MEAD, PERUVIAN MUMMIES 23 



cases was a part of some religious ceremonial, since some of the tre- 

 phined skulls in the collection show distinct orientation of the wound 

 and present no indication of lesion. Implements of copper and bronze 

 and knives of stone and obsidian must have been employed in the opera- 

 tion, which was performed with skill. 



Artificial deformation of the head was extensively practised in ancient 

 Peru and was accomplished by means of ligatures applied in infancy. 

 The form taken by the head was determined by the manner in which 

 these bindings were applied. The pathological skulls show the ravages 

 of disease in the bones of the cranium. 



THE QUIPU. 



The Quipu is a fringe consisting of a main cord with other cords 

 of various colors hanging from it. In the fringe knots of different kinds 

 \vere tied. The ancient Peruvians, having no written language, made 

 use of the quipu to keep their accounts and possibly to record historic 

 incidents. By the color of the cord, the kind of knot, the distance of 

 the knots from the main cord and from each other, many facts could 

 be recorded and preserved. The maker of a quipu had a system which 

 was to a great extent arbitrary, and which had to be explained when the 

 quipu was placed in the keeping of another. 



COCA CHEWING. 



The coca plant (Erythroxylon coca, Lam.) grows wild in the moun- 

 tainous regions of Peru and Bolivia and was cultivated before the Con- 

 quest, as it is to-day, in districts from 2,000 to 5,000 feet above the sea. 

 It is valued for its stimulating narcotic properties, and the present 

 Indians will often carry heavy burdens for several days without food, 

 if furnished with a plentiful supply of coca. The leaves are gathered 

 and dried in the sun and then chewed mixed with unslacked lime in 

 the same way the betel is used by the East Indians. A bag of coca 

 teaves is almost always found with a mummy. The leaves of this plant, 

 together with the cloth bags in which they were carried and the gourd 

 flasks containing lime may be seen in the collection. 



