is the collection of osteological material from machu picchu. 



Cave 12. 



This burial place in the lower grave region contained a very poorly preserved skeleton. 

 Fragments of a skull and a complete mandible, the only parts that were saved, belong 

 to a small adult female. I am unable to state whether the skull was of the coastal or 

 of the mountain type. A broken beaker-shaped olla was the only other article found. In 

 this instance, the mummy, in the contracted position, seemed to have been nearly covered 

 with earth and stones. 



Ca\^ 13. 



In this cave, wliich was near the last that I have described, we found the decayed skeleton 

 (Ost. Coll. 3166) of a woman about fifty years of age and presumably of highland birth. 



Figure 15. — View of entrance to Cave 15. Photograph by the author. 



as the skull exhibits a moderate degree of Aymara deformation. The skull and the long 

 bones are rather strongly developed, and were it not for the evidence afforded by the pelvis 

 might have been mistaken for those of a small man. A heavy bronze pin about 11 cm. 

 long had been interred with the remains, and in the cave had been placed the woman's 

 cooking pot, a dark red, fire-blackened beaker-shaped olla. No llama bones were found, 

 but the skull (Ost. Coll. 3316) of a large rodent of the genus Agouti showed that some 

 flesh had been provided for the supposed needs of the dead. This skull, although not tliat 

 of a mature animal, is a valuable addition to the collection, as it appears to be distinct from 

 any species that has yet been described under the genus. For the description of this new 

 species, the reader is referred to page 89. Remains of eight animals, presumably of the 

 same species, were obtained from graves and middens in and near the city. This numlier 



