We cleared what remained of the platform and obtained a better idea of what its full shape must have been.  But this created its own puzzle:  The platform clearly fell down only one ofthe two gullies.  Yet the artifacts we found strewn about the slope all were beneath a gully that headed in another direction.  One explanation could be that when the platform collapsed it met the icefield which sent the objects flying off to the side. As we returned to camp, we ran into Carlos bringing an extra rope.  He told us of an accident that Ignacio had had while carrying up the 12 V battery (used with the solar panels to provide power for the computer and satellite phone).   He realized too late that battery acid had leaked onto his clothes and from there onto clothes of some of the others, also their sleeping bags, etc.  The only pants he had now to wear were the ski pants Ihad brought for whoever needed extra wind protection.  The rest of the clothing and bags had their holes covered with adhesive tape.

Nov. 29:  Today we searched for where the Ice Maiden had fallen.  Since the entire side of the icefield had retracted and nothing looked familiar, this proved more difficult than I'd imagined.  There was lots of the wild bunch grass scattered along the edge where the icefield met the scree slope, but it was some time before we began to find the telltale signs of where the mummy had come to a stop:  small pieces of fine ceremonial pottery, maize and llama bones, and then some torn textiles and even a carved cylindrical stone (similar to stones used in fertility rites I've seen elsewhere).  Two small wooden spoons, probably personal possessions of the Ice Maiden, were found higher up the slope.  But we also discovered that one reason we did not find the site sooner was due to treasure hunters having combed the site.   Well, we'd accomplished the goals of excavating the summit site and searching the slopes below it, now remained the "grass site."

Nov. 30:  What we had seen on the surface---masses of wild grass, wood and flat stones proved to our surprise to be pretty much all there was...it was indeed a "grass site."   As we'd surmised, the Incas had used this site as a place to stay before continuing on to the summit.  The grass had been held in place by ropes made of grass.  At the highest point were the remains of posts, presumably to help hold up cloth protection from the winds that swept across the top of the hill.   Potsherds were found, but this time only of the utilitarian kind.   The best find of the day was that of a cloth bag which had designs found only on the coast in the Inca period. 

Excavating the grass site at 20,400'

Dec. 1:  This proved to be something of a repeat of yesterday.  More bits of textiles, some potsherds, lots of rope, but the picture of the site having been used only as a place to stop on the way to the summit remained the same. 

We felt we had done what we could, and with only two days more food (three at a stretch), we decided to concentrate our efforts on the site at 19,200' where we'd found two human sacrifices in 1995 and more artifacts last year, despite having to work in a snowstorm.  But this also meant we would have to drop down about 1,100' feet and climb back up toour campsite at the end of a hard day's work.  Moving the camp down for only a couple of days did not seem an attractive alternative either, and we had no water problem here, while clearly there would be one down below.  At least we had higher hopes of making some finds of interest and perhaps completing much of work of the past two seasons there.

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NOV.27th