Omaha daily bee., 1914-08-02

ham in the heart of the jungle within four
or five DAYS of Cuzco the capital of the
Incas. That is situated in Peru. On the
high plateau OF Bolivia are the remains
OF another ancient city not far from La
Pas that has been known for generations.
Its origin has never been settled. but now
out of the ground from under II are com
ing pottery. relics of gold and copper and
the skeletons of human beings that lead
scientists here to suppose that 1t was
in existence 1900 years OF more before the
first stones of the Pyramids were laid
This ancient city is known as Tiahua-
nacu. IT is twelve miles from Lake I'll
ticaea. and some Of its ruins are within
a stones throw of the railway that goes
from Gusqui, the Bolivian port on the
lake. to la Faz. l stopped there on my
way across the plateau.
Scattered over wide Area.
The ruins scattered over an area
equal TO about n dozen 160-acre farms.
They consist of the remains of massive
walls. of terraced mounds, and of the
great edifice sometimes called the Tenn
pie. The latter building covers four acres
and II was made of blocks of black stone
thirty inches in thickness. The stones are
much like those of the ancient buildings l
saw in Cuzco. They were fitted together
without mortar and that so closely that
I found It impc ssible to insert a knife
blade between them The stones are cut
with absolute regularity. and we have
no modern buildings which are more
closely fitted together,
As It is now, most of the structures
of Tiahuanacu have been carried away,
and it is only the mighty pillars that are
scattered here and there and the cut
stones remaining from the old buildings
that indicate the wonders of the past. The
temple itself was in the shape Of
rectangle, 445 feet long by 3SS feet wide.
Its outlines are marked by massive blocks
of red sandstone. some of which are stu
erect. They evidently formed the part of
rough wall and they supported plat
form of earth that rose eight feet
above the country surrounding. On the
eastern side of this platform was a lower
terrace. along the edge of which were
great stone pilasters ranging in height
from nine to fourteen feet and in width
from two to four feet There were ten
of these, All except one stand there to-
day.
some wonderful Finds.
Near this platform Is what Squier called
the palace. ! refer to Ephriam George
Squier, who went to Peru more than fifty
years ago as a special commissioner from
the United States and described these ruins
in his book, entitled, incidents of Travel
In the Land of the Incas." When l was
in Bolivia fifteen years ago went over
Squier's discoveries with Prof Adolfe
Bandolier who was then working for the
New York museum, and he told me that
Squier's deductions were in the main cor
rect Squier made some excavations I'M
der the temple. He heard from the In
dams that there were large vaults beneath
It, and that an underground passage led
from there to Cuzco. He dug under the
foundations, but found no vault or pas
sage. The discoveries recently made are
the work of DR.. Otto Buchtein, the di-
rector of the National museum of La Paz.
He has made some wonderful finds in the
earth not far from the temple and in the
country about. The museum here is fun
of them and the work is still going on.
shall describe his discoveries further on
in this letter, giving a talk with DR..
Buchtein.
Lived Eight Thousand Years Ago.
But first let me tell you what rs still
left of Tiahuanacu. The ruins are &C
cessible to all, and some may be seen
from the windows of the cars passing
through on the way to La Paz. There
are remarkable ruins right at the railway
station and in the town that surrounds
it. The town consists of mud huts, some
of which have doorways made of stone
brought from the ruins and set into the
walls saw Aymara Indians sitting In
these stone doorways and others STOPPING
a sthey went in and out. The huts are
often plastered with mud, and upon the
thatched roofs are wooden crosses, show
ing the religious nature Of the people.
.Thestow has Catholic church that has
stones of the ancient city in its walls,
and in front of the church is a cross on
a pedestal made of such stones. There
are carved idols on each side of the gate
way that leads into the church. They all
came from Tiahuanacu, whose people
lived 5000 years ago and worshiped we
know not what.
The main ruins of Tiahuanacu lie on a
broad and level plain. situated about a
half mile south of the railroad. They
are scattered over the plain, some OF
them half buried and others lying well
up out of the tufts of grass and other
low plants that cover II. The region is
the picture of desolation. The Andes are
in plain view, but outside them there is
nothing but the mud huts in the distance
and the alpacas. llamas and sheep
watched by Aymara shepherds. spinning
or knitting as they mind their flocks.
Doorway of Solid stone.
One of the striking features of the ruins
is a great doorway cut out of one solid
block of stone. This is fitted into the
walls OF an old cemetery The block il
broken at one corner, but 1t originally
Was q great stone Stag eighteen inches
thick, and twice as tall man. The
doorway that was cut through its center
is four and a half feet high and almost
three feet in width. The stone above the
door is beautifully carved with figures
that seem TO be Egyptian, and over the
doorway is q central figure in high re
lief. Some Of the figures evidently repre-
sent kings, for each holds scepter and
some have crowns on their heads. They
have human bodies, feet and hands.
Others of the stones are enormous.
saw one thirty-six feet long and sever
feet thick, and another which is twenty
six feet long, sixteen feet wide and sir
.fAat n, fbfckness Same ~ the hlorka ar