DOI Artikel:
Scott, Samuel Mathewson: La Goya: a passion of the Peruvian desert
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26393#0143
By Samuel Mathewson Scott 139
off the noisy restless world. There is a tragedy in a faith like
theirs that checks a cynic’s sneers. But our love of novelty, our
cruel curiosity, knows no reverence. Let’s go a-huacoing.
Though all the slopes undoubtedly contain graves, all are not
equally rich. In many places the rains have soaked the soil, con-
sumed the bones, and packed the earth until it has crushed and
broken the pottery. But suppose we have lighted upon a favour-
able site. On top, the sand is mingled with little white shells.
About two feet from the surface we are sure to come upon a
child’s grave. If the drainage of the slope kept out the water, we
will find the little skeleton complete, wrapped in clothes as good
as if they had been made yesterday. Seemingly the children
counted for little in that old time : a sleeveless shirt, a string of
coral beads, and a coarse shroud, were enough to fit the poor wee
body for its cradle in the sands. It needed no pottery, but some-
times a small stick was placed beside it, perhaps as a charm,
perhaps as a plaything. So unimportant was its burial, that its
grave was always made in some part of the field already used for
its elders ; for if we dig several feet below these small bundles of
bones—we meet with the carefully built tombs of adults. These
are cavities hollowed in the tough sand or clay, and topped with
great flat stones and adobes to support the earth above. Within
these holes the body, swathed in many shrouds, was placed upon
its back, instead of being trussed up in sitting posture, as is usual
in other parts of Peru. Arranged about the feet of the mummy
are several coarse cooking pots, still full of the provisions of corn
and beans and meat that were to nourish the departed on his long,
mysterious journey. Near the hands, in the case of men, lie
bundles of copper and stone tools, wooden weapons, shovels and
walking staves—with handles skilfully carved into human or
animal shapes. Beside the women, are all their weaving and
spinning
off the noisy restless world. There is a tragedy in a faith like
theirs that checks a cynic’s sneers. But our love of novelty, our
cruel curiosity, knows no reverence. Let’s go a-huacoing.
Though all the slopes undoubtedly contain graves, all are not
equally rich. In many places the rains have soaked the soil, con-
sumed the bones, and packed the earth until it has crushed and
broken the pottery. But suppose we have lighted upon a favour-
able site. On top, the sand is mingled with little white shells.
About two feet from the surface we are sure to come upon a
child’s grave. If the drainage of the slope kept out the water, we
will find the little skeleton complete, wrapped in clothes as good
as if they had been made yesterday. Seemingly the children
counted for little in that old time : a sleeveless shirt, a string of
coral beads, and a coarse shroud, were enough to fit the poor wee
body for its cradle in the sands. It needed no pottery, but some-
times a small stick was placed beside it, perhaps as a charm,
perhaps as a plaything. So unimportant was its burial, that its
grave was always made in some part of the field already used for
its elders ; for if we dig several feet below these small bundles of
bones—we meet with the carefully built tombs of adults. These
are cavities hollowed in the tough sand or clay, and topped with
great flat stones and adobes to support the earth above. Within
these holes the body, swathed in many shrouds, was placed upon
its back, instead of being trussed up in sitting posture, as is usual
in other parts of Peru. Arranged about the feet of the mummy
are several coarse cooking pots, still full of the provisions of corn
and beans and meat that were to nourish the departed on his long,
mysterious journey. Near the hands, in the case of men, lie
bundles of copper and stone tools, wooden weapons, shovels and
walking staves—with handles skilfully carved into human or
animal shapes. Beside the women, are all their weaving and
spinning