people of Peru were so much in the habit of binding the
heads of children and giving them an unnatural shape, that
decrees were issued by the council of Spain, and a synod of
the diocese of Lima in the later part of the sixteenth century,
prohibiting the practise;* I t is impossible to examine the
skulls of the Flat-head Indians, of the Caribbees, and of many
other American nations both in the northern and southern regions
of the continent, without being convinced that artificial
means have been used to modify the shape of the head.
.. This subject has acquired additional interest since the/ dis-r
covery of the very singularly shaped skulls of Titicaca, Of
one of these skulls presented to the College qf Surgeons by
Mr. Pentland, I have given a representation in the first plate.
The following is an account of them, which was inserted by
Professor Tiedemann in the Zeitschrift fur Physiologie, and
translated by Dr. Graves-d* '
“ During my short visit to Paris,” says Tiedemann,“ I saw*
in the Museum of Comparative Anatomy at the Jardin du Roi,
several skulls brought by Mr. Pentland from Peru, Where he
found them in sepulchres of a very ancient date. These skulls
are remarkable for their unusually great length, the axis from
the forehead to the occiput being much longer than what is
observed in any other skulls I have seen, while the lateral
axis is proportionally shorter, in consequence of which they
seem compressed a t the sides. The face is exceedingly projecting,
and the forehead very retreating, so that the facial
angle of Camper is smaller than in any known rae%of man.
The os frontis is continued far backwards towards the vertex,
and is very long, narrow, and flat. The parietal bones look
partly backwards, and where they join the frontal bone make
a remarkable arch or protuberance. The occipital foramen is
large, and its plane looks not downwards and forwards, but
somewhat backwards. The zygomatic processes are not prominent.”
* Blumenbach cites the following authorities, Jos. Sanz de Aguire, CoUeetio
maxima conciliorum Hispaniæ et Novi Orbis.—Histoire du 3e Synode du diocèse
de Lima—-decrêt du 17 Juillet, 1385.
-j-. Dublin Journal of Medical and. Chemical Science. No. xv. p. 475* et seqq.
Mr. Pentland obtained these skulls in 1827, in the province
of Upper Peru, now called Bolivia. He supposed them to
belong to 'an extinct race of men. In,; his communication to
M. Tiedemann he says^that“ he found them in the ancient
graves called Huacas, in the great alpine valley of Titicaca,
which is likewise, remarkable^fen being the country in which
civilization,- planted/by the Pejmvians, flourished tom degree
unrivalled among the other tribes of the new world. These
sepulchres have the form of high round towers, and in some
places are constructed of enormous masses of masonry. The
stones are very carefully and skilfully arranged, in a manner
similar to that observed in the old structures of .Qreqce and
Italy, named by our antiquartans, Oyclopean. I have met
them only in the valley of Titicaca, which-extends from the
seventeenth to the nineteenth degree of latitude fbuth, and on
the skirts of the-Andes which form that valley. They occur
in the greatest, abundance in the provipcesof La Paz, Oruro,
Paqages, and Carangas. I examined several hundreds of
thesi sepulchres^ and in all of them found human skeletons,
and in alia the skull had the same singular shape.. The skeletons
are-in a state of excellent preservation, a circumstance
attributable to the great dryness of the climate, the country
being situated about two thousand toises above the level of the
sea. The skeletons belonged to persons, of all- ages, from the
yessmgest uhiHkto the oldest man. All the heads, .young and
old, had the same form, from which jconcefye that it may he
with justice' inferred -that their peculiar shape was not artifl-
eialfy caused by pressure^ as is the case with the Oaiibs, and
some' other of the barbarous tribes of the new world. The
heads presented to the French museum were selected from a
great number, and were found indhe following places: viz. the
island in the lake of Titicaca, Ghunguys-, Tiaguanaco, Lica-
sica, Tolapalea, and Lennas.”
The present inhabitants of the interior of Peru belong to
the same race which peopled the remainder of the continent
of South America, and which is distinguished by a copper
colour of the skin, a thinly scatteredbeardi, straight* strong
black hair, and a prominent nose. I am of opinion- that the
present inhabitants of Peru are derived from an Asiatic stock,