94 CHILEAN MUMMY 



accounts, charms autl medicines, coca which was chewed with lime, 

 and shells that were found in mummy bundles and in the graves. A 

 number of the chicha jars are on exhibition on top of the cases. 



In the fir.st case to the left (south side) is a collection of skulls showing 



many examples of trephining, artificial deformation, and 

 Sk^u ^^ pathological conditions, together with a number of normal 



Peruvian skulls for comparison. 

 The wall case at the left of the entrance contains mummy bundles and 

 various objects shomng the burial customs of the Peruvians. In no part 



of America are found so many and so extensive burial 

 _ " ,. places as in the coast region of Peru. Here were interred 



countless thousands of the ancient dead. In the huacos or 

 graves, with the bodies, were placed such articles as had been most 

 useful and highly prized during life, and such as it was considered would 

 be most serviceable in a future life. 



To this custom we are indebted for no small part of our knowledge of 

 the daily life of the ancient Peruvians. From the mummy bundles and 

 graves all the objects in the extensive collections in this hall, illustrating 

 their civilization, have been obtained. The wonderful state of preserva- 

 tion shown in the textile fabrics and other perishable materials from the 

 coast regions is due to the extreme drvmess of the climate and the nitrous 

 character of the soil. [See Guide Leaflet No. 24.] 



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



copper mine at Chuquicamata, Chile. The body is that of 



,, ^^" and Indian miner who was killed bv the falling in of rocks 



Mummy , , ., , • 



and earth while engaged m gettmg out the copper ore 



(atacamite) used by the Indians in making implements and ornaments in 



prehistoric times. The tissues of the body have been preserved by 



copper salts with which it is impregnated. The implements he was 



using at the time of his death are sho^N-n beside him in the case. 



On the south side of the hall are the ethnological collections from 



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



basketry, featherwork. and musical instruments, etc., are arranged in 



these cases. 



