, 

 and whichever one finds himself last in the race for the prize probably regards his competitor's 

 work as unwarrantable desecration. 



The broken pottery on the floor of the shelter may have been largely the work of treasure- 

 hunters, but, if so, they lacked the energy, or knowledge of the game, to throw down part of 

 the wall at one end of the place. This work of destruction on our part, as shown in text- 

 figure II, revealed a walled-up grave (Grave 9), from which we obtained the greater part 

 of two human skeletons (Ost. Coll. 3163 and 3164). Some valuable parts of these skeletons 

 we failed, however, to secure, for, in order to reach the bones, we had to dislodge some 

 very heavy blocks of stone, and the danger of serious accident to ourselves and our native 

 assistants led to our exercising a little more care than we might have done, had not the 

 Surgeon of the Expedition been six days' journey distant. Our own bones seemed much 

 more valuable to Science than those of the Ancient Peruvians ! 



The first skeleton (Ost. Coll. 3163) found here is perhaps that of a woman about forty 

 years of age. The skull, which has a patent metopic suture and shows a moderate degree 

 of Aymara deformation, does not readily admit of sexual determination, and we were 

 unable to recover the pelvis. The other bones might pertain to either sex. The mandible 

 demonstrates the enormous amount of distortion that can be caused posthumously. Its 

 bicondylian diameter has been decreased about 20 mm., apparently by the weight of a fallen 

 stone, and the transverse measurement of the inferior dental arcade reduced proportionately, 

 yet without any fracture having occurred other than a slight injury at the left gonion. As 

 a result, while the upper and lower teeth match perfectly in size and wear and while a good 

 contact can be made on one side or the other at a time, the mandible cannot be set in place. 



The second skeleton found here (Ost. Coll. 3164) is that of a young woman about twenty 

 years of age, whose naturally brachycephalic skull testifies to her coastal birth or ancestry. 



Considerable llama flesh had been provided at this grave, as numerous bones of that useful 

 animal were seen; but this was not the only meat provided, for a few bones of a paca, 

 Agouti sp., were found, which are referred to again on page 89; also a scapula of a small 

 deer, probably Pndita sp., and some bones of one of the so-called Peruvian Hares, Lagidium 

 sp. An abundance of charcoal had been provided for the use of the dead, and one wonders 

 whether the flesh placed in the grave was cooked or raw. 



