Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 178, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 August 1917 — IN CITY OF INCAS [ARTICLE]

IN CITY OF INCAS

Ancient People Created Wonders” of Architecture. , i ■ Ruins Found In South America Disclose Amazing Facts Regarding Vanished Civilization. Amazing and absorbing interesting facts concerning the builders of the wonderful city of Machu Picchu, the ancient Incas, are given in a communication to the National Geographic society by Prof. -Hiram Bingham, director of the Peruvian expedition of 1915, sent out by the society and Yale university. The ruins of this great center of a vanished civilization was discovered by Professor Bingham and his party after they had been lost for generations. The buildings of Machu Picchu, writes Professor Bingham, had an elaborate system of highways throughout this little known and almost unexplored country, which lies between the Urubamba valley and the Apurimao. The region was densely populated, and Machu Picchu was Its capital.

Lack of timber, the prevalence of heavy rains during part of the year, and the ease with which stone might be procured early -led to the development of stone as a building material. Strength and permanence were secured through the keying together of irregular blocks. The upper and lower surfaces of these stones were frequently convexed or concaved, the convexity of one stone approximating the concavity of the adjoining stone. In constructing their walls the pure arch, was not evolved. Their pottery Is marked by simple and graceful lines, bearing a striking resemblance to that of ancient Greece and resembling in Its simplicity and utility some of the modern vessels at presentiff use in French kitchens. Owing to the extreme moisture of the climate, the remains of cloth are very few; but we know that the Inca people actually did arrive at a high degree of skill In the manufacture of textiles through their ability to procure the wool of the alpaca.

Their surgical tools were probably of bronze or obsidian. Surgery appears tohave been practiced to a Considerable degree, if one may judge by the large number of trepanned skulls that we have found ip caves within a radius of 25 miles of Machu Picchu. In some cases the cause of the operation appears r to have been disease; in others evidence leads us to the conclusion that the operation was Intended to relieve pain caused by wounds received in battle. Since the favorite weapon of the Inca peoples was the sling, and clubs were common, it Is not surprising that the skulls of many soldiers should have needed the relief that came fron» skillful trepanning. In the art of war they exhibit skill In defense rather than offense. Fortifications constructed with salients and re-entrant angles so as to admit of lateral fire were not uncommon.

They had no machinery and did not use iron or steel. They used levers and Inclined planes. They also made huge fiber ropes, out of which they constructed long suspension bridges. They thought nothing of handling blocks of stone weighing five tons and upwards. Indeed, there are numerous stones that weigh over fifteen tons, which were fitted together with a skill that has amazed all beholders. Most unfortunate • was the failure of the Incas to develop an alphabet, or even some form of hieroglyphic similar to that which existed in southern Mexico and Central America. It is remarkable indeed that a people who succeeded in equaling the ancient Egyptians in architecture, engineering, pottery and textiles should have fallen so far behind in the development of a written language. This is the most serious obstacle that stands in the way of our learning more of that enterprising race.