THE GRAVES. 



31 



Cave 31. 



About 1000 feet from the city, and among the irregiilar bowlders of the northeastern 

 slope of the mountain, we explored the cave shown in text-figures 26 and 27. 



Near the entrance, at the point marked A in the diagram, we obtained a nearly complete 

 female skeleton (Ost. Coll. 3179). Views of the skull, a fine example of the brachycephalic 

 coastal t3q3e, are shown on Plate XXI. With this skeleton were found a prettily decorated 

 saucer and the upper portion of a large beaker-shaped olla, which is incorrectl}' outlined in 

 the diagram. Deep down in the earth and small stones at the far end of the cave occurred 

 two more human skeletons (Ost. Coll. 3180 and 3 181). Both of these individuals had 

 skulls of the broad coastal type, the latter exhibiting considerable occipital flattening. 



With these last skeletons we obtained another small saucei^, a medium-sized beaker-shaped 

 olla and the body of a small neatly decorated aryballus. 



Figure 27. — Floor plan of Cave 31. The skulls at B and C are incorrectly represented as lying on the floor 

 of the cave. In reality they were beneath the surface of the ground. 



Cave 32. 



Close to the trail leading to our camp from Cave 31, we found a nearly complete 

 adult male skeleton (Ost. Coll. 3182) in the burial place represented diagrammatically in 

 text-figure 28. Although some of the bones were so badly decayed that no attempt was 

 made to save them, the only important skeletal parts lacking were the mandible and left 

 femur. As the threshold of the cave was low, the bones may have been disturbed a little 

 by some marauding animal. Judging from the general appearance of the grave, it seemed 

 highly improbable that this was the work of a treasure-hunter, who, if he removed any of 

 the bones, would be much more likely to take a good skull than the parts that were missing 

 from this skeleton. One should not ignore the possibility of certain parts being broken 

 off and lost, when old, dry and brittle mummies were taken out during ceremonies or removed 

 from one repository to another. The older the burial, the less likelihood of any of the 

 mummy-wrappings being preserved, and as only a few frail shreds of the fabrics used for 

 this purpose were found during the work of excavation at Machu Picchu, we cannot learn 

 how the bodies were attired for burial. It seems almost a pity tliat a few of the many 



