The islands of Titicaca and Koati, illustrated . ttom of the* Ahijadero being formerly more swampy than it is to-day,and water covered perhaps the entire expanse as far as thebase of Kurupata (r). Similar causeways are found in thesouthern bottom of Kona, of which mention will be madefurther on. The ruins proper consist of what at first sight appears asa long and solid wall forming an L, the eastern wing ofwhich is taller but much shorter than the southern. Itsthickness is not easy to determine, as it has been changedby removal as well as through additions, but it seems tovary between four and
The islands of Titicaca and Koati, illustrated . ttom of the* Ahijadero being formerly more swampy than it is to-day,and water covered perhaps the entire expanse as far as thebase of Kurupata (r). Similar causeways are found in thesouthern bottom of Kona, of which mention will be madefurther on. The ruins proper consist of what at first sight appears asa long and solid wall forming an L, the eastern wing ofwhich is taller but much shorter than the southern. Itsthickness is not easy to determine, as it has been changedby removal as well as through additions, but it seems tovary between four and a half and six feet. The masonry isfairly laid and superior to Chullpa work. The southernwing is still standing, partly, on a length of four hundredfeet; there are traces of its former extension westward forquite a distance along the base of Kurupata. Its heightvaries between four and eight feet. In it are a number oflarge niches, a tall one alternating with a smaller, the Plate XLIIIGeneral plan of the bottom of Ahijadero with ruins of Pucara. ANCIENT RUINS ON THE ISLAND OF TITICACA 201 former going down to the ground. There are two openingsthat may have been gateways, but they might also be due toremoval. Yet I believe that at least the smaller one was anentrance. The eastern wing seems to have been part of abuilding. Its length is ninety-eight feet from the corner toa doorway, through which stone steps lead up to a higherplane on the slope of Uacuyu. In this wall are two tall andquite elaborate niches, and two openings the largest ofwhich measures four feet in height, twenty-six inches atthe base and twenty-four at the top, whereas the other issmaller and not tapering. Both have stone lintels. Thegreatest elevation of this wing is nearly thirteen feet, thetallest niche measuring eight and a half feet in openings stand five feet above the ground. Here de-struction has been very great. Enclosures for cattle andswine have been built out of the material by the India
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidislandsoftit, bookyear1910
