Remit o f the measurement o f twenty-three adult skulls o f the pure Inca
Race.—Through the kindness of Dr. Ruschenberger, I possess twenty-three adult
heads from the cemetery, called Pachacamac, or the Temple of the Sun, near
Lima.* As this sepulchre was reserved for the exclusive use of the higher class
of Peruvians, it is reasonable to infer that the skulls obtained there belonged to
persons of intelligence and distinction; especially as learning among the Peruvians
was an aristocratic prerogative. Six of these skulls are figured on the annexed
plates, and by submitting them, together with the remainder of the series, to the
measurements used in this work, the following results are obtained.
The largest cranium gives an internal capacity of 89.5 cubic inches, which
is a fraction short of the Caucasian mean; while the smallest head measures but
60 cubic inches. The mean of the whole series gives but 73 Cubic inches, which
is probably lower than that of any other people now existing, not excepting the-
Hindoos.f
* * Four leagues from the city of Los Reyes (Lima) on the same coast, is the valley of Pachacamac,
delightful and fruitful, and among the Indians very famed for the famous temple of the sun,
which is in i t ; the greatest and richest of all the Indies, which they held in the highest devotion; it
was built on a small hill, (made by hand), of adobes (sun-dried bricks) and earth, and ornamented with
many doors with various paintings of wild animals. In the same' temple there were apartments for
the priests, who professed great sanctity; for when they went to make a public sacrifice, they walked
backwards, with their faces to the people and their backs to the idol. Thus with downcast eyes, and
much apparent perturbation, they sacrificed human blood, and animals, and birds, and the idol gave
replies. The priests were held in great veneration. Many people went in pilgrimage to this great
temple with rich offerings; no ofie was permitted to be buried near it except priests, nobles, and
distinguished persons, from whose interments great sums of gold were derived; and at the appointed
feasts, great numbers of people assembled, and after the sacrifices they danced to the sound.of instruments.”—
II f.rrera, Hist, de las Indias. Lib. VI, Dec. V, p. 148.
The statement of Herrera that this Cemetery was consecrated to persons of distinction is confirmed
by Gomara. “ Inesto templo se mandaban enterar los senores i principals, con intentq que sus
cuerpos se dedicasen k su Dios, i las animas purgadas ia dé sus delitos i pecados, tengam el descanso,
gogo, i placer deseado en su vida de ellos.”—Origen de los Indios, fyc., p. 334. Madrid, 1729.
Ulloa describes the Temple of Pachacamac as a compléte ruin. “ It is divided into three parts;
namely, a palace, a fortress and a place of prayer. Rude as this edifice appears, we may yet perceive
an air of grandeur and magnificence that attests that of the princes who built it.” And Garcilaso
adds that it was built by the Yuncas, a Peruvian nation, before the times of the Incas. The latter,
however, are supposed to have embellished the original temple, for their own u se ; and it even appears
that the worship of the Yuncas and the Inca Peruvians was alike directed to Pachacamac, The
Supreme God.—See M’Culloh, Researches, fyc., p. 405.
t See Appendix.
The Anterior, chamber gives a mean of 32 cubic inches; the highest measure
being 36:5, the smallest 23 cubic inches..
The Posterior chamber gives a mean of 42 cubic inches; the highest measure
being 55.5, the smallest 30 cubic, inches.
The Coronal region gives 12 cubic inches as a mean; the highest measure
being 20.5, the smallest 9.25 cubic inches.
The mean of the Facial angle is 75 degrees; the largest angle being 80, the
smallest 72 degrees.
If to this series we add the measurements of twelve other genuine Peruvians
from various localities, the mean internal capacity is increased but a single cubic
inch, with but a fractional difference in the Facial angle. It will, therefore,
appear in the sequel, that the internal capacity of the cranium in the demi-civilised
Peruvians, is much less than that of the barbarous nations.
It may, morever, be remarked, that the heads of nine Peruvian children in
my possession, appear to be nearly if not quite as large as those of children of
other nations at the same age: which is the more remarkable as no specimen
among the entire series of thirty-five adult skulls, reaches the European average of
ninety cubic inches of internal capacity.
T H E A T U R E S .
At the sources of the Orinoco,* among the forest solitudes of one of the
remotest European missions, Baron Humboldt discovered the cavern-sepulchre of
an extinct, but once powerful tribe, called Jltures. As the annexed drawing was
made from one of the identical skulls brought by that distinguished traveller, I
shall describe this remarkable cemetery in his own words.
“ The most remote part of the valley is covered by a thick forest. In this
shady and solitary spot, on the declivity of a steep mountain, the cavern of
Ataruipe opens itself. It is less a cavern than a jutting rock, in which the waters
have scooped a vast hollow, when, in the ancient revolutions of our planet, they
attained that height. We soon reckoned in this tomb of a whole extinct tribe
* Lat. 5° 39' north.