Peru.
The same remarks apply to what we find in Peru with equal force, but not with equal distinctness. No one will, I presume, contend that there was any direct communication between Europe and the west coast of South America before the time of Columbus. Yet there are similarities between the masonry of the Peruvian monuments and those of the Pelasgi in Greece and Tyrrheni in Italy which are most striking, and can only be accounted for, at present, on the assumption that nations in the same stage of civilization, and using similar materials, arrive nearly at the same results. Perhaps we ought to add to this, provided they have some taint of the same blood in their veins; and that, in this case, does not seem absolutely improbable.
Be this as it may, there are, so far as I know, no rude-stone monuments in Southern America. The ruins, for instance, of Tia Huanaco, which have often been quoted for their similarity to "Druidical remains," are as far removed as possible from that category. It is true that there are rows of squared stones that now stand apart, and in imperfect drawings look like our menhirs enclosing a square or circular space. In reality, however, as we learn from photographs, they are carefully squared stones, which formed pilasters in walls constructed with Adobes, or imperfectly burned bricks, or smaller stones which have been removed.[598] The doorways which led into this enclosure are hewn out of a single block of stone, and are more carefully cut and polished than anything else to be found anywhere out of Egypt, and there only in the best days of her great Pharaohs.
The same remarks may apply to the circles and squares illustrated by Mr. Squier.[599] I may be mistaken, but my impression is that like Houel's Druidical circles in Gozo, above alluded to, they are only the foundation courses of square and circular buildings, the upper parts of which have perished. At all events, till they are excavated, or some traditional or real use is found for them, I should be very unwilling to base any argument on their accidental similarity with our stone circles.
There can be no doubt that these earthen mounds and primitive carved stones of the American continent form in themselves a most interesting group of monuments, well deserving more attention than has yet been bestowed upon them, and that, when properly investigated, they will throw more light on the origin and migrations of the various aboriginal races of that country than can be expected from any other source. They are not, however, of the class we are treating of, nor do they seem to have any direct connexion with those of the Old World. As, besides this, their examination does not promise to solve any of our difficulties, they do not necessarily occupy an extended space in a work devoted to the elucidation of the Use and Age of Rude-Stone Monuments.
Footnotes
[594] 'Ancient Monuments in the Mississippi Valley;' Philadelphia, 1847.
[595] 'Ancient Monuments,' &c., p. 49. Hyde Park, including Kensington Gardens, occupies about one square mile.
[596] I cannot help fancying that the great animals in stone that line the avenues leading to the tombs of the emperors in China may have some affinity with the American animal sculptures, which occur principally in Wisconsin and the farther West. I am unable, however, to obtain any information with regard to the Chinese or Siberian examples sufficiently reliable to found any argument upon.
[597] 'Annal. for Nordk. Oldkyndighed,' ii. p. 3 et seqq. See also C. C. Rafn, 'Antiquitates Americanæ,' &c., Hafniæ, 1837.
[598] 'History of Architecture,' by the Author, vol. ii. pp. 774 et seq.
[599] 'The American Naturalist,' iv., March, 1870, figures 1, 8, and 9.