8 AMERICAN MUSEUM GUIDE LEAFLETS 



caused the clothing and objects placed with the dead to he preserved for 



many centuries. 



As a rule the bodies were prepared for burial by placing them in a 



sitting position with the knees drawn up and the head and hands resting 



upon them, as is shown in the right-hand figure on page <>. Sometimes, 



however, as appears from burials in the ("hint Valley, in 

 Preparation , . . _. . , , 



for Burial e extrt>me northwest of rem, the body was extended at 



full length. A few of the extended bodies have been found 

 in other parts of the country, and two examples of this form from Sureo, 

 Peru, are in the collection. After the body was placed in position, it 

 was enveloped in wrappings of various kinds. Sometimes the body was 

 covered with fine cotton cloth, over which were placed finely woven 

 blankets or ponchos of the wool of the vicuna or the alpaca, with 

 designs in various colors. 



The body and its wrappings were bound together by a net-work of 

 stout cord of vegetable fibre; by a piece of strong cloth sewed together 

 in the form of a closed sack, or in some localities by a casing of woven 

 rushes. The "mummy bundle" was surmounted by the so-called 

 "false head," which was sewed to its upper surface. The significance 

 of this practice is unknown. These false heads, many of which are 

 present in the collection, were made of cloth and filled with different 

 vegetable substances. The face was represented in various ways: 

 sometimes by a mask of wood or clay, but often the eyes, Dose 

 Bundles a,1( ^ nU)U,n were made of wood, shell, gold or silver and fast- 

 ened directly to the cloth by means of thread. To the out- 

 side of the mummy bundle were often attached several of the prayer 

 sticks or sepulchral tablets which are frequently found in considerable 

 numbers in the sand about the grave. These arc cither in the form 

 of a cross wound with variously colored yarns, or a framework of split 

 reeds, covered with cloth upon which rude designs are painted. Favor- 

 ite animals were sometimes buried with the dead as is shown by the 

 mummified bodies of a dog and a parrot in the collection. 



The manner of interment of the mummy bundle and its accompani- 

 ments differed in various localities. In the coast region many of the 



„ mummies are found in little vaults, or "huacas," of adobes or 



Huacas 



fiat stones roofed with sticks or canes, overlaid with mats or a 



layer of rushes, which prevented the earth covering from filling the 



grave. These vaults usually contain from one to four bodies. 



