24 



THE COLLECTION OF OSTEOLOGICAL MATERLXL FROM MACHU PICCHU. 



projecting portion of the bowlder is between 50 and 60 feet in height, and one can make 

 only the wildest estimate of the size of the part that is still embedded in the mountainside. 

 At what prehistoric period the subjects of the Incas or their predecessors in the land took 

 advantage of this unique feature of the mountain to construct a ceremonial terrace beneath 

 its shelter will probably never be known. It is, however, reasonable to suppose that the 

 work could have been accomplished only during the prosperous days of the Inca or pre- 

 Inca periods. No decadent civilization nor any forlorn community of refugees, in daily 

 terror of the conquering Spaniards, could produce results at once so artistic and so grand. 

 The stately form of the terrace and its construction largely of rock and unfertile gravel 

 preclude its use for agricultural purposes. Facing to the north and sheltered from the 

 fierce noonday heat of the sun, it must have offered an ideal resting place for the Inca 

 and his royal consorts during their visits to Machu Picchu, or at other times for the resident 

 Priests and Priestesses of the Sun and the Mother Superior of the Acclahuasi or House of 



FiGURii 20.— Floor plan of the Rock-sheltered Terrace with locations 23-27- 



the Virgins of the Sun. Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that the most inter- 

 esting burial brought to light during my excavations at Machu Picchu should have been 

 located beneath the floor of this splendid terrace. 



On the diagram shown in text-figure 20 are indicated the locations where we found 

 material referred to in this report. Digging into the terrace at the point designated as 

 Grave 23, we found the complete and well-preserved skeleton (Ost. Coll. 3173) of a youth 

 of sixteen years. A few potsherds lay scattered on the surface and in the filling of the 

 grave. These may be pieces of the pottery placed there at the time of the interment, but 

 not enough of them was collected to make their restoration worth while. Considerable 

 charcoal and various fragmentary llama bones were also noted, showing that ample provision 

 had been made for the supposed requirements of the dead. While I liave no serious doubt 

 regarding the male sex of this individual, the sexual characteristics of the pelvis are less 

 pronounced than is usually the case in males of this age. As usual all the softer human 

 tissues and all the mummy wrappings had entirely disappeared. In a narrow cleft at the 



