Milford chronicle., 1889-07-05
BONES OF THE INCAS.
Mr.. GEORGE KlEFER's FIND IN The
GRAVES OF AN EXTINCT RACE.

A Field white with Skulls in Sight Of
the CITY OF Lima-Buried Three Hun
dred and sixty-fve Years--oopper Tenn
psred to the Hardness of steel.
"Having seen specimens OF Peruvian an
Equities in the Louvre OF Paris and the Brit
ish museum, of London, says Mr.. Kiefer,
"my impressions obtained then were fully
awakened when / engaged to take service
with the Peruvian government during the
war with Chile. My first venture iato the
burying grounds OF tire Incas was accidental
After our arrival in Lima we presented our
selves 70 Dol Nicholas de Iierola, who was
then supreme chief, and a few days later we
were requested to give an exhibition Of our
torpedo practice in the open sea, near a town
twenty-seven miles from Lima, named An
con. A pleasant engine, called the Favorita,
belonging to the Oroya railroad was placed
at our service Pierola and few aides-de-
camp, myself included. made up the party.
We reached Ancon without adventure, ex-
hibited our apparatus with satisfaction and
success, and started in return to Lima
AMONG THE MUMAnEs.
az took a stroll around the pampa on the
side of the track, aud was startled by finding
human skull climbed over the bank to
the north Of the track and beheld wonder
full sight. As far as the eye could reach north
ward the ground was almost white with
skulls
81 found bones mingled with pieces Of cloth,
pottery, wickerwork, netting, weed rope and
wood. The ground bore evidence Of immense
excavations We picked up few relics in
the shape Of mummihed hands and arms and
the mummy Of a child. After the entrance
Of the Chilians into Lima the war was con-
Sidered at an end, and took advantage of
the occasion TO run down to Ancon for a more
thorough investigation Of the ground As
there is nothing on the surface to indicate the
presence OF a grave, It was with a shovel and
an improvised steel rod that began prospect
ing. found that the nature Of the graves
varied in different localities. In some places
under the loose sand would come TO a hard
stratum Of earth, through which my shovel
would break, and then on using the rod it
would go down to IL depth Of four or five feet
or more, marking the spot as a grave. In
other places l could sound a grave from the
surface, as there was nothing between me and
its occupant but sand At another place the
rod would strike against some reed or wood
occupants are revealed surrounded with all
their worldly goods.
DANGEROUS DIGGING.
1T was only by liberal pay and perquisites
that l induced the natives TO work. The
digging Of graves there is certainly the
hardest work imaginable, besides being dan
ger to health and a risk Of life. The graves
cave in, and when tho wind blows the sand is
choking and binding and producesa peculiar
coughing disease. All the Inca burying
grounds west of .he Cordillera are Of arid
soil, while those Of Ancon are Of clear sand,
which when stirred two or three feet below
the surface, rises and floats like smoke in the
air. The sandy graves sometimes go down
TO the depth of fifteen feet. Occasionally
you will find a grave completely lined and
rooted with adobes, or sun dried bricks, and
others are lined with stone. The Incas Peru
VANS made no distinction with regard to rich
or poor in burying their dead. have found
the mummies Of those who must have been Of
high rank buried beside others who had moth
ing. No particular point was chosen on the
compass for the bodies to face, but they were
always in a sitting posture with the knees
drawn up to the chin, the arms placed to-
gether on the chest and dashed with weed
ropes or hide and wrapped in such articles Of |
cloth as the individual possessed in life |
Above the body would be layer of weeds |
covered with nama's hides and made secure |
by rope netting found an average of three |
pieces Of pottery to every mummy, consisting |
of a cooking pot, containing remnants Of
cooked food; caica jug and a water croft
] also found earthenware in the shape Of |
whistles, bowls, cups and idols,
mo matter how deep the grave tho occu-
pant is no richer in relics than the occupant /
Of the average six foot grave. Sometimes |
found a mummy only two feet below the sur |
face, but these seldom possessed more thdn /
their ordinary wrappings, Sometimes, again |
mummies were found with their legs tied 1
backward from the knee joint The object /
of bundiiAg the bodies into such small space |
was undoubtedly 10 save space, as the Incas I
utilized every available inch Of ground for /
agricultural pursuits. Another theory pre- |
walls that the bodies were carried first to a /
rarefed air on the heights Of the Andes and |
preserved, after which they were again |
brought TO the coast for burial, the packages |
being necessarily small for the journey on |
the backs Of lamas, those animals then being |
the only beasts Of burden in Peru. Articles |
Of gold and silver are frequently found in |
the graves and mounds along the coast, but
generally 50 oxidized as to have lost their
shape. l found some well preserved speci-
mans Of necklaces, hair bands, bracelets, ear
Fings finger rings, breast ornaments ear
picks, tweezers, cups and idols These were
Of gold l also found many vessels OF silver.
Gold and silver were much used, and the
metals were beat out so thin and the edges
Joined so closely together that they bafied
the naked eye to detect the workmanship.
Silver idols Of gigantic mold and small OBJ
iects Of heavy gold were found but rarely.
LOST ARTS.
Copper was most extensively used in orna-
menting the person and for household uten-
dis, but its principal use was for battle axes,
idols and tools. found a copper chisel in
mound near Callao which proved to be tenn
pered to the hardness Of steel. 1t was tested
ON a railroad rail of iron and could have cut
It in two. The tempering of copper is lost
art, however, and was known to the Incas
only. Humboldt analysed ono Of these
ehisels and found it to contain % per cent
copper and per cent silica. Despite the
discovery Of these component parts all ex-
Deriments have failed % reproduce similar
hardness. It is strange that tho Incas knew
nothing of iron, as it abounds all over Peru
Glass was likewise unknown to them. They
used quartz crystal in surgery, as the tire
phinsd skulls have found showed traces OF
that material They made looking glasses
by polishing stone containing pyrites of iron
Lead was used for sinkers on their fish nets
and for personal adornment Their cloths,
made Of vicuna wool IAN animal Of the llama
family running wild and huntedl, is exquis
tely fine and Of yellow color. Their prints
represented animals and everything pertain
ng to nature In the graves found also the
of children, birds, weasels, rats
lamss and the dog original with the Incas
The children and animals bore evidence Of
having been buried alive.H
Mr.. Kiefer told me he had dug up 2 ,OOC
graVss and handled 5000 skulls. Everything
- found bad been buried 1t Least three hun
lFOd and sixty-flVe years, but exactly how
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