THE MUSICAL [NSTRUMENTS OF THE [NCAS. 



B\ Charles W Mbad, 

 A -, t . Department of Arenas ill 



ENTRODUCTION 



Ancient Peru, the land of the [ncas, extended, according to 

 the historians, Garcilasso de la Vega ' and Prescott, ■ from about 

 the second degree of north latitude to the Maule River in Chile, 

 about the thirty-sixth degree of south latitude. The country 

 included the region now comprised within the Republic of Peru, 

 and the greater part of Ecuador, Bolivia and Chile, and was 

 nearly equal in size to that part of the United States cast of the 

 Rocky Mountains. The Ineas had no written language, and no 

 small part of our knowledge of their customs has been derived 

 from their practice of representing the scenes of daily life in 

 the decoration of their pottery vessels. In the study of the 

 musical instruments in particular, the dec-orations on the pot- 

 tery of the ancient Peruvians is important, because the Spanish 

 conquerers of the land and their followers have left in their i 

 counts but little information bearing upon the su1>jivt. From 

 the pottery and other objects found in the ancient toml>s and 

 l»urial places, therefore, we have derived most of our knowledge 



of the musical instruments of the [ncas, and the present dis- 



upon a study of tin- prehistoric Peruvian col- 

 ms in the American Museum of Natural History. In t! 

 collections there are not only many of the musical instruments 

 themselves, but also artifacts, principally potterj 



I with figures of men in th< >f playing upon such 



instruments. 



I" rid that "Peru is a puzzle"; and certainly 



truthfully said of its music Although we find 

 corded a nui teristic songs, known to the Peruvian 



Indians for nearly two hun 



them that it is wholly pre-Spanish. I 1 



in. 



ru, V<'1 I 



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