Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1893-09-08

variably placed at the south side of
the grave, and that position being
known, it was easy to recover them
in a perfect stata-how perfect may
be understood from the fact that tat
tooirg, which was evidently an art
with these people, appears on the
breast of one body in fine piece of
tracery by ink and needle. The grave
yard at Ancon is estimated to contain
5000 bodies, yet no single veStige of Il
city or civilization near it remains out
side of the grives themselves. These.
however, are rich in evidence, and per-
haps definite answer may yet be made
respecting these people by the sd.
Turning to the collection from the in
terror. Il different and in many respects,
higher, civilization is shown. 1t is
only in the interior that are found
the wonderful gigantic stone ruins of
private residences and palaces, fortress
Ses and temples. The material used in
their construction was chiefly granite
rock, and the stones We're cut and
placed with such marvellous precision
that not even the blade OF L pen-knife
may be inserted between them today.
Upon their faces are carved geometri-
cal figures, images of birds and Ser
penis, and men with Scepters and other
insignia of rank and power. Many Of
the stones are Of tremendous proper
tons and raise the same query as to
the engineering devices employed in
placing them us do those Of the great
pyra Que stone of the fortress of
SaChahuaman weighs 800 tons, and was
transported Il miles from it quarry,
nearly half that distance being up the
steep incline of Il mountain.
These people did not bury their dead
in quite the same manner as those of
the coast. Instead of being wrapped
in cloths, they were encaSed with Il
winding of vegetable fiber rope, the
entire body being covered except the
face, which was left exposed. Nor We're
the bodies buried in the ground, but
deposited in natural or artificial caves
high up in the mountain sides. Unlike
the graves Of the coast these tombS
contain weapons. agricultural and
mining implements, ornaments and
chisels for Stone-cuttirg, all of copper.
The cloth of the interior is remarkable
for the excellence of its weaving and
for the chaSte designs and delicate
coloring employed. In fact, the art is
less barbaric than that of the coast.
The people of the Incas depended more
upon pure and graceful outline and sub
dued cOloring than did those by the
sea. =
The island of La Plata, % miles off
the coast Of Ecuador, Is about mile
in length and has never been inha bited
in historic time. 1t consists il, the
main of an elevated plateau lying Il
thousand feet above the sea. On the
northern side. near the center, has
been followed out, by The equatorial
rain-StOrmS of ages, Il deep and narrow
ravine. Into this ravine converge two
smaller ones, and at their junction
is Il triangular piece Of ground in which
some Of the excavation for this collec-
ton were made. In order to appreciate
the perpleXities growing out of the
relics discovered, it is necessary to say
something of the peculiar conditions
in which they were found. A vertical
section of this triangle discloses at the
base at a depth of 20 feet a stratum of
wood ashes three feet in thickness,
Above are strata of sand and gravel
laggregating II feet, which have been
washed down from above This eros
gleat period of time. Intermixed With
this sand and gravel were found
large quality of squared stones and
broken pottery of exactly the same
character as that gathered from stone
heaps on the summit Of the island
Near the center of the triangle and
upon the stratum Of ashes was found
a grave containing fragments of two
skeletons, several ear,henWare vessels,
a massive pure gold drinking-cup,
images of gold and silver, and small
gold beads and pins; also a number of
implements and unquestionably the
most extraordinary stone ak ever eX-
humed by chronological enthusiasm. 1t
is q inches long by y inches in width.
From its thickness of but one-half inch
and delicate general structure it was
doubtless designed, not for actual, but
for ceremonial use. These objects are
utterly unlike anything found on any
part of the South American coast, but.
strangely enough, are the counterparta
of the objects used by the subjects of
the Incas of CuZco, over 1900 miles
distant and far in the interior of Peru.
Nor do the other and quite disconnectt
ed specimens found in the gravel above
the grave bear any resemblance to any,
thing found elsewhere along the coast
of the adjacent continent. AS it is,
the island is a most interesting but
complete archaeological riddle.
In Peru under the Incas there were
five systems of government roads,
houses of refuge for travellers, main
tanned by the state, schools in which
industries We're taught; the people built
great bridges, extensive irrigation
canals, and terra ced and turned into
gardens the almost inaccessible sides
of the mountains. The rule of the
IncaS was beneficent. and the condition
Of the people better than those Of Spain
prior to the conquest of Peru. The
SpaniardS came with the sword and
the lust for gold, and today the Indians
are low, ignorant, practically enslaved.
the civilization they might have enjoy
ed, and into what it might have devel-
Oped but for the SpaniardS