Traditional dress of the Quechuans of Peru. The true "gold" of the Incas, the secrets of the Maya

Women's Success Story Perhaps this biblical book would not be worth a separate discussion, especially considering how many books and heroes we have not had time to mention here at all. But still there is something in the book of Esther (or Esther, as her name is spelled in the old spelling)

Women's history of salvation The first attempt in history of the total extermination of the Jews, as the Bible says, was conceived just at the court of Artaxerxes. Even the Egyptian pharaoh at one time did not want to destroy the Jews at all, he was only going to limit their birth rate. Now

MOSCOW, July 27 - RIA Novosti. The clothes of the famous two famous mummies of girls from Chile turned out to be saturated with a deadly poison, red paint based on mercury, extremely rare at that time. It could be both part of the rituals of the Incas, and banal protection from robbers, scientists write in an article in the journal Archaeometry.

"The Incas were well aware that cinnabar paints are very toxic and dangerous to human health with constant contact with them. They often covered them with tombs in order to scare off robbers, and in this case something similar could happen," write Bernardo Arriaza (Bernardo Arriaza from the University of Tarapaca in Arica (Chile) and his colleagues.

gift to the sun

The ancient Incas, like many other South American Indians, knew how to make mummies. Dozens of mummified bodies of children sacrificed to the sun as part of the capa kocha ceremony. have been found on the slopes of mountain peaks in Chile and Peru. For example, in 1976, builders found the mummies of two girls in a cave at the top of Mount Cerro Esmeralda, and in 1999, archaeologists found the famous "Ice Princess" on the slopes of the Lullaillaco volcano.

Analysis of their remains showed that these children ate good food and were in a state of almost constant drug intoxication in the last year of life. Tomography of the mummy of the "princess" showed that before her death, the girl chewed a bundle of coca leaves, particles of which were stuck between her teeth.

Arriaza and his colleagues uncovered another curious detail about the lives of these children and their last days on Earth by studying the rich clothes worn by two mummies found on the slopes of Cerro Esmeralda - a nine-year-old girl and her 20-year-old "big sister" .

Scientists, as Arriaza notes, have long been attracted to traces of bright red paint preserved on some parts of their clothes. The nature of this pigment has long been debated. Most researchers believe that the clothes of the sacrificial children were covered with pigments based on hematite, a compound of iron and oxygen.

Red Death

On the other hand, scientists studying the mummies at their burial site in 1977 found traces of cinnabar, a bright red compound of mercury and sulfur, in the soil of their tomb, which many archaeologists today doubt. Arriaza and his colleagues tested these theories by traveling to the slopes of Cerro Esmeralda to collect new soil samples and to the Iquique City Museum, which houses the remains of two mummified "princesses".

After cutting off small pieces of fabric, archaeologists illuminated them with electron microscopes and spectrographs, which allowed them to understand what pigments were used to color them. As this analysis showed, both the clothes and the soil of the tomb contained a large number of mineral grains, consisting of 81% mercury and 15% sulfur, and not iron and oxygen.

On the one hand, such a discovery confirms the words of the "discoverers" of mummies. On the other hand, the presence of cinnabar in this region came as a great surprise to historians, since the inhabitants of northern Chile at that time used completely different dyes, and mercury dyes could be very rarely found only in the homes of the nobility. In addition, the robes of mummies from neighboring regions of Chile, according to scientists, were covered with red paint based on hematite, and not cinnabar.

Accordingly, the use of a relatively rare pigment to decorate the clothes of the victims of kapa kochi says two things - in a similar way, the priests emphasized their high social status, or they used vermilion to scare away "evil spirits" and potential tomb robbers by covering clothes with toxic paint and scattering red powder by the tomb.

Such a fact, as Arriaza notes, is interesting not only from the point of view of studying the history of the Inca empire, but also for protecting archaeologists from the famous "curse of mummies." The fact is that inhaling even small amounts of cinnabar can lead to serious consequences for human health, and therefore scientists should be extremely careful when excavating in such tombs.

Quechuans live in the Andes quite isolated, which is called "far from civilization." It is difficult to get to their communities - there are no roads, often there are no other communications. Therefore, they retained their beliefs, many traditions, folk costumes and handicrafts. Highlanders live in harsh natural conditions and are very poor, but their traditional clothes are always bright and colorful. The main items of the costume - ponchos and capes - are woven on hand looms from camel wool with the addition of sheep wool. The yarn is dyed with natural dyes. From the same threads on the knitting needles knit chulio. The set of costume elements is almost constant for any locality, but the styles differ markedly.

Annual celebration at Huilloc Primary School, Ollantaytambo District, Urubamba Province, Cusco Region (2006)

Each community has its own costume. Sometimes communities located in the same area have similar costumes. But each costume has its own characteristics, which make it possible to say which community its owner or mistress belongs to. At the same time, within the same community, the costumes, although they are the same, are not complete copies of each other. With a common color scheme and style of a poncho, cape or chulio may differ, for example, in ornament or its details. After all, all these things are made by hand, and manual work does not accept full copying, unlike factory work.

The custom of having for each community its own costume, different from the costumes of other communities, arose at the dawn of time and was consecrated by the Andean religion.

“According to the myths collected in the early days,” he writes, “clothes, songs and the gift of speaking were given to people by their gods, therefore they could not be changed. Each ethnic group had what was given to them and maintained it as a mark of ethnicity.

To this day, sometimes hearing a melody, no one asks who its author is. Everyone says: this is Junin or this is Puno.

However, the Peruvians had to give up the clothes of their ancestors as a result of the conquest and dress in Spanish costume, which they often made themselves. It is believed that the traditional clothing of the Quechuans today is a mixture of styles of pre-Hispanic and Spanish colonial peasant costume (for more details, see: "On the origin of the Andean traditional costume").

Now young Quechuans of both sexes tend to prefer urban clothes, especially for men. Older men and women still wear traditional costumes.

Pictures taken in Cusco, the ancient capital of the Incas, 2009 (left), and in the city of Chinchero, Urubamba province, Cusco region

In the everyday costumes of middle-aged people, which may be dominated by Western clothing, there are always traditional elements. The full traditional Quechuana costume is worn as "ceremonial" and festive on special occasions, such as festivals, religious ceremonies, community gatherings, weddings, etc., as well as manifestations.

At the presidential elections in Ollantaytambo, Sunday 5 June 2011

Registration of marriage, 2010

Demonstration in Cusco, 2007

Yet in some communities, Quechuans do not wear traditional costumes. This happens, in particular, due to the fact that the craft of spinning and weaving has been lost in the area.

Urubamba Province (pink) and parts of Cusco Region

Traditional costume of a young Quechuan woman in the highlands of Peru (reduced copy) 1940, National Museum of the American Indian, USA): 1 - fitter(hat), 2 - rainbow fur boa, 5 - dick(jacket), 4 - polyera(skirt), 5 - liqulha(mantle)

Near Pitumarca in the Sacred Valley (Valle Sagrado), Cusco region, 2009

The traditional Quechuan costume consists of several elements.

Lycle ya

Women in traditional costume of the Ollantaytambo district, Urubamba province, Cusco region, at a festival in the city of Ollantaytambo, located in the western part of the Sacred Valley of the Incas (2007)

Lliklya Cusco region

Lliklya most often made with a predominance of shades of red. The weaver demonstrates all her skills on it, making the most complex patterns, which can be both geometric and contain images of people, animals, plants and mythical characters. That's why liqulha often a work of art. So, the cape of the Cusco region, shown in the photo above, can be called the pinnacle of weaving skill. The region of Cusco is large, and it is possible to find capes made in different colors and with a different pattern composition.

One of the options liclie Chinchero with red center and blue stripe around the edge (2012)

Seems very humble liqulha weavers from the city of Chinchero, which also belongs to the Cusco region. But this lyclew you will not confuse with any other. In the middle it has an unwoven field of dark red or dark blue, and closer to the edges - narrow stripes of geometric patterns. If the field is red, then the edge is blue, and vice versa.

Huyuna

Women's costume of the Chekaspampa community

Huyuna(juyuna) - a short jacket made of woolen fabric without a fastener, the fronts and cuffs of which are decorated with patterns characteristic of this community. Usually, the pattern is complemented by white flat buttons or even made up of them, as, for example, in women of the Checaspampa community (Checaspampa) Ausangate district (Ocongate district), province of Quispicanchi (Quispicanchi). Indispensable the material for the pattern is the binder braid.

Embroidery is used much less often. A rare village can boast of its embroidered outfits. And in one of the weaving communities of Paucartambo (Paucartambo), Cusco department, not only cocks, but also skirts, and this is done in the same style. For embroidery on dick added elements laid out with "bind".

Women's costume of one of the weaving communities of the province of Paukartambo

The most recognizable for me - dick famous Chinchera weavers. She is always red with black cuffs. The pattern on it is lined with "bindweed" and white buttons. It is quite simple, but well remembered. In addition to the pattern, Chinchera dick features a black rectangle with five white buttons located at the corners and in the center, which is usually sewn to the cuffs, but sometimes it moves closer to the elbow. By the way, as you can see in the photo below, chincherki are one of the few women in Peru who traditionally braid their black hair into many small braids. True, they do not always follow this custom, braiding only two braids.

Chincerka Benita Taciana Quispe, weaver at the Cusco Traditional Textile Center (2008)

Under dick Chincherki wear white knitted tops. And the women of the second famous weaving community - Chahuaytire, Pisak district, wear white blouses with lace frills and cuffs. Against the background of women from other communities, who, as a rule, prefer factory-made turtlenecks of intense colors, they look very elegant and status, like real metresses, especially when you consider that weavers are usually photographed at work and their hands are always close-up in the camera lens.

Weaving workshop in Chahuaitire community (2011)

Women take good care of their cocks and for everyday use they are sometimes turned inside out. Unfortunately, not all communities cocks have survived, and even in a festive costume they are increasingly being replaced by bright plain knitted sweaters of factory production.

Keperi on

Keperina(k'eperina) - a large rectangular panel. It is worn on the back, tied in front, and used to carry loads. Children and belongings are securely kept inside. In the photo on the right are Quechuan women from the Amaru community of the Pisac district, Calca province, on the left are the traditional costumes of the Huilloc and Patacancha communities of the Ollantaytambo district.

Pollera

Quechuan women from the Amaru community and their skirts

Pollera(pollera) - a wide pleated skirt made of bayets(bayeta) - thin and rare woolen fabric. In some communities, the skirt is called in Quechuan flicker(melkkhay). Women wear 3 or 4 skirts. On special occasions, such as festivals, they can wear up to 15 skirts. Often each skirt is trimmed with embroidered or woven patterned stripes.

Weavers from the communities of Rumira Sondormayo, Chaullacocha and Chupani, Ollantaytambo District

A skirt with a black top and a red bottom woven with colorful diamond patterns is typical of the Ollantaytambo district. The clothing of the Chinchero weavers is characterized by a black skirt with a narrow red stripe down the hem.

Weavers Chinchero

Despite the minimum of decorations, the chincherok costume is easy to distinguish from the costume of other communities not only by dick, liclie And poyère. Chincherki are also distinguished by the fact that they wear flat black fitters, as well as gear fitters, the size of which is much larger than usual. The Chincherok costume is discreet, but very elegant.

Men's suit

Trousers- usually straight narrow dark colors from bayets. There are options for knee-length trousers.

Chaleko (chaleco) – a short woolen waistcoat without fasteners (sometimes with drawstrings), similar to cocks, which are worn by women, but without sleeves. It is also richly decorated.

Chumpy (chumpi) – braided belt (pictured in the center).

Ausangate traditional men's clothing

Poncho is the most distinctive part of Quechuan men's clothing. It is worn not only in Peru. It is most widespread in the states of the Andean region.

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders meeting in Santiago de Chile on November 21, 2004

Depending on belonging to a particular culture and country, the poncho has its own differences in design and design and its name. After the poncho gained great popularity in the world, it became a custom to give it to distinguished foreign guests. At the same time, a poncho of the most characteristic design for the country is chosen for the gift. So, for example, the participants of the APEC summit, which was held in Chile, received a gift from the host country chamanto(chamanto) - a type of poncho, which is the traditional elegant clothing of central Chile (pictured above). Chamanto made from wool and silk yarn. It is customary to put it on so that the stripes of the ornament and the slit of the neck are located horizontally. And in the photo below you can see the President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, in the poncho of the Chilean Mapuche - the people who claim to be the creator of the poncho in its modern version.

Evo wearing a Mapuche poncho given to him during his visit to Chile and one of the Mapuche leaders

The Peruvian poncho is an elongated rectangle with a slit-like neck, woven with longitudinal stripes of patterns that often cover it entirely. The patterns are mostly geometric, but sometimes include figures of animals and mythical creatures.

Poncho believed to be from the community of Wheelock. The red ponchos of the communities of Wheelock, Patacancha and the communities of the Lares Valley cover the entire arms and body to the groin

Along the edges of the poncho, as a rule, it is decorated with fringe. It has no collar or hood. The Peruvian poncho is always worn with the neckline and stripes of patterns arranged vertically, and not horizontally, as in chamanto, and not diagonally. Peruvian ponchos are, in my opinion, the most colorful and richly ornamented of all the Andean ponchos. Their patterns are often complex and meaningful, which speaks of the high skill of the weavers. The ponchos are always handcrafted on a traditional loom from alpaca and/or sheep wool using natural dyes.

Male costume of the town and district of Pisac in the Sacred Valley of the Incas

A bright patterned poncho in red tones is for us a symbol of the Peruvian poncho, and the poncho in general. However, in fact, among the indigenous peoples of Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Peru, there are many options for ponchos in rather restrained, often brown tones, decorated sparingly - sometimes with just a couple of stripes along the edges. These ponchos may not even have a fringe. It is this traditional light brown poncho, often referred to as the color of vicuña, that President of Peru Alan Garcia chose for the official photo of the leaders of 21 countries - members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) at the summit, which was held in the capital of Peru, Lima, November 22 - 23, 2008 G.

Official group photo of APEC leaders taken at the closing of the summit on November 23, 2008. Photo from the APEC website

The ponchos were commissioned by the Peruvian company Kuna, which produces ready-to-wear collections of alpaca, vicuña and pima cotton, both using modern technologies and using the manual labor of Peruvian artisans. Poncho began to be made back in June at the company's branch in Arequipa. According to Santiago Ortega, Kuna's marketing manager, they were made from baby alpaca wool on traditional looms to the individual measurements of each of the leaders, which were requested in the respective countries. The largest poncho was woven for Alan Garcia (he is in the center in both photos), and the biggest problem was with the poncho for US President George W. Bush, whose measurements the White House forgot to send.

APEC Peru summit poncho close-up

Women in Peru do not wear ponchos. Instead of a poncho they have liclie , whose design must match the design of their community's ponchos. But almost every native male inhabitant of this country - both a boy and an adult man - has a poncho. In the communities of Wheelock, Patacancha, and many communities in the Lares Valley, ponchos are worn as daily wear. You can see the whole variety of color and compositional solutions of ponchos at carnivals and festive processions, for which community members put on their best clothes.

Pisac Carnival 2007 (community unknown)

We used to think that the poncho is the most important part of Andza clothing. Poncho, long trousers and chulio make up a typical image of the Quechuan. However, in many communities it is equally (if not more) important and chaleko. But if over chaleko put on a poncho chaleko will not be visible. Therefore, for responsible events, such as, for example, representing his weaving community at an international conference of weavers, a man puts on chaleko and short trousers, and wears a poncho folded over his shoulder (pictured below). It must be admitted that, most likely, the “ceremonial” Quechuan costume, assembled according to all the rules established back in colonial times, should be exactly as it is presented by the men of the Salak community in this picture. On it you can see both men's and women's costumes of the community, which, as expected, have something in common with colors and ornaments, but do not copy each other.

Weavers and knitters from the Sallac community, Apurimac department, at the international conference of weavers, spinners and knitters in Urubamba, 2010

However, it seems that the ancestral garment of the indigenous people of the Andes - the poncho is gradually replacing chaleko, imposed by the Spanish conquerors and, in fact, being an alien element in their costume.

Ahotas (ajotas) – sandals. This is a Spanish noun. But it is not in the dictionary, and there is only the verb "ajotar", and it means, in particular, "to pursue, poison (the beast)". It turns out that "ajotas" can be translated as "chaser", and this word is apparently applied only to Indian shoes, because in Spanish there is a familiar word "sandalias".

Such sandals are sold today in the market in Chinchero.

And now the indigenous inhabitants of the Andes, like their ancestors, walk in sandals. Such is the tradition. It is also supported by the poverty of the peasants. City shoes are often too expensive for them, and barefoot in the mountains is in no way possible. Therefore, sandals made from recycled car tires are in high demand. Both men and women wear them. They are cheap and durable.

A Quechuan woman named Poblina in the traditional costume of the community of Wheelock at the loom and her sandals (2006). When weaving, women always take them off.

One cannot but admire the hardening of women and children who walk in sandals on their bare feet all year round and at the same time can sit on bare ground without harm to health (pictured below). From above they are wrapped in several jackets, which means the weather is cold.

Weavers from various communities during the 2011 weavers' meeting in the community of Chahuaytire, Pisak District

Headwear

Felt sombrero from the communities of Ollantaytambo, Pisac and Amaru

Sombrero. In Spanish, sombrero simply means "hat", and what we call "sombrero" in Spanish is sombrero mexicano (Mexican hat). Quechuan men wear felt (felt) and straw sombreros.

In the photo on the left: Quechuan women of the Amaru community, 2007. Mom is wearing fitter, and on the daughter - a bowler hat. The photo on the right shows Quechuan women from Chinchero in a fedora sombrero, which are made in contrast to the soft felt bowler hat, 2006.

Quechuan women also wear felt sombreros, in particular sombrero hongo, which means "round felt hat, bowler hat." Felt hats, especially the bowler hat, are considered part of the Aymarok national costume. However, Kechuan women also love felt hats and may wear them on weekdays instead of fitters.

Quechuan women of the Amaru community (2010)

As far as I know, Andean women never wear shawls and kerchiefs. And even for hard work in the field, they wear hats, not scarves, as is customary in Russian villages.

from the National Museum of the American Indian (USA)

Chuglio (chullo) - a hat with headphones, made on knitting needles (very rarely crocheted) mainly from alpaca wool, llama sometimes with the addition of sheep wool. Wool chulio they do it extremely rarely and only for tourists (see photo at the end of the article ""). It is connected, I think, with the fact that it is not customary to dye vicuña wool, and custom requires chulio bright colors.

But chulio Much more to the Quechuans and Aymaras than just a hat. This is a headdress. And the headdress in the Andes has always been given paramount importance as an indicator of the status of a person, and when it came to the ruler, then of his earthly and divine power. It contained some information about the person who wore it, was his characteristic. That's why chulio carries a lot of images that are not only patterns, but also symbols.

patterns chulio are distinguished by multicolor and detailed elaboration of the figures of people, animals, plants, which requires a high level of skill from the knitter. Original plots, complexity and integrity of the compositions, balance of their color scheme with a large number of bright colors, impeccable quality of performance chulio put the Andean knitting school in one of the first places in the world among the recognized folk schools of knitting multi-colored ornaments and allow us to talk about Andean knitting no longer as a craft, but as an art.

Procession during the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ in the main square of Cusco (2009)

In today's world like a poncho chulio is not only a distinctive feature of the traditional costume of the Andes, but also a symbol of the country. Chuglio and a poncho is customary to give to high foreign guests received at the state level.

At a textile market in Chinchero, September 2005

Chuglio worn only by men. And they knit them themselves. First chulio the son is traditionally knitted by his father. It is believed that by the design of the cap you can find out the social status of a man, whether he is married, etc. Design chulio indicates the place where its owner lives.

Men of the Ipsaikocha community, which is part of the Patacancha community, prepare for an alpaca shearing (2009)

So, on a small round chulio with an ornament on a red background, one can easily distinguish members of the Patacancha community, which is part of the district of the city of Ollantaytambo. It has a narrow short tube with a long thick fringe. Headphones chulio triangular small. A wide ribbon of white beads is attached to them.

Alpaca haircut

Unusual for the Central Andes muted colors chulio Salak community, which is more than offset by the brightness of other costume items. However, their shape is quite classic, and the headphones are decorated with the Andes' favorite decoration - flat white buttons.

Male knitters from the Salak community cooperative at the international conference of weavers, spinners and knitters in Urubamba, 2010

On the Titicaca Islands, men prefer chulio rainbow colors. They are rarely seen in chulio, decorated with red-blue-white ornamental composition.

The boatman from the floating islands Uros and his sons on the famous reed boat of Lake Titicaca (2005)

The men of Taquile Island wear chulio without headphones (for details, see: "").

One of two main design options chulio Taquile Islands. Snapshot 2011

In Ausangate chulio often richly decorated with white beads and large tassels called t'ikas. Its exotic beauty did not leave indifferent even the publishers of Vogue magazine, who placed on the first cover a photograph of this cap adorning the head of the model.

Mood now - THOUGHT

The Incas - a lost civilization
In South America, where Peru is now, one of the oldest civilizations once flourished - the Inca Empire. Information that has survived to this day is very scarce. However, they testify to the fact that the Incas possessed technologies, many of which mankind still does not own. The priests performed complex surgical operations and mastered the art of mummification. Having reached a highly developed social system, the Incas did not even master the wheel.
sacred cereal
The Spanish colonialists, in the first decades after the conquest of the Inca state, were very surprised where the Indians, from whom they took away the most suitable lands for cultivation and thereby undermined the foundations of nutrition, take strength to continue the struggle. Finally the riddle was solved. The Spaniards discovered that the natives fed on a "sacred cereal" that was secretly grown in the mountains. One of the reports to the viceroy said: "The rebellious Indians can never be completely broken as long as they use grains the size of a pinhead for food." These were the grains of a plant called "kivicha". Then the Spaniards, in an effort to starve the Indians, banned the cultivation of the "sacred cereal" under pain of death. Kiwicha was rediscovered seven years ago by the Peruvian scientist Luis Sumar, who was studying wild plants in remote areas of the Cusco Valley. Sumar found a feral cereal with small grains, which, as the Indians said, was highly valued by their ancestors. Subsequent examination of the grains revealed their striking properties. "They slow down aging, improve memory and strengthen the nerves, heal stomach ulcers and are useful for tuberculosis," says the scientist. As it turned out, the “sacred cereal of the Incas” has a high protein content, it is rich in amino acids and lecithins.
Formula of immortality
A few decades after the conquest of the Incas, the Spaniards for a long time could not understand where the Incas took their forces from and continued the battle. There were many versions, but all versions agreed on one thing - it was a product that endowed people with supernatural abilities.
Later, this was confirmed when a secret passage was found in the mountains, where they discovered grain fields. In these fields, kiwicha (sacred grain) was grown, it was larger than any other grain. Already after the discovery of the secret fields, the Indians admitted that kiwicha gives them immortality and great physical abilities. The Spaniards were so scared that they forbade the cultivation of kiwich. Anyone who continued to grow was doomed to death.
It was not possible to find out further details, because the Spaniards were not interested in the properties of kivichi. A few years ago, the Peruvian scientist Luis Sumar, studying wild plants near Cusco, discovered this very “sacred cereal” - kiwicha. After conducting research, Sumar revealed some properties of kiwichi: they improve memory, slow down aging, strengthen nerves, heal stomach ulcers, and are useful for tuberculosis.
It is known that there were also closed studies, about which nothing is known. The Incas believed that if you use kiwich, the physical body will live almost forever and they believed for a reason ...
doctoring
It all started in the 19th century, when an American diplomat, anthropologist Ephraim George Squier went to Peru for antiquities. However, neither Ephraim nor the others expected that they would open...
Ephraim examined ancient places, ruins, structures, but did not find anything valuable and curious. One day, when he refused to go on research and stayed in a small village, he stumbled upon a private archaeological collection. Squier examined the objects for a long time until he fixed his gaze on the skull of an Inca, ... which lacked a large square.
Squier was immediately imbued with curiosity and then acquired this skull. He sent his purchase to the then famous anthropologist and anatomist Paul Broca. Literally a few hours after receiving the package, Broca recognized the uniqueness of the skull. As Broca said: “... I have never before seen an ancient skull, from which a part of a bone was extracted with the utmost precision.”

In the end, the anthropologist Broca came to the conclusion that the Incas carried out a trepanation of this skull, that is, parts of the human skull were removed. According to official data, trepanation was practiced by Africans (as early as 12,000 years before the Incas) and in Europe (as early as 5,700 years before the Incas). But there are some nuances that do not connect the practice of the Incas and other civilizations.
The fact is that Africans and Europeans did trepanation on the skulls of already dead people in order to expel evil spirits. The same great anthropologist Broca found out that the trepanation of the Incas was carried out for purely medical purposes, as evidenced by signs of infection along the edges of the hole. It was decided to continue research.
Many years later, a huge number of trepanned Inca skulls were studied. Many “techniques” of surgical technique were discovered, and the most important discovery: more than 50% of the Incas, who underwent trepanation, survived and recovered.
Finally, the final count was made. It turned out that hundreds of Peruvian trepanned skulls, which are currently found, exceed the total number of all found trepanned skulls in the world.
The Inca civilization was the first civilization in the world to use neurosurgery with success.
Talking Stones
For us now it seems strange, I would even say - crazy. But at that time, the Incas considered stone not just a solid building material, they deified it. Wherever the Incas settled, stones were present.
Some scientists, physicists, theorists, experimenters believe that each particle is a complex spiritual form that is not inferior in spirituality to a person. As they told about the famous scientist Nikola Tesla, he found a common "language" with electricity, he ordered him what he wanted, and it fulfilled his requirements.
Of course, this is hard to believe. But why can't a stone have spirituality? It is quite possible and the Incas knew it. The Incas demonstrated the amazing art of masons, building religious temples, pyramids, arches and so on. They used stone tools - to work with stone - it's amazing!
Now we can admire the works of art left by ancient civilizations. The unnamed architects have done a great job of creating the most durable structure that can withstand earthquakes, winds and rains for thousands of years. During the conquest of the Incas, the Spaniards were surprised that such structures could not be destroyed to the ground and even more so wiped off the face of the earth.
Most of the stones and stone structures were considered "huaca" (sacred place). If you figuratively get used to the role of any Inca, then you can easily find out the reason why they considered the stone to be a living being.
The stone gave the Incas everything, absolutely everything. The Incas did not value the precious metal in the same way that they valued the stone, and if a stone was taken away from them, then they would not have found a replacement for it very soon (or would not have found it at all).
Ghost town of Machu Picchu
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Hiram Bingham, an American explorer, went in search of a mysterious city. Incidentally, it was the most ancient city of the Incas, the founder of the entire empire and family. It was from Machu Picchu that the “Cult of the Sun” and the powerful god Inti were formed. According to researchers who never found the ghost town, the Incas deliberately hid the sacred city.
As it is laid out in riddles, this city is overgrown with many legends. Perhaps the most interesting of the legends tells us about the divine city of Machu Picchu, where the first Incas were born in order to create a new powerful civilization. Hiram's expedition never found a passage to the secret city, local natives who believe in the wisdom of their ancestors claim that the passage was blocked by a rock.
Translating into our language, it is not difficult to guess that Machu Picchu was not on the surface of the earth, but in a rock or even in the mountains. From the legend it is also clear that this city was a citadel unlike other cities of the Incas. But not a single fact has been recorded in history that citadels were ever built in closed spaces.
Later, after Bingham, the city was nevertheless found. It became clear that Machu Picchu was built not for life and people, but as a single true temple to the deities. The quality of the masonry surpasses the quality of the construction of the Incas, but not all. Later structures were worse in quality. The Incas believed that Machu Picchu was built by the first Emperor Pachacuti. Alas, the fact that this is a true temple to the Deities has sunk into oblivion when traces of people living in Machu Picchu were found.
The approximate population of the city was 1000 people. Machu Picchu was quite crowded, with only 180 huts and a small number of temples. As I said, the styling technique is completely different than that of the Incas, which leads to some thoughts.
The origin of the mysterious city is as mysterious as its disappearance. One fine day, all the inhabitants of Machu Picchu disappeared, it is possible, of course, that they moved, but this cannot be confirmed either. If the natives moved to another area, then the city would remain as a huge temple-citadel and many would know the way to it.
As I mentioned above, there are many legends and explanations for this ghost town. One of them is that Machu Picchu was not related to the Incas, it was built by Pachacuti, who, oddly enough, did not even know that there was a “Cul of the Sun”. Who was this ... Pachacuti? This question will never be answered, because there are no records that indicated the existence of Pachacuti as an Inca emperor. Suddenly, something happened, and the inhabitants disappeared somewhere, and everything, including the founder himself.
The researchers who found Machu Picchu described it as a castle that was in a “sterile room” without being destroyed and natural phenomena, as well as looting by people. Who, when and most importantly, why tried to hide this city from prying eyes and presence? These questions will remain open forever.
The true "gold" of the Incas
In those days, for the invading Spaniards, as for all Europeans, gold and silver were the most precious treasures. However, the Incas did not consider gold to be any kind of treasure, for them it was just a beautiful metal. In fact, the Incas revered sewing and fabrics as the most precious because it took a lot of time to make only a man's tunic.
Thanks to their passion for sewing, they involved the majority of the population in this area, in other words, they all sewed. The wool came from special people who were responsible for the timely production of llama, vicuna and alpaca wool. But wool was only the basis of all art and was found only in the houses of peasants, where it was dyed, washed and decorated with huts.
In elite houses, yarn was obtained from wool, and then pieces of matter. The Incas did not know how to cut fabric, so pieces of fabric were simply sewn together, thereby obtaining the necessary things, such as bags, simple clothes and decorative fabric.
The fabric of fine workmanship was called “kumbi”. Wearing kumbi spoke of the high status of the owner, who received permission from the emperor himself to wear such beauty. There was another, special kind of clothing, similar to a chessboard with a triangle on top. Usually this attire indicated that the owner had a high military rank and was awarded a “medal” for courage. The last type of clothing that the Incas wove was a brightly colored tunic with many different patterns especially for the Sapa Inca himself and his heirs.
Professionals in their field received huge gifts for their products. They created special, facilitating laws that provided for a relatively low tax and a constant supply of food. For sewing clothes for sacred rituals and the imperial retinue, only gentle female hands were used. These women were supposed to be not only professionals in sewing, but also to be members of the “Cult of the Inca”, the most powerful clan of the Incas. They were provided with three types of looms (“auana”), the images of such looms that have come down to us speak of the enormous expenditure of raw materials and effort to make clothes.
What is kiwicha?
Wheat and other edible cereals have been known since time immemorial, but their nutritional and even more dietary benefits have not yet been fully studied. In 1979, a scientist from Peru, Luis Sumar, discovered a wild plant in a remote area of ​​​​the Cusku desert, which the ancient Indians called "kiwicha" and considered sacred. These pinhead-sized grains, according to legend, helped the Indians survive in the conditions of severe persecution by the Spanish colonialists. Luis Sumar studied a number of properties of the "kivichi" grain and came to the conclusion that "... they slow down aging, improve memory, strengthen the nerves, heal stomach ulcers and are useful for tuberculosis."

Flour - grains of wheat, rye and a number of other cereals ground in a special way. The average person on Earth receives about 50% of proteins, 15% of fats and up to 70% of carbohydrates from grain products. According to a number of indicators, the chemical composition of grain and flour, which is obtained from it, is not the same.
When grinding cereals, a significant part of the mineral substances of the grain germ, rich in biologically active substances, water-soluble vitamins, is in crushed shells - bran. There are also a lot of high-grade fats, proteins that make up a single whole with the grain germ. So, for example, pectin substances in wheat flour are approximately 3.2 g%, and in wheat bran - 32.1 g%. And yet, despite significant losses, the ratio of macro-, micro-, ultramicroelements, biologically active fats, phosphatides in flour remains optimal for the human body. Flour is a dietary product useful in baked goods for many diseases.

Operation - trepanation
In 1863, the American diplomat Ephraim George Squier traveled to Peru. While inspecting a private archaeological collection, Squier saw an Inca skull with a large square missing. This fact aroused great curiosity in him. He purchased the relic and sent it to the famous French anatomist and anthropologist Paul Broca. Upon receiving Squier's acquisition, Brock immediately recognized his uniqueness. Never before had a scientist seen a piece of bone extracted from an ancient skull with such precision. Broca concluded that the operation was performed on the skull of a living Inca, on living bone tissue, as evidenced by signs of infection along the edges of the hole made. It was quite clear that the operation was carried out for purely medical purposes. Later studies of other trepanned Peruvian skulls led to the discovery of a wide variety of surgical techniques and pointed to a striking fact: half of these patients were completely cured after trepanation.
Incas and aliens
Another mystery of the Inca civilization are stones called iki, which archaeologists find in excavations. The main mystery of the stones are the images on them. Scenes of hunting prehistoric animals, pictures of surgical operations for transplanting organs of the human body, people examining something through a magnifying glass, astronomers at a telescope or with a spyglass, geographical maps with unknown continents were scratched on the surface of stones with some kind of sharp tool. Some experts call these stones the greatest discovery of the 20th century. One of the researchers of stones, Dr. Cabrera, claims that all the stones were originally laid in a strictly defined order, which made it possible to use them as a library. A natural question arises: what kind of riders were depicted on the stones by unknown masters? Even more bewildering are the pictures when the character sits on a dinosaur. One feature of the depiction of a man on the Ica stones is striking. It has a disproportionately large head, related to the body as one to three or four. The head of a modern person correlates with the body as one to seven. The unusual ratio of proportions in the structure of the “Ica man”, according to Dr. Cabrera, suggests that he is not our ancestor. The scientist devoted more than ten years to studying the collection before publicly speaking with his findings. And one of the main ones - on the land of ancient America lived a "reasonable man", whose amazing knowledge can only be explained by the intervention of an alien mind. This is also evidenced by the structure of the hands of creatures from Peruvian drawings.
After the conquest by the Spaniards, the Inca civilization died, taking all the secrets with them.