Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-07-19
BINGHAM REPORT
| ON ANCIENT INCAN
| CITY IS PUBLISHED
Connecticut Senator Finds
Time to Prepare Archeo-
logical Data.
LIMITED EDITIONS
COPIES COST $50 EACH
Discoveries in Exploration of
Ruined Capital Are Set
Forth in Detail.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

4
| and explorer, has not been submerged
completely in the career of the senior
, Senator from Connecticut-nor have
| the subtleties of tariff schedules pushed
out of his mind altogether the mystery
Of the cloudland graves of the virgins
| of the sun.
Senator Binghams final report and
! scientific findings of his three expedi-
| tions in 1911, 1912 and 1915 to the
ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu has
| just been issued as monograph OF
the National Geographic Society 1t is
a profuSely illustrated volume of 238
| pages published in limited edition of
! 500 copies priced at $50 each, for the
/ use of specialists in archaeology. 1t IS
| doubtless the highest priced literary
| product which has yet come from the
pen OF a member of the Senate.
Minute Details Printed.
| In this book he brings together all
the minute details of his discoveries in
the ruins of this strange, ancient city,
| 10000 feet above sea level in the cloud
washed Andes peaks, seat of a high
aboriginal civilization, which is con-
sidered one of the greatest finds in
New World archaeology. Hitherto his
accounts, published by the National
Geographic Society, have been frag-
mentary. The present book contains
the Senator's conclusions and much
new material.
The ruins of this old city, of which
there was no record, were found by
Senator Bingham on narrow ridge
between two precipitouS Andean peaks,
the walls still standing, but overgrown
with tangled thicket in the midst OF
a hardwood forest On his last ex-
petition his party undertook the enor-
nous task of chopping down the forest
completely and clearing away the under-
brush so that the city presented about
the same appearance, except for the
fallen roofs, as in its last days about
the time of the Spanish conquest OF
the Incan Empire.
Pieces Scraps Of History.
It's existence, presumably unknown to
the Spaniards, since they make no
direct reference to it, presented q
mystery which the Senator now has
gone long way toward solving by
piecing together scraps of history and
legend which At with his archaeological
findings.
He sought to determine the nature
of the ancient inhabitants Obviously
the building of this city had been the
labor of many years. The stone walls
of the houses and defenses, secure
enough to have stood for so many CEN
turies, were put up without cement OF
any kind by exact fitting of the stones
together, often by hand-chiZeling of
concave and convex surfaces The work
would have required great numbers OF
strong laborerS.
But the burial caves about the city
yielded only the skeletons of women,
few infants, and small number of
underdeveloped males. These could not
have been the builders Then the So
luton of the mystery came to Sen
ator Bingham, he explains in this re-
port. He had come upon the mystic
rious University of Idolatry" of Inca
legends, or rather the final refuge Of
the virgins of the sun. The Inca peo-
pie we're sun worshippers. The lovli-
as attendants of the Inca. In the
caves of Machu Picchu they found
their last resting places, together with
their personal ornaments and some Of
their pets. The men presumably were
priests of the cult, described as "the
most humane of the religions of abb
original America" The bodies of the
builders and early inhabitants had dis
appeared.
Last Stage of History.
But these burials probably repre-
sented only the last stage of the city's
history. The spot, it is believed may
have had some ancient sentimental
significance for the Inca people. But,
according to the report, the city itself
probably was built by the defeated fol-
lowers of Pachacuti the Sixth, last of
an Inca regime which continued for
so generations after the king had been
slain in battle. They found here an
ideal place of security where they were
able to start anew, protected from at
tack by the deep canyons. high peaks
and treacherous glaciers as well as by
the elaborate system of defenses they
erected. Here, he thinks, they and
their descendants dwelt in peace and
prosperity for approximately 500 years,
conquering their harsh mountain en-
vironment with system of terraced
fields and gradually extending their
range into more fertile territcSV. The
city finally was abandoned as a capital,
due partly to a change In climate
which dried up the water suppSsAs,
when it's people established the new
and finally was overthrown by the
Spaniards After the Incas had estab-
lished their new capital the old city,
difficult of access, was reduced to a
religious center.
Seat of High Civilization.
But in the days of its glory, the ex-
cavations of Senator Bingham indicate,
it was the seat of high native civil
ization The houses were of stone,
each a story and a half high, many OF
them with gable ends constructed with
timbers with narrow streets and stair
ways of rock. There were 100 of these
stairways in the city, ranging from $50
steps to two or three steps. From the
city into the valley system of well
constructed roads, each three or four
feet wide extended
The people developed all this ma
sonry and engineering largely without
They knay only the use
Of the lever and inclined plane. They
had no wheels and had not discovered
the secret of the arch. But they made
strong suspension bridges over the
streams with fiber ropes.
The trepanned skulls found in some
graves show that they had developed
! technique of brain surgery, the vic
i'm probably being partially anesthe-
lied by chewing cocoa leaves. Usually
,heSe delicate operations were fatal.
Some skulls were found with four or
i've holes in them, showing that the
owners had survived thus often the
hands of the surgeons.
They were a peaceful people, but well
against invasion by high walls
across the ridge in front of the scity
md a system of inner defenSes. The
,nly weapons were sings and clubs.
They had developed an art of metal
urgy and could make bronze adapted
% various uses. Their masonry re- /.
mains one of the wonders of the world.
The expeditions were under the joint
auspices of the National Geographic
Society and of Yale University, where