INDIANS OF SOUTH AMERICA 67 



attained the highest type of civilization on this continent in prehistoric 

 times. Unlike the Mexicans however, they had no written language. 

 They were tillers of the soil and raised maize, potatoes, beans, coca and 

 cotton. The Incas domesticated the llama, which was used as a beast of 

 burden. They excelled in the manufacture and decoration of pottery 

 vessels, in metalwork, and in textile fabrics. In the case directly in 



front of the entrance are displayed gold and silver objects 

 . such as beads, cups, pins and earrings which show the skill 



of the Incas in the beating, soldering and casting of metals. 



In weaving they were perhaps preeminent among prehistoric peoples, many 



of their specimens exhibited here being unsurpassed at the 

 Textiles or 



present day. The materials used were cotton and the wool 



of the llama, alpaca and vicuna. In the first cases on the right are examples 



of these textiles with looms and shuttles. [The musical instruments of 



ancient Peru are discussed in Guide Leaflet No. 11.] 



The alcove eases are geographically arranged, showing exhibits from the 

 north toward the south of South America, then up into the interior of the 

 continent. The two-spouted drinking cups, copperwork, slings such as are 

 still in use, portrait jars, vessels upon which the decorations represent fruit 

 and vegetables and scenes from daily life, and black pottery, are all pre- 

 historic and a number of the specimens are of rare beauty as well as valuable 

 from an archaeological standpoint. 



The collections in the gallery rail cases include quipos used to keep 

 accounts, various kinds of corn which with the lima bean and potato have 

 been introduced into our country from Peru; charms and medicines, coca 

 which was chewed, and maize which was used to make the national drink 

 chicha. A number of the chicha jars are on exhibition on top of the wall 

 cases at the east end of the room. 



The mummy in the case at the west end of the room was found at 

 Chuquicamata, Chile, and is the body of an Indian which has 

 M been remarkably preserved by nature. This Indian may have 



met his death by the caving in of some mine, and in the dry 

 climate of the region the tissues of the body have been so thoroughly im- 

 pregnated with copper salts that the original form of the man is retained. 



On the north side of the wall are the ethnological collections from Brazil, 

 British Guiana, Paraguay and Colombia. War implements, basketry, 

 featherwork and musical instruments are arranged in these cases. One 

 case contains skulls which evidence most extraordinary skill in trephining. 

 For ritualistic purposes or for cures or for some other unknown 

 „, ., reason, this supposedly modern surgical operation was suc- 



cessfully performed. Many of the tribes deformed their 



