THE MODERN CEMETERY. 
THE MODERN CEMETERY. 
11 iLLiisinmD MDmiiiv joni deiiied to the iiieoesi of cemeiedies 
J". EF-I A.IOI-I'T’, 
334 Dearborn Street, CHICAGO. 
Subscription $i .oo a Year in Advance. Foreign Subscription $1.25. 
Special Rates on Six or More Copies. 
VoL. III. CHICAGO, AUGUST, 1893. Nt). 6. 
CONTENTS. 
AN ANCIENT CEMETERY AT THE WORLD'S FAIR 6i 
ABANDONMENT OF CEMETERIES 62 
A VIGOROUS APPEAL FOR REFORM 62 
TITLE TO CEMETERY LOT ACQUIRED BY ADVERSE POS- 
SESSION 63 
THE SUPERINTENDENTS' CONVENTION 63 
*CROWN HILL CEMETERY. INDIANAPOLIS, IND 64 
*MONUMENTS OF INDIA 66 
THE COMING CEMETERY.-ALLOWANCES FOR TOMB- 
STONES 67 
CEMETERY NOTES 68-69 
EPETAPHS 69 
’MONUMENTAL NOTES 70 
MOUND BUILDERS-THE SCHNEIDER SYSTEM OF CRE- 
MATION.-MARBLE CREMATORIUM 
PUBLISHERS DEPARTMENT 
’Illustrated. 
An Ancient Cemetery at the World’s Fair. 
The burial customs of the ancient Peruvians are 
curiously illustrated in a section of an old grave- 
yard which is to be seen in the Anthropological 
building at the World’s Fair. Hundreds, perhaps 
thousands, of years have intervened since these 
strange people lived and died, yet their bodies have 
been so perfectly preserved that they are now on 
exhibition in Chicago in this wonderful World’s 
Fair year. Not even the approximate date of their 
existence on the eairth is known, but it must have 
been long centuries ago, for the graveyard of Ancon 
from which the relics and bodies were taken, was 
in existence before the Spaniards conquered Peru. 
Ancon is twenty-three miles from Lima. It is 
a desert plain on which the rain never falls. Three 
square miles of these sandy wastes are occupied by 
the ancient graveyard. The soil is the usual desert 
sand, beneath which is a deep layer of gravel. 
What a site for a cemetery! No verdure, no di- 
versity of hill and vale, only the bare, treeless, 
cheerless desert plain, on which the sun forever 
beats mercilessly. There is one advantage, however. 
The graves in this gravelly soil are forever free from 
moisture, and the desert is so far removed from the 
usual haunts of men as to be undisturbed. So 
thought the centuries^ — -old Peruvians when they 
planned their cemetery at Ancon. 
The burial customs of these ancient people were 
but rude ceremonies, no coffins being used nor lofty 
monuments reared to mark their resting place. The 
sand was first scooped away from the surface, and 
then holes six to twenty feet deep were dug in the 
hard gravel. In these natural sepulchers were 
placed the remains of the dead. The arms wei'e 
first folded across the breast, the legs bent until the 
knees nearly touched the chin, and then the body 
was carefully swathed in cloth and leaves and bound 
fast with ropes of llama wool or human hair. In 
this way entire families were sometimes buried 
together. Husband and wife were placed side by 
side in a sitting posture. Before them were placed 
pots of oil, bags of corn and bowls of peanuts. On 
their sides were hung bags of medicine, with tablets 
bearing inscriptions which have never been deci- 
phered. Beside the wife a work-box, made of 
plaited reeds and filled with food and utensils of 
their primitive home, was usually placed. There 
was also a simple loom made of six sticks, with 
combs of cactus needles, and spindles of wood often 
handsomely inlaid with turquoise or shells. In 
many of these graves beautiful specimens of pottery 
are found. Thus in this dry, salt gravel these 
bodies have reposed undisturbed for many centuries 
and are now taken out in a state of remarkable 
preservation. 
For the last fifteen years or more the burial 
ground at Ancon has been sadly desecrated. Dur- 
ing the war between Chile and Peru, in 1879, 2,000 
Chilean soldiers camped near Ancon, and each day 
hundreds of graves were opened by them in the 
search for hidden treasure. All over the three 
square miles of desert which are occupied by the 
necropolis are strewn skulls, long bones and cloth 
which have been taken from the graves by the des- 
poilers. Some of the fabrics made by the ancient 
Peruvians from the wool of the llama on their primi- 
tive looms are almost as fine as cashmere. Fanci- 
ful designs were stamped on cloth with wooden 
dies. Entire garments made of human hair have 
been found, and one piece of cloth is of brightly 
colored feathers. 
The collection of Ancon relics at the World’s 
Fair was made by Mr. George A. Dorsey, of the 
Archaeological department. It is the largest col- 
lection of the kind in existence and includes the 
contents of 127 graves, Of this number but two 
