The Prehistoric World or Vanished races Part 57

Ill.u.s.tration of Relics found in Guano deposits.------

We have no very good data on which to rely when we attempt to estimate the number of years required to bury the water jars to the depth where found. Thousands of years must have pa.s.sed.<40> The water jars are not rude forms. No little skill is indicated by their formation. The wooden idol is not necessarily near as old as the jars, but no one can doubt but that it dates from long before the Inca conquest of the valley.

Another collection of small idols, and supposed royal emblems, also found in guano deposits, but at an unknown depth, is shown earlier in this chapter.

We have thus far been describing the ruins that occur in the territory occupied by the coast tribes, a people in many ways different from the great body of Peruvian people in the interior. According to traditions, the conquest of the coast tribes took place about one hundred and fifty years before the Spanish conquest. The details of this conquest are given with great precision. We doubt whether any great reliance can be placed upon them. We might remark that while Garcilla.s.so traces the progress of the conquest from the south north, Salcamayhua reverses this order, and makes the victorious Incas march from the north to the south.

One or the other made a mistake in traditions.

Ill.u.s.tration of Prehistoric Pottery Ware.----------

The Inca conquest of the coast tribes was a very thorough one. The names and traditions of the tribes were blotted out. The word Yunca, by which they are known, is from the Inca language. The same is true of the names of the coast valleys, and yet, from what we have already learned of them, we feel sure that they were very far from the degraded savages Garcilla.s.so would have us believe they were. The inhabitants of each valley formed a distinct community under its own chief. De Leon says: "The chief of each valley had a great house, with adobe pillars and door-ways, hung with matting, built on extensive terraces." This might have been the official house of the tribe.

They were an industrious people, and the evidence is abundant that they had made considerable advance in cultivation of the ground. They set apart every square foot of ground that could be reached by water for cultivation, and built their dwellings on the hillsides overlooking their fields and gardens. Their system of irrigation was as perfect as any that modern science has since adopted.<41> It is an altogether mistaken idea to suppose the Incas were the authors.

We are not without evidence that they were possessed of considerable artistic skill. This preceding collection of pottery ware is not the work of savages. Mr. Markham further tells us that they made "silver and gold ornaments, mantles, embroidered with gold and silver bezants, robes of feathers, cotton cloth of fine texture, etc." We have already referred to the tasteful decorations of the walls of Grand Chimu.

"Figures of colored birds and animals are said to have been painted on the walls of temples and palaces." At Pachacamac the remains of this color are still seen on a portion of the walls. This cut represents the head of a silver cylinder found in one of the coast valleys. The ornamentation is produced by hammering up from below.

Ill.u.s.tration of Silver Cylinder Head.------------

We must now leave the coast regions and investigate some ruins in the interior. We have already spoken of the Lake t.i.ticaca region. Not far from the southern border of that lake we notice a place marked Tiahuanuco. Here occur a very interesting group of ruins. They consist of "rows of erect stones, some of them rough, or but rudely shaped by art, others accurately cut and fitted in walls of admirable workmanship; long sections of foundations, with piers and portions of stairways; blocks of stone, with mouldings, cornices, and niches cut with geometrical precision, vast ma.s.ses of sandstone, trachyte, and basalt, but partially hewn, and great monolithic doorways, bearing symbolical ornaments in relief, besides innumerable smaller rectangular and symmetrically shaped stones rise on every hand, or lie scattered in confusion over the plain."<42> In fact, all explorers are loud in their praise of the beautifully cut stones found in the ruins.

Ill.u.s.tration of Terrace Wall, Tiahuanuco.------------

We have seen in our review how general has been the desire to raise foundations, sometimes of great extent, on which to place buildings.

This is true of the ruins under consideration. Here the pyramid or foundation was faced with stone work. In this ill.u.s.tration we have a view of such a wall yet remaining in place. The labor expended on such a wall was very great. We notice in the cut three large standing stones.

These are ranged along at regular intervals between. No mortar was used in the construction of the wall. If we examine the large standing stone carefully we will notice on the side a sort of projecting shoulder. The stones of the wall that come in contact with this standing stone are cut to fit this shoulder.

Ill.u.s.tration of Method of Joining Stone, Tiahuanuco.

The remaining stones in the wall were held in place by a peculiar arrangement, ill.u.s.trated in this cut. Round holes were drilled in the bottom and top of each stone. There is reason to suppose that bronze pins fitted into these holes. Furthermore, each stone was cut with alternate grooves and projections, so as to fit immovably into each other.

One case was observed where either the will has entirely disappeared, or else it was left unfinished, and so we have a row of these standing stones, as seen in this ill.u.s.tration. This has been called the American Stonehenge name is inappropriate, because we have no reason to suppose the plans of the builders of the two structures were at all similar.

Ill.u.s.tration of Pillars of Stone, Tiahuanuco.--------

The most celebrated feature of these ruins is the presence of huge gateways, each one cut out of a solid ma.s.s of stone. We give a view of the most noteworthy of these gateways. It is now broken, tradition says, by a stroke of lightning.<43> The upper portion is covered with carvings.

Ill.u.s.tration of Gateway, at Tiahuanuco.----------------

North of Tiahuanuco is Lake t.i.ticaca. This was the sacred lake of the Incas. We have already referred to the probable origin of this feeling.

Near the southern end of this lake, on the western side, is the peninsula of Copacabana. Separated by a narrow strait from the northern extremity of this peninsula is the sacred island, t.i.ticaca. According to traditions, the Incas sought, in all ways, to beautify this island. They built temples, and laid out gardens. The hills were leveled as much as possible, terraced, and then covered with earth brought from afar. According to the statements of early writers, pilgrims were not permitted to land on its sacred soil until they had undergone certain preliminary fasts and purifications on the main-land. Landing on the island, they traversed a terrace, and by a narrow pa.s.sage way they were conducted between two large buildings, where other ceremonies were performed.

The most sacred spot in all the island was a rock in the northern part.

Only priests of especial sanct.i.ty were allowed near it. The rock to-day presents but the appearance of a weather-worn ma.s.s of red sandstone. It is traditionally represented as having been plated all over with gold and silver, and covered, except on solemn occasions with a mantle of rich color and material. Here the sun was believed to have first risen to dispel the primal darkness. To this day the Indians regard it with superst.i.tious veneration. The traveler's guide, when he comes in sight of it, removes his hat, and reverently bows to it, and mutters to himself a few words of mystic import.<44>

Ill.u.s.tration of Ruins on the Island of t.i.ticaca.-----------

The whole appearance of the island shows how highly it was regarded. In one place the remains of a drinking fountain were noticed. Streams from some unknown source were still bringing to it their limpid burden.

Perhaps as noticeable a ruin as any is represented in this cut. It is called the Palace. It is in a sheltered nook. The lake washes the very foot of the foundation on which it stands. It is two-storied. In the lower story were twelve rooms, so connected with each other that but four of them communicated by doors with the outside. The others were certainly dark and illy ventilated. The second story was entered by means of the terrace in the rear. The same statement may be made in regard to its rooms; they did not, however, at all correspond in arrangement with the rooms below. The Island of Coati, but a short distance to the south-east, was sacred to the moon. It has also a number of ruins. The approach to this was guarded by a number of terraces.

Ill.u.s.tration of Ruins, Island of Coati.-------------

We will describe one more cla.s.s of ruins found abundantly in the Collao region. These are burial towers, or chulpas. A view of one is here presented. The chulpas are common in the t.i.ticaca basin, and usually occur in groups, and almost always in positions from which a large extent of country can be viewed. The great ma.s.s of a chulpa is solid, but within is a dome-shaped chamber, into which the opening seen in the cut leads. Sometimes the chulpas are round, and in some the masonry is of that variety we have already mentioned, called the Cyclopean. Another view of burial towers is given earlier in this chapter.

Ill.u.s.tration of Burial Tower.--------------------

As a mere description of ruins becomes tiresome, we will now pa.s.s to Cuzco, and see of what we can learn of the architecture of the Incas.

The Incas were, of course, a very rich and a very powerful tribe. All the tribes of ancient Peru had to pay them tribute. We way therefore suppose that the pueblo of Cuzco was well built, the houses large, and imposing, and that the official buildings for worship and tribal business would be commensurate with their importance as a tribe. Yet we have but very few accounts of these buildings. Immediately after the conquest, many of the Spanish leaders settled in Cuzco. They made many changes in the various edifices, and introduced into them many improvements. At present in the modern city we still find portions of ancient walls, and can trace the foundation of various buildings.

Ill.u.s.tration of Terrace Wall at Cuzco.---------------

The site of the city of Cuzco is very uneven. It stands on the slopes of three hills, where as many rivulets come together. The ancient builders had to resort to extensive terracing in order to secure level surfaces on which to build. These terraces, built in a substantial manner, and faced with stone, are still standing in many places. In this ill.u.s.tration we have a view of such a wall. Observe that the stones are not laid in regular courses, nor is there any regularity as to their size. This is a good example of a Cyclopean wall. Some of the stones must weigh several tons, and they are fitted together with marvelous precision, one stone having as many as twelve angles.

All accounts agree that the temple of the sun was the grandest structure in Cuzco. We present an ill.u.s.tration of one end of it. This end is slightly curving. It is necessary to remark that this end now forms part of the Church of Santo Domingo. The fine-looking window and balcony are modern additions to this ancient building. According to Mr. Squier, the temple was an oblong building, nearly three hundred feet long, by about fifty in width. It formed one side of a s.p.a.cious court. It did not extend east and west, but rather north-east and south-west. Early chroniclers affirm that the inner walls of this temple were covered with gold. Portions of very thin plates of gold exist in private museums in Cuzco, said to have formed part of this covering. The end of the temple shown in our ill.u.s.tration was covered with a great plate of gold intended to represent the sun. This plate was all in one piece, and spread from wall to wall.

Ill.u.s.tration of Temple of the Sun.-----------------

Only fragments of the ancient buildings of Cuzco now exist. But enough are at hand to enable us to describe their general characteristics. As a rule, they were built around a court, the outer surface presenting the appearance of an unbroken wall. These walls are excellent specimens of Inca masonry. All travelers speak in their praise. Mr. Squier says: "The world has nothing to show in the way of stone-cutting and fitting to surpa.s.s the skill and accuracy displayed in the Inca structures at Cuzco." There was but one gateway to the court. This entrance was broad and lofty. On the lintels, over the doorway, was frequently carved the figure of a serpent. The apartments were constructed so as to face the court, and nearly all opened upon the same. In some cases rooms wore observed, to which access could be obtained only after pa.s.sing through several outer rooms. Some of the walls yet remaining at Cuzco are from thirty-five to forty feet high. This would indicate houses of two or three stories.

It is here necessary to state that the structures we have been describing are considered by most writers as palaces of the Inca chiefs.

Names hive been bestowed upon them--such as the palace of Huayna Capac. It is a.s.serted that each Inca chief built a separate palace. The credulous traveler is even pointed to a pile of ruins said to have been the palace of that mythical personage, Manco Capac. There is some conflict of authority as to the names of these palaces. Modern tradition names one of the most imposing piles as the palace of Inca Rocca, and as such it is described by Mr. Squier and others. Garcilla.s.so De La Vega says this chief's palace was in an altogether different part of the city.<45> Those who call these buildings palaces, think the houses of the ordinary people have all disappeared. It is evident, however, that if our views of the state of society among the Incas be right, that it is a misnomer to call these structures palaces. Some of them may have been public buildings, devoted to tribal purposes. But we need not doubt but that this was the type of communal buildings erected by the natives of Cuzco.

Ill.u.s.tration of Fortress Walls.-----------------

We must describe one more piece of aboriginal work. This is the celebrated Fortress of Cuzco. As we have stated, the ancient pueblo, or city@, was built on the slopes of three hills. One of these, easily defended, was strongly fortified, and thus converted into a citadel.