THE GRAVES. 73 



have been made with the same tool as the circles inscribed on the necklace ornament found 

 in Cave 84 (Plate IV, figure 7). Moreover, the style of the work on the two pieces, when 

 examined critically, exhibits such a striking similarity, that I think both of them are from 

 the hand of the same craftsman. The graves where these pieces were found should be of 

 about the same period. 



There are also several small stone counters or tokens (M. P. 636-641) ; coiroded fragments 

 of a small bronze object (M. P. 642) ; a rough stone implement, polished on one side 

 (M. P. 1896) ; a pelike-shaped olla (M. P. 887) ; a long-necked jar of the aryballus type 

 (M. P. 894) ; a brown, fire-blackened beaker-shaped olla (M. P. 910) ; an earthenware disk 

 9.4 cm. in diameter (M. P. 2075), and several pieces of soft, crumbling, bleached fecal 

 matter containing innumerable broken bodies and limbs of ants and small beetles (M. P. 

 643). It is fortunate that specimens of the material were saved, for no better evidence 

 that some medium-sized or large mammal used this cave could be desired. It is impossible 

 for me to tell positively what the animal was, but the character of the excrement 

 strongly suggests the Spectacled Bear of the Peruvian Andes. The likelihood of animals 

 of this size entering the unprotected burial caves on the Machu Picchu Mountain offers a 

 very plausible explanation of the broken condition in which a considerable part of the skeletal 

 material and pottery was found. I have already alluded (page 49) to the possibility of 

 domestic dogs damaging the contents of open caves, but I have been unable to furnish proof 

 of this ; a clumsy bear would be even more likely to create havoc. 



Cave 86. 



This cave was on the east side of the mountain and one-third of the way down to the 

 river. According to Mr. Erdis, the contents of the cave comprised a few badly rotted bones 

 that "appeared to be mostly llama," a lot of potsherds, and two green stone counters 

 resembling poker chips. This brief summary of the skeletal material is entirely correct. 

 With the exception of a fragment of a human maxilla with a well-worn second molar, the 

 bones all pertain to the llama. This circumstance furnishes two possibilities in regard to 

 the cave : Either the Indian collectors did not excavate deeply or widely enough to find the 

 rest of the human skeleton, or else the remains of the rightful tenant of the grave had 

 almost entirely disappeared through natural process of decay or through removal. 



In the Provisional List of Pottery, Bronzes, etc., from Machu Picchu the following articles 

 are referred tO' this grave: Five small stone counters (M. P. 645-649), parts of a fire- 

 blackened pot (M. P. 907), a pot-lid (M. P. 1055), parts of an aryballus (M. P. 1066), 

 a hammer-stone 13 cm. x 8.3 cm. x 6.1 cm. (M. P. 1913), a hammer-stone 7.4 cm. x 7.1 

 cm. X — cm. (M. P. 2023), a stone polisher 7.5 cm. X7.1 cm. x 1.2 cm. (M. P. 1914) and 

 a rough stone object 6.4 cm. x 4.4 cm. x 2.4 cm. (M. P. 2062). 



Cave 87. 



From this cave, "half-way up the mountain above Machu Picchu," came some fragmentary 

 and decayed bones, including the skull (Ost. Coll. 3240) of a young person about fifteen 

 years of age. The shape of the undeformed immature skull favors the supposition that 

 this individual was of mountain ancestry. A pelvic fragment with a wide greater sciatic 

 notch is a good indication of the female sex. The records show that a piece of silver ore 

 (M. P. 2055) and a few sherds were found with the bones. 



