or 4x12 figures.

Curiously enough the number 12 coincides not only with the number of heads
exhibited by the central figure, but the entire bas-relief offers a
certain agreement with the numerical divisions of Cuzco which I have
summarized as having been divided into two halves and four quarters and
subdivided into 12 wards, the names of which doubtlessly corresponded with
those of their inhabitants. Personally I am inclined to consider that the
purpose of the Tiahuanaco bas-relief was to establish a certain tribal
organization and impose certain distinctive insignia upon each tribe. The
inference that each sculptured figure was differentiated from the other by
being painted in various colors is justified by Molina's account, already
cited, that "in Tiahuanaco the 'Creator' had his chief abode, hence the
superb edifices in that place, on which edifices were painted many dresses
of Indians ... thus each nation uses the dress with which they invest
their huaca and they say that the first that was born [in Tiahuanaco] was
there turned into stones, others say that the first of their lineages were
turned into falcons, condors and other animals and birds."

It is with deference, however, that I submit my conclusion and refer the
question to the supreme authority of Drs. Stuebel and Uhle and Mr.
Bandelier, whose attainments and exhaustive researches in the region of
Tiahuanaco qualify them to utter a final judgment upon this interesting
subject. According to Dr. Max Uhle the civilization established at
Tiahuanaco antedates that of the Incas. It may yet be proven that whilst
Tiahuanaco was settled in remote times by colonists from the North, the
Inca civilization was due to a later migration. It certainly appears that,
in Tiahuanaco and Cuzco, the identical fundamental scheme of government
and organization prevailed.

I shall yet have occasion to point out that in Mexico and Yucatan and
Central America there are also monuments exhibiting multiples of 12 and 4
and also 16 chieftains. Meanwhile it is worth while to note here briefly,
some analogies to Mexican and Maya antiquities found in Peru.

I am much indebted to Sir Clements D. Markham, the President of the Royal
Geographical Society, for the kind permission to reproduce here a hasty
drawing he made, in 1853, of a gold plaque (size 5-8/10 inches) found in
Cuzco (fig. 50). It was then in Lima, being the property of the President
of Peru, General Echerrique. This curious r