Lost City of the Incas (Phoenix Press) (10 page)

The most striking Peruvian pottery exhibited in collections comes from the sea-coast of northern Peru, where, before the days of the Inca Empire, native potters excelled in producing realistic human groups and even vivid portraits. Some of the Peruvian coastal pottery still stands unequalled in the life-like portrayal of human action and emotion. One finds the naked body depicted in many attitudes, some of them so degenerate as to be excluded from public exhibits. Mannequins in every conceivable posture, tragic groups representing human sacrifices, humorous caricatures of intoxication, persons afflicted with terrible diseases, comedy and tragedy, all are found represented in coastal ceramic art. The striking lack of any such tendencies in the pottery of the Incas leads to the conclusion that they must have had a strong prejudice against the use of the human form in decoration. This may have been due to the custom among the
Peruvian highlanders of protecting themselves against the bitter cold of the high plateau by always having their bodies clothed. Thousands of years ago this custom may not have prevailed, since the Indians of the southernmost part of South America, who live amidst the snow and ice of Tierra del Fuego, are scarcely clothed at all. Once clothing had been invented, however, and its use furthered by the domestication of the wool-bearing alpaca and llama, comfort would dictate that it be continually used. As a result, custom would, in the course of time, decree that any exposure of the body was indecent. The growth of such strict ideas of decency would naturally promote a sense of shame which would lead to the practice of using geometric patterns or conventionalized birds and animals rather than the human form. Consequently it is not surprising that Inca pottery does not represent the human form even though their highly developed sense of the beautiful induced them to make jars and dishes as graceful as those of ancient Greece. Practically all the pottery found in our excavations at Machu Picchu was pure Inca.

The most characteristic Inca pattern and the most common of the vessels intended for holding liquids was a bottle-shaped vase with a pointed bottom, frequently 2 or 2½ feet in height and capable of holding 6 or 7 gallons of
chicha
, with two band-shaped handles attached vertically to the lower body, and a strikingly long neck. Each jar as a rule has two pierced, ear-like nubbins attached to its rim. The front of each bottle-shaped vase has on its shoulder a stout nubbin decorated to represent the conventionalized head of a fierce beast, usually with two eyes and a crudely incised mouth, and sometimes ears, lips, teeth, and even nostrils. It has been suggested that the makers believed that the ill-natured demon who caused good
chicha
to be spilt might be frightened away by this uncouth animal. These nubbins could have been used to tie on a cover to keep the precious
chicha
from spilling, or for decorative tassels which would indicate the quality of the maker of the beverage. Since these jars were intended to be carried on the back and shoulders by means of a rope passed through the handles and around the big
nubbin, they were nearly always decorated on only one side, and the side which rubbed against the back of the carrier was left undecorated. Although not at all like a Greek aryballus, that name has been applied to it by Peruvian writers for many years. So far as I know it is not found in any part of the world except where Inca civilization prevailed. Many examples of it were found at Machu Picchu.

A shallow dish or saucer used for drinking has a handle on one side, sometimes a broad loop but more often the conventionalized head of a friendly bird or animal, which sets comfortably under the thumb, and a small raised decoration on the opposite rim. These dishes are always carefully made, attractively painted, on the inside only, with elaborate geometric patterns. These saucers somewhat resemble in form the classic patera, which was used in pouring out libations at sacrifices. It is amusing to note that the Incas made the handle of these drinking ladles just as pleasing as they made the nubbins of the great jars fierce and revolting, no doubt to encourage drinkers to enjoy themselves.

In a mountain region where there is little fuel for open fires and where the drinking of cold water frequently brings on mountain sickness which is often disastrous, it is natural that the craving of the body for additional heat and liquid should be gratified by soup and beer. The utensils used for
chicha
are carefully painted and polished. In this they differed markedly from the fire-blackened cooking pots, or
ollas
, in which the Incas made their soups and stews.

A common form of
olla
has a handle on one side and a single foot or base. The side opposite the loop handle is usually decorated in low relief, possibly the echo of the base of a second handle. These beaker-shaped
ollas
were usually 9 or 10 inches high. The form undoubtedly was the result of a long process of evolution beginning with the introduction into the fire of a simple two-handled pot. Then somebody discovered that by adding a base or a foot to it the pot could stand better in the embers of a small fire. Later it was discovered that only the handle nearest the cook was really necessary since the other
handle got too hot to be of much use, and it was finally abandoned, its place being taken by a little ornament in low relief that was attached to the pot just before it was baked.

Another common design was a two-handled food dish with band-shaped handles ordinarily attached horizontally below the rim, wider than it was high and broad enough so that the hands of the diners might readily extract the delicacies therein, undoubtedly stews, which were an essential part of the ancient fare. These dishes were not used in the fire, but were of fine clay, carefully polished and soberly decorated on both sides with conventional geometric patterns.

Loving cups and dishes connected with drinking
chicha
were frequently amusingly decorated with fierce-looking jaguars or pumas glaring at each other with open mouths and bared teeth. Or the handle might consist of the head of a laughing fox or coyote, exquisitely modelled. The spirit in which the modelling of these Inca dishes was worked out shows great artistic ability and frequently a nice sense of humour. Sometimes a drinking jug would be made in the form of a fat man with his hands comfortably supporting his stomach.

One-handled jugs were sometimes decorated with a human face in low relief, sometimes partly in relief and partly painted. Or a jug might have a handle decorated with a head of a fierce jaguar partly hollow so that a string could be passed through the teeth in such a manner as to support the jug from a peg.

Perhaps one of the most interesting and rarest forms of Inca pottery was a three-legged brazier with a band-shaped handle attached to its top, its mouth irregular in form, placed on one side. In the top were three openings or vent holes, the legs were solid and cylindrical and long enough to permit of a small fire being built underneath. Consequently the braziers were fire-blackened within and without. The Inca metallurgists gave them such hard usage that the frail little braziers did not last long and no perfect specimens have been found.

The usual size of the three-legged brazier was about 7 inches high, 6 inches wide and 7 inches long. They appear to have been intended for a charcoal fire in which metal could be kept hot
while being worked. The vent holes on top would have admitted the insertion of blow pipes, a practice referred to in several of the early Spanish chronicles, and they were made thin enough to enable them to be rapidly heated. They were undoubtedly used in the manufacture of bronze knives, axes, chisels, and shawl-pins in which repeated heating and annealing were necessary.

Inca bronze has been found to be remarkably pure, except for very small quantities of sulphur. The proportion of copper in Inca bronze varies from 86 per cent in some articles to 97 per cent in others. Some archaeologists take the view that since the greatest quantity of tin is usually found in those bronzes that, for the purposes for which they were intended, would seem to require it least, the presence of tin in Inca bronzes should be regarded as accidental. This hypothesis has been carefully considered by the experts of the largest copper companies now operating in the Andes. They all agree that so far as known ores of copper and tin occur in South America this is an untenable thesis, for such ores are not found in combination. It is well known that during World War II enormous quantities of tin were recovered from Bolivian mines and manufacturers were delighted to secure supplies to take the place of those that came from the Straits Settlements before the Japanese occupation. It is also well known that enormous deposits of copper are found in Peru and in Chile but not in combination with tin.

My friend Professor Charles H. Matthewson of Yale University was the first modern metallurgist to make an exhaustive study of Inca bronzes. He discovered that the percentage of tin contained in Inca bronzes was not governed by the uses for which they were intended, but by the requirements of the ancient methods of manufacture. Everything that we know about Inca metallurgy is based on Professor Matthewson’s report.

The Incas learned the interesting fact that bronze containing a high percentage of tin yields the best impression in casting,
because during the process of solidifying it expands more than bronze having a low tin content. Hence the more delicate or ornamental pieces contain the highest percentage of tin, enabling artistic details to be more strikingly brought out in the finished product. Of course, had the Incas possessed steel graving tools the case would have been different. The Inca metallurgists learned that the operation of casting small delicate objects is facilitated when there is about 10 per cent of tin in the mixture. Such alloys retain their initial heat longer and so remain longer in a fluid condition. Since small objects tend to cool rapidly this knowledge was particularly useful in the manufacture of ornamental shawl-pins and ear spoons and accounts for the higher percentage of tin the Incas used in making them.

Since these early metallurgists were unfamiliar with modern methods of heat treatment they were compelled to sacrifice the extra hardness and strength obtainable in casting axes and chisels by increasing the tin content in them. Such implements had to be frequently hammered and annealed. Since cold-working had to be depended upon to produce the final hardness of such objects, more than one heating was needed in forging the blades, and this process necessitated a low tin content. Necessarily they employed a formula for combined copper and tin which has impressed archaeologists familiar only with the chemical analysis of Inca bronzes, as being that which is unsuited for axes, chisels, and large knives. It was only after a metallographic study of Inca bronzes, involving the mutilation of the pieces examined, that Professor Matthewson learned the structure of such objects, the methods of their manufacture, and the reasons for the variation that has been found to exist. The Inca metallurgists cast their bronze knives generally in one piece and then cold-worked them. Such reheating as took place was solely for the purpose of softening the metal to facilitate cold-working, which was probably done at less than red heat. Some Inca bronzes are found to have been repeatedly hammered and reheated. This hammering might have been done with the stone tools with which the Incas were familiar.

The knife blades appear to have been worked and hammered
so as to extend the metal more or less uniformly in several directions. Chisels and axes, on the other hand, were cast practically in the shape finally desired.

The Inca metallurgists were sufficiently ingenious to use more than one variety of bronze in the construction of artistic knives. Their knives were in the shape of an inverted ‘t’. If it was desired to ornament the end of the handle with a llama’s head or attractive bird, the ornament would be made of bronze with a high content of tin. The metal of the blade and the lower part of the handle on the other hand was of bronze of lower tin content because the blades had to be cold-worked.

The ornamental part of the knife handle was actually cast around the shank of the knife after it had been completed. The Inca artisan, anxious to make a good serviceable knife that would be attractive as well had learned over the centuries to take infinite pains in doing it. If he wished to make a hole in the end of a knife or shawl-pin, he did it in the process of casting because he lacked steel tools for drilling it.

In making bronze
bolas
which could be used in capturing a flying parrot or many-hued macaw, he cast the ball with a pin already in so that the cord connecting the two parts of the
bolas
could be securely fastened without interfering with the smooth flight of the missile. The pin was not set into the
bolas
but was cast in place. It must have been a great sight to see an Inca hunter bring down a flying macaw with a skilful swing of the little bronze
bolas
, discharging them at just the right moment to entangle its wings and legs without damaging the beautiful captive.

Some axe blades bear evidence that they were used upon stone. Their structure shows severe damage of a character which could only result from very hard usage. They were probably used in cutting square holes in ashlars and in making sharp inside corners. It is difficult to conceive of any stone tools that could have been used successfully for this purpose. Some writers have assumed that the Incas used bronze implements to a large extent in finishing their best stone work. It seems to me, however, that even their best bronze was too soft to last long in
such activities. It is not likely that it was often so employed. Experiments made in the National Museum at Washington have demonstrated that perseverance, elbow grease, and fine sand will enable stone tools of various shapes to work miracles in dressing and polishing both granite and andesite.