58 THE COLLECTION OF OSTEOLOGICAL MATERL^L FROM MACHU PICCHU. 



The liuman skeletal material taken from this grave is meager in every respect. It com- 

 prises a fragmentary adult cranium of doubtful sex, one loose tooth, five cervical vertebr?e, 

 including two axes, one dorsal and two lumbar vertebras, pieces of a humerus and of an 

 ulna of small size, a few phalanges, and a female left pubis. These bones are all badly 

 decayed. 



The skull (Ost. Coll. 3218) appears to be naturally of an oblong form, and it exhibits 

 a very slight Aymara deformation. It is therefore to be regarded as pertaining to the 

 mountain type. It has a capacity of about 1350 cm., which is almost too large for a 

 female, yet the development of the mastoid processes, of the glabella and the supraorbital 

 ridges, and of the muscular ridges of the occipital scjuama is far below the average for 

 the male sex. There is not the slightest doubt in regard to the female characters of the 

 accompanying pelvic fragment, but the presence of the extra axis shows that two skeletons 

 are represented, and it is therefore impossible to refer with certainty, any of the other bones 

 except a few cervical vertebrse to the same individual as the skull. 



There is no record of any bronze or stone implements having been found in this cave, 

 with the exception of a rudimentary stone tool. There are two pieces of llama bone that 

 bear the marks of careful work. One of these is the head of a femur (Ost. Coll. 3383) 

 broken or cut from the neck, and having the cleft surface ground until almost flat (Plate 

 IV, figure 5). For what use this hemispherical bit of bone was intended may easily be 

 conjectured, for with a hole drilled through, it would be similar both in shape and material 

 to a spindle whorl ( M. P. 79; Plate IV, figure 4) brought to light during the excava- 

 tions in the city. A section of the head of a humerus of a llama(?), also found in the 

 city, appears to have been used for the same purpose (M. P. 52). The other worked piece 

 is a cannon-bone of the hind-leg (Ost. Coll. 3387), scored transversely on the anterior and 

 posterior faces of the shaft just above its distal bifurcation (Plate IV, figure 8). The 

 scoring may have been done with the sharp chipped edge of a stone tool. There need be 

 very little doubt as to the purpose of the workman in this case. The specimen is presumably 

 one of the familiar llama-bone bodkins in the first stages of manufacture. The work of 

 a few hours would have finished these two pieces had the maker's life been spared. The 

 rite of burial must have been very exacting in its requirements, if it was thought necessary 

 to include even unfimshcd bone tools among the articles buried in the grave. It is a question 

 whether we should attribute such zealous care on the part of the survivors to their own 

 superstitious fears or to their desire to amply provide for the needs of the dead. The 

 occurrence of pieces of unfinished work in the tomb is mentioned by John H. Blake (Notes 

 on a Collection from the Ancient Cemetery at the Bay of Chacota, Peru. Reports of the 

 Peabody Museum, II, 1878, page 288). 



Cave 57. 



This location was "600 yards south of our camp and above the level of the Rock-sheltered 

 Terrace." Mr. Erdis notes that the Indians brought in several fragments of a human .skull, 

 some loose teeth, various other bones, some potsherds, a copper pin, and two copper articles 

 that have since been identified as earrings or ear-pendants. One of these is preserved 

 (M. P. 533). Among the otlier articles found here are a piece of a stone knife and a 

 hammer-stone. 



