THE PRIMEVAL MONUMENTS OF PERU. 3 
sists of flat, unhewn stones of varying lengths set firmly in 
the ground, projecting above it from one to two feet, so as 
to form a circle, more or less regular, about three feet in 
diameter. The body was buried within this circle, in a 
sitting or crouching posture, and with a vase of pottery or 
some other utensil or implement at its feet. Sometimes a 
few flat stones were laid across the upright ones, so as to 
form a kind of roof, and in a few instances these rude tombs 
were placed side by side in long rows, and stones afterwards 
heaped over them, so as to give them the appearance of lines 
of ruined walls. 
Another rude but more advanced and impressive form of 
ey 
Fig. 1. 
QUES A 
Sane d ws p 
er cma Tomb, Acora. 
the tomb consists of large slabs of stone, projecting from 
four to six feet above the groufid, and also set in the form 
of a circle or square of from six to sixteen feet in diameter. 
These uprights support blocks of stone, which lap over each 
other inwardly, until they touch and brace against each 
other, thus forming a kind of rude arch. A doorway or 
opening is often found leading into the vault, formed by 
omitting one of the upright stones. 
The arid plain to the south of the town of Acora, near 
the shores of Lake Titicaca, and twelve miles distant from 
the ancient town of Chueuito, is covered with remains of 
this kind, of which Fig. 1 is an example; and on the west- 
ern border of the plain, at the base of the mountains which: 
