The first idea that occurs to every one on looking at a series of these skulls
is, that their peculiarities are in a great measure artificial. If, however, we carefully
examine the cranium figured on the fourth plate, together with the accompanying
smaller outlines, we find no evidence of mechanical compression. This
head, on the contrary, appears to he of the natural form, unaltered by art; and it
is figured as an illustrative type of the cranial peculiarities'of the people now
under consideration.
It must almost invariably happen, that when the forehead of a naturally
rounded head has been much compressed by art, the back and lateral parts of the
cranium become proportionally expanded, in order to make room for the brain that
has been displaced from the anterior chamber. Thus, among all the specimens I
have seen of this deformity, from the tribes on the Columbia river, the ancient
inhabitants of Venezuela, the Charibs of the Antilles and some tribes of Peruvians,
I have met with no exceptions to the preceding rule. All these nations have,
naturally, spheroidal heads, and the result of mechanical compression is such as
above described; a point on which the reader can judge for himself by comparing
the illustrations in various parts of this work. Now the heads of these ancient
Peruvians seldom present such lateral expansion; but on the contrary are as
remarkable for their narrowness as for their length. In fact their low facial angle,
their sloping forehead, and their protruding face, might lead to a suspicion of a
Negro origin, were it not for the unanswerable evidence derived from the texture
of the hair. This is uniformly long and lank, and appears to have been worn
at full length by both sexes, and its natural blackness is preserved notwithstanding
Centuries of inhumation. I am free to admit that the naturally elongated heads
of these people were often rendered more so by the intervention of art, but such
examples are for the most part readily detected. It is a feature both of civilised
and savage communities to admire their own national characteristics above all
others, and hence where nature has denied an imaginary grace, art is called in to
supply the deficiency; and even where there has been no such deficiency, human
vanity prompts to extravagance* Thus I have seen some skulls of this race which
must have been naturally very low and long; yet in order to exaggerate a feature
that was considered beautiful, compression has been applied until the whole head
has assumed more the character of the monkey than the man. An example of
this kind will be seen in the fifth plate, wherein the evidence of artificial flattening
of the forehead is undeniable: but the congenital lowness of this region and great
length of the head, have made very little compression necessary to effect the
desired object; whence there has resulted but a trifling expansion of the posterior
and lateral parts of the skull. On the other hand, had this cranium been of the
rounded form common to the American Indians, and especially to the existing
Peruvians, it is difficult to imagine by what complex contrivances the present
shape could have been produced.
It would be natural to suppose, that a people with heads so small and badly
formed would occupy the lowest place in the scale of human intelligence. Such,
however, was not the case; and it remains to show, that civilisation existed in
Peru anterior to the advent of the Incas, and that those anciently civilised people
constituted the identical nation whose extraordinary skulls are the subject of our
present inquiry.
Among the first travellers in Peru, and perhaps the very first who recorded
what he saw, was Pedro de Cieca, an officer in the army of Pizarro. Although
an unlettered man, he describes with simplicity and clearness whatever came
under his observation; and the following passage from his work, although of some
length, is so interesting and so connected Vwith the present inquiry, that I shall
venture to give it entire.
“ Tiaguanico,” says he, “ is not a very large town, but it is deserving of notice
on account of the great edifices which are still to be sèen in i t ; near the principal
of these is an artificial hill raised on a groundwork of stone. Beyond this hill are
two stone idols, resembling the human figure, and apparently formed by skilful
artificers. They are of somewhat gigantic size, and appear clothed in long vestments
differing from those now worn by the natives of these provinces; and their
heads are also ornamented. Near these statues is an edifice which, on account of
its antiquity and the absence of letters, leaves us in ignoranee of the people who
constructed i t : and such indeed has been the lapse of time since its erection, that
little remains but a well built wall, which must have been there for ages, for the
stones are very much Worn and crumbled. In this place, also, there are stones so
large and so overgrown that our wonder is excited to comprehend how the power
of man could have placed them where w e see them. Many of these stones are
variously wrought, and some having the fofm of men, must have been their idols.
Near the wall are many caves and excavations under the earth; but in another
place more to the west are other and greater monuments, consisting of large gateways
and their hinges, platforms and porches, each of a single stone.
“ What most surprised me while engaged in examining and recording these
things, was that the above enormous gateways were formed on other great masses
of stone, some of which were thirty feet long, fifteen feet wide, and six feet thick.
Nor can I conceive with what tools or instruments these stones were hewn out;
for it is obvious that before they were wrought and brought to perfection, they