Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1893-05-17
SOME BIG WORDS.
EthnoIogy, AnthropoIogy and
Also Archaeology.
One of the Most Interesting Exhibits
at the Worlds Fair.
A Comparison Of Heads-Mummies from
Tombs Of the incas.

Tombs Of the incas.
WORLDS FAIR, May 10. Especially
1t goes without saying that tho most inter
esting study at the Columbian exposition
Is man himself Here We have object
lessons not only in the man of the present
and his industrial and artistic achieve
ments, but graphic representatives of the
man of the past. Ethnology, anthropoiogy
and archaeology are big words. To the
popular mind they suggest only dull and
| dry scientific inquiry. But in fact they
signify studies which are not only interest
| ing but fascinating. When it was decided
| to have in the Worlds fair q department
devoted to this purpose the professor nat
urallSwanted it called by its proper scien-
| tific title The exposition managers, how.
ever, said the words technology, ""atlthro-
pology" and archaeology" would rerel in
| stead of attracting the people. Was there
| not some popular title that would do just
AS wells Possibly. The professor would
see. A little later, with a sigh for pro-
| fessional pride cast down, he reported that
a popular Interpretation Of the trio of big
words would be Man and His Works"
| So, Man and His Works" it is. This
may not be n strictly accurate title, but it
| suificcs; besides, it doesn't drive people
away from the door.
| This department has = building all Of its
own, large structure on the shore Of
| Lake Michigan but little way from the
| Convent of Rabida. There are sections OF
| this building which a superstitious man
| will do well to stay away from, and which
| timid people should avoid. 1t is rather
| startling, indeed, to look up suddenly and
| find ones self surrounded by several thou
sand grnnng skeletons and skulls. 1t is
no relief to pass along and at the next
| step to find yourself in the misst Of a hun
dred mummies. The skulls are in two
| principal collections. One is composed OF
| all the types of those peoples known to
the anthropologist as ''long headed"
| while the other is devoted to an exposition
| of the characteristics and peculiarities of
the "short-headed' people. Between the
| two are a large number of queer heads, de
| formed heads, extraordinary heads that
can be assigned neither to one class nor
to the other. Here also are seen in great
| numbers types of the artiticially formed
| heads, most conspicuous among them be-
ing the skulls of the Flathead indians of
the northwestern part of eur swn country,
who grew from infancy with boards
strapped tightly across their craniums.
But it is noticeable that this and similar
customs have existed among savage peo-
pies in many parts of the world.
For months doctors and medical stu
| dents have been going through the public
l Al. 4
uring the heads and bodies Of boys and
girls. Probably many who read this letter
| have had their heads measured, and as yet
do not clearly understand the why and
| wherefore All these measurements-and
| many thousands of them were taken-ap-
pear here in most interesting form.
| There are diagrams and charts showing
| the shapes of heads of American boys and
| girls who have had the advantages of good
homes aud educational development, and
| these are compared with charts of the
| heads of children of less favored peoples.
| Very interesting are the diagrams of the
| heads in japan, and the charts which
show the influence mental training has
had upon the brains of the boys and girls
| in American Indian schools.
| The mummies carry us back good
ways along the vista of time. There are
| two or three hunured of them in all, and
! they come from the tofnbs of the lnCas Of
| Peru, from the caves of the cliff jewellers
| in Utah and New Mexico, from the burial
| places of the ancient Egyptians and from
| the graves of the prehistoric people who
| inhabited the region now known as Brit
i,h Columbia Except in two or three of
| tine great government museums of Eu-
rope no such collection Of mummies as this
exists anywhere. The specimens from
South America, which % more numerous
| than the other types, were collected by
| Professor Dorsey of Harvard university,
| who was employed for sixteen months in
| the work He and his assistants opened
| i21 graves and tombs and obtained Isl
mummies. Some of the specimens were
| obtained by excavation of great heaps Of
sand, and these are the finest in the lot be
| cause they were intact, with all their cary
| ings and paraphernalia. Nearly all the
| ancient tomhs in Peru have been ravaged
| by the moderns who eagerly sought the
valuable trinkets of gold, silver and pre-
| cious stones which were buried with the
bodies of the rich
| They are not pretty things, these mum
| mics. They are ugly, almost, as death
| itself They show the remnants OF their
| teeth, the black strings of matted or
| braided hair, the shriveled limbs often
| without feet or hands, their eyeless eye
| sockets in manner calculated to make
| the blood run cold. The best specimen Of
the collection, already spoken of, was oh
viorlsly a man Of considerable importance
| when he walked The earth something like
u thousand or twelve hundred years ago
| Professor Dorsey told me how He as
IuI h,- ja
men who work about the building, was
| found:
"IIc' had evidently seen better days"
said the professor, "for he was not pitched
| headlung into hole and covered over with
! sand, rs most of his companions in the
| burial place of the Ancon plains had been.
| 1t was in rather odd way that we came
upon him. used rods to penetrate the
| soil, and when unusual resistance to its
| progress was encountered we generally
| dug down and found mummy On this
| occasion the native who was manipulating
| the F11d for me found himself unable TO
| push the instrument farther within the
| sand. .is this was ian every day occurrence
thought nothing of it and would have
| passed on bad not the native called me
| back and insisted there was something ex-
/
moved the surface sand aud came upon a
bed Of hard clay; then we knew we had
found something worth our attention, for
| there is no clay within 2iN miles Of the
Anoon. Under the he'd Of clay we found a
| roof that had been made of bamboo splints
| lashed together with willow withes. Tu-
der this was ,.le grave proper. 1t was a
circular hole ten feet deep and in the CEN
ter of It, sitting on his launches, was He. ,
| From two stakes, one on his right and the
other on his left. hung two gonfalons, the
one at his right being red flag and hav-
ing embroidered upon it a perfect Greek
I sigma.
| "All around" continued Professor Dor
sey, were scattered articles of the finest
! pottery. Examine them carefully and you
will see that they are of superior design
and workmanship. As we found them
they contained grain and vegetables, some
| what shrivelled, Of course, but in a re-
markahle state of preservation. 1t was
eslsJ to determine the contents Of the jars
! to be corn, beans, POTATOES, dried she'll
fish and other articles Of food. One jar
had evidently contained flGd. put there
/ to qnench the thirst of the mummy. Ii
seemed almost a pity to 10 urb such an
/ august parsonage after Thousand years
of rest, but we wanted him at the World s
fair and here he is.''
1t would take pages instead of columns
even to mention the interesting exhibits
in this building which reach ont into the
dark past and throw light upon the con
dition and the development of mankind
th hrpfIfrh the In fact ono may tracp