94 THE COLLECTION OF OSTEOLOGICAL MATERIAL FROM MACHU PICCHU. 



would be given a comparatively recent aspect that in some instances might prove extremely- 

 deceptive, and even cause a pre-Columbian grave to be wrongly assigned to the post-Columbian 

 period. 



While in the Urubamba Valley I saw nothing that would lead one to suppose that the 

 modern Indians of that region remove skulls from ancient graves in order to hasten the 

 close of the rainy season; and yet I did observe a wayside shrine near Huadquina, about 

 five hours journey from Machu Picchu, where two well-bleached and, to all appearances, 

 old skulls were placed on the pedestal of the crucifix, one at each side, as shown in the 

 accompanying text-figure. I was unable to ascertain what the presence of the skulls actually 

 signified. Inquiries brought little response. Vestiges of ancient ancestor-worship, still to 

 be noted among the modern Indians, are more likely to be concerned in the true explanation 

 than are the teachings of the Church of Rome. I can only state with certainty that a heavy 

 downpour of rain, which made it impossible to photograph the shrine, left serious doubts 

 regarding the magic power of the skulls to produce and maintain a drought. 



Taking into account all the human skeletal material found in caves and graves at Machu 

 Picchu, the total number of individuals represented amounts to about one hundred and sixty- 

 four. This assemblage may be conveniently regarded as composed of the following groups : 



Adult males 2.2 



Adult females 102 



Young males 4 



Young females 7 



Adults of unknown sex 17 



Young persons of unknown sex 7 ' 



Infants 5 



As the errors resulting from calculations based partly on skulls of determinable type and 

 sex instead of on individual skeletons are trifling, there can be no serious objection to 

 making use of this convenient method of computation. 



Of the adult males six appear to be of the coastal type, and fourteen of the highland 

 type. None of the male skulls of the coastal type exhibit voluntarj^ deformation, and only 

 five of the skulls of men of highland ancestry show either typical or variant Aymara 

 deformation. Among the adult females those of highland ancestry while in the majority 

 appear not to have been as numerous as might be expected in view of the city's geographic 

 situation, only twenty-nine skulls of this type having been found as against twenty-eight 

 of the coastal type. The adult female skulls include ten showing Aymara deformation and 

 four showing the fronto-occipital or coastal deformation. 



By these figures the fact is at once brought out that the female interments far outnumber 

 those of the males, this discrepancy in the balance of the sexes being so striking as to call 

 for some explanation. 



I am strongly inclined to the opinion that during the late pre-Columbian and early post- 

 Columbian ix^riods of occupation, the Inca Empire maintained at Machu Picchu, one of 

 those convent-like establishments known as Acclahuasicuna, and that the female skeletons 

 found in such predominance are largely the remains of Virgins of the Sun and priestesses 

 engaged in the service of the temple. Another hypothesis is that the human remains obtained 

 here represent a population in which the normal prqportion of the sexes was modified by the 



