IISTATUES INPUNTA DE LAS FIGURAS.
Squiervisited this locality in December 1849; it is a little plateau, formed by an extension of the margin of the crater surrounding the Bahia de Chiquero. To the west it slopes pretty abruptly towards the Bahia; to the north it shelves gradually towards the low promontory,Punta de las Figuras, which is separated from the south-eastern point of the islet of Ceiba,Punta de Pantheon, by a sound, 50 m. broad; to the east the plateau descends rapidly towards the lake of Nicaragua, and to the south it falls steeply towards the little crater-lakeLaguna de Apoyo. It is densely covered by gigantic trees, and between these by under-brush and lians, confusedly entangled. Here I found five large stone-mounds, that may possibly be the remains of temples or other large buildings. The relative situation of these mounds is approximately shown by the planPl. 41. Besides these larger mounds, which were more or less oval, with the longer diameter varying from 20 to 40 meters, several smaller, and more irregular ones, were met with. These, however, are not indicated in the plan. The mound I was that nearest to Bahia de Chiquero, the mound V the nearest to Laguna de Apoyo. In this locality no statues were found that could with any degree of certainty be regarded as remaining in their original places, nor were any lying or standing in such a position that it could be decided, whether they had been placedin the peripheriesof the mounds,withinthe buildings, orin the open spacesbetween the mounds. In this respect the former locality was byfar more interesting. The statues were less well preserved, and had evidently been subjected to greater violence, probably also to attempts at removal. Indeed we know throughSquier, that such has been the case. Some statues had been transported to Granada before his visit, andSquierhimself sent some to Washington.
αPl. 21and22.
It has been before figured bySquier, l. c., vol. ii., in the plate facing p. 54, fig. 2, and described pp. 53, 54, and 58. InSquier’s list it has the no. 2.Bancrofthas mentioned it in «The Native Races of the Pacific shores of North America», vol. iv., p. 41, with a copy ofSquier’s figure p. 42, fig. 3.
It was a male figure, sitting on the ground, with the knees drawn high up, and the head bent forwards. On the back of the head and the neck, there rested a solid mass of stone, gradually passing into the outlines of the neck and the back. This mass tapered upwards, and seemed to have passed into a pyramidical tenon, which, however, was broken off. The face was broad, with rounded retiring forehead, the nose long and straight. The eyes were formed by circular cavities; the mouth was half-open; the ears were large and prominent. By the shape of the face, the figure recalled the image Q fromPunta del Sapote. The neck was much too thick to be a human neck. The chest was only little elaborated, the shoulders much raised, the arms well cut, the left hand pressed against the left foot, the right one drawn back somewhat more. The legs were well molded, like the arms; the knees drawn up nearly to the chin. The back was round-cut. The pedestal was carefully hewn, forming a square pillar of considerable height, tapering downwards. Its uppermost portion, on which the figure was seated, formed a kind ofroundcapital, ornamented on the side by a triple engraved angular wreath. The height of the statue from the crown of the head to the upper margin of the pedestal was 80 cm.; the length of the face was 34 cm., its breadth 25 cm. The breadth across the shoulders was 44 cm. The statue has probably stood insulated. It was entire, lying south-west of the stone-mound I, nearest to the shore of the Bahia (except the figure γ) and had probably been the object of endeavours to remove it.
βPl. 23.
It is figured bySquier, l. c., in the plate facing p. 65, and described pp. 64 and 65.Bancroft, l. c., p. 40, fig. 2.
Male figure, sitting on the ground. With regard to the posture it came most near to the image α, but could not be said to possess a human aspect. Indeed it deserved, if any, to be called a monster.Squierthought that it represented a tiger, but if we compare the head of the present statue with the head of the jaguar in the statue H, fromPunta del Sapote, this opinion does not seem very likely. The face exhibited a low, arched forehead, small oval eyes, a broad, flat, long nose or muzzle with small, round nostrils. The mouth was not open. The upper lip was clearly to be distinguished, although it had been broken. The chin was broad; the ears were oval, placed far up. The neck was very thick and powerful, the body colossal, with large abdomen. The whole back of the body was also elaborated. The shoulders were highly raised, the upper arm was long, broad and thick, the lower arm short, at a right angle to the upper arm, the paws resting on the abdomen. The legs were very short, especially the small of the legs. The feet were pretty like human feet, with distinct toes. The upper part of the pedestal was enlarged in the shape of an Ω, ornamented at the sides with a garland, like that of the image α. The height of the statue from the highest point of the trunk to the upper edge of the pedestal was 150 cm. The height of the face was 40 cm., its breadth 30 cm. When found, it stood upright, immediately north of the mound III.
γPl. 24and25.
It is not mentioned bySquier.
Male, sitting figure. The head was broken off. The figure itself was much damaged; but the pedestal was well preserved, and exhibited fine ornaments. The chest of the figure was strongly arched, the upper arm short and broad, the lower arm and the fingers were long. On the sidesof the cornice of the pedestal, there was a symmetrical ornament of round coils; the sides of the pedestal itself were decorated with an oval coil twisted about quite symmetrically, in an excavated rectangular field; in front there was an angular ornament. The back of the figure and of the pedestal was not elaborated, but rather rough. It may thus be reasonably inferred that the statue has stood in or against a wall. The height of the statue from the upper edge of the shoulders to the lower edge of the feet was 52 cm. The height of the pedestal from the upper edge to the beginning of the lower, uncut part, which was intended to be imbedded in the ground, was 110 cm. This statue was not found on the plateau of Punta de las Figuras, but had been dragged off and was now lying, half in the water, on the shore of Bahia de Chiquero.
δPl. 25.
Figured bySquier, l. c., on the plate facing p. 58, signed no. 4, treated pp. 54 and 58.Bancroft, l. c., p. 40, fig. 1.
It was no more a statue, but only a pedestal. The little, sitting figure described and designed bySquierwas now entirely crushed and moldered. The pedestal was, however, the most elaborately finished of all found here. It was round, tapering gently downwards, adorned upwards with the same kind of angular ornament, as that mentioned on the front of the preceding pedestal; almost at the middle of its length it was surrounded by a broad band, embellished in the same fashion. The pedestal, lying on the ground, had quite the form of a canon. From the upper edge to the lower broken end it measured 215 cm.; the diameter at the upper end was 66 cm. It was found between the mounds I and II.
εPl. 26.
Figured bySquier, l. c., in the plate facing p. 58, signed no. 5, described p. 59.
Male, half-sitting figure, representing a very fat person with his hands resting on his hips. The face was badly injured, but showed thatthe forehead and the nose were straighter than those figured bySquier. The ears were long, hanging, like the ears of a dog. The upper arm was very short; the abdomen swollen. Legs and feet were thick and clumsy. The back piece was very large in proportion to the figure, only plane-cut, and seemed to indicate that the statue had formed part of a wall or even served as a kind of coulisse or side-wall in a cella. The lower part of the back piece was pierced with a circular hole; another much larger hole perforates the pedestal, which was perfectly unadorned. The statue measured 98 cm. from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot. It was found lying near the preceding.
ζPl. 27and28.
Figured bySquier, l. c., on the plate facing p. 52, described p. 52 and 58.Bancroft, l. c., p. 42, fig. 3.
Male, standing figure, with the hands resting on the abdomen. In this statue also the back piece was very large, proportionately even larger than in the preceding; on this account it may be conjectured to have had a similar use. The face was rather large and round, the forehead somewhat retiring, the eyes small, oval, the nose short, broad, and straight, the mouth closed, with thick lips, the chin broad; the ears were hidden by the projecting back piece which embraced, as it were, and overlapped the face. The chest was well cut. The arms, when viewed from the front, were very thin, pressed close to the sides of the body and to the back piece; when seen from the side, they are, on the contrary, broad and fleshy. The hands rested on the abdomen with the fingers somewhat extended. The legs were rather clumsy. The broad back piece projected above the head like a colossal mitre, ornamented in front with bosses and scrolls, and surrounded by a broad frame. The height of the entire statue from the top of the upper piece to the sole of the figure’s foot, was 210 cm.; its greatest breadth from the chest of the figure to the hinder margin of the back piece was 86 cm. The height of the figure from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot was 140 cm. The length of the face was 31 cm., its breadth across the shoulders was 36 cm. It had been raised up at a recent date, and now stood south of the mound Ι.
ηPl. 29.
Not mentioned bySquier.
Male figure, sitting almost on the ground, bearing on the top of its head another head with a large neck. It is by half statue, by half high-relief. The body of the principal figure was cut out to the shoulders; then followed a portion of the stone that was quite rude on the sides and the back. On the front of this stone the neck and head of the statue and the long-necked head of a man or an animal that surmounts it, were sculptured in high-relief. The upper head had a low forehead, small, round, excavated eyes, long nose or muzzle of equal breadth, closed mouth, and long, prominent, hanging ears. The neck was very long and was placed immediately upon the head of the principal figure. The face of this figure presented a low forehead, large, oval, excavated eyes, a short nose broadening downwards, thick cheeks, small closed mouth, broad thick chin, and prominent, but not very long ears. The neck was short and vigorous. The chest exhibited no sign of muscles, being only a round-cut part of the original stone-pillar, and passing directly into the abdomen, and then into the front of the pedestal. The arms and legs were carved in a kind of relief. The hands rested on the abdomen. The pedestal was cylindrical; its uppermost portion, on which the figure was seated, was somewhat smaller than the rest of it. The height of the statue from the top of the upper head to the upper edge of the pedestal was 120 cm. The length of the upper face was 14 cm. The face of the principal figure was 27 cm. long, 22 cm. broad. The statue was found at the southern margin of the stone-mound V, nearest of all the figures to Laguna de Apoyo.
θPl. 30.
Not mentioned bySquier.
Fragment of a high-relief or one-sided statue with only the head cut free. In comparison with the other high-reliefs found here, its sizewas colossal. Contrary to all other Nicaraguan high-reliefs that I have had an opportunity of seeing, it was wholly in profile. The slab from which it was sculptured was very thin as compared to the size of the figure, no more than 30 cm. in thickness. It was broken in more than 20 pieces, only the head and part of the chest with the arm being in such a state as allowed of their being delineated. The head was slightly curved, carved on both sides, but having an eye, formed of two concentric excavations, only on the left or upper side. The head was truncated before, without any trace of a muzzle or mouth, and provided backwards with a very well sculptured buck’s (?) horn, though only on the upper side. The chest was indicated only by a slight curve. The arm, on the contrary, was pretty well molded, and the fingers were proportional. The lower part of the chest was quite unhewn, as was also the hind portion of the lower part of the head. It carried on the head a square crest or tenon, divided into three parts by transversal lines. The length of the head was 53 cm., its height from the upper edge of the tenon to the lower edge of the horn was 64 cm. The diameter of the eye was 12 cm. The length of the arm from the shoulder to the tip of the ringfinger was 102 cm. The statue was lying on the ground a little west of the mound V.
ιPl. 31.
Figured bySquier, l. c., p. 61, signed No. 9, described pp. 60, 61 and 62.Bancroft, l. c., p. 44, fig. 6.
High-relief, male figure, on a slab about 40 cm. in thickness. It represented a figure lying on its back, if the slab has been a covercle, or standing, if it has been a part of a wall, with straight arms, detached from the sides of the body. The face appeared to be covered by a mask (compare the figure F ofPunta del Sapote); this seemed to be denoted by the large circular holes for the eyes, and the broad, hanging breast-plate or beard; the ears were protected by two flaps extending from the helmet or head-ornament. With the exception of the stiff mask before the face, the figure was well elaborated, with some hints of the muscles of the shoulders, abdomen, and legs. Above the slab there was a projection, broadening upwards,which seemed to be a repetition of the helmet of the head. The outer edges of the slab formed a border five to six cm. broad and 3 cm. high. The slab was broken in two pieces, the lower portion was found lying far from the upper one. The entire slab measured 182 cm. from the upper edge of the upper projection to the lower edge of the border below the feet; its breadth across the body of the figure was 74 cm. The length of the figure from the top of the head to the lower edge of the feet was 135 cm. The length of the face was 28 cm., its breadth 27 cm. The length of the breast-plate from the chin was 30 cm. The breadth across the shoulders 45 cm. The statue was found on the ground immediately north of the mound I; the lower piece was found west of the mound III.
κPl. 32.
Not mentioned bySquier.
Male figure in relief. Broken in several fragments and impossible to reconstruct. Only the face could be delineated. The face was well preserved and originally uncommonly well executed. It was quite expressive; the forehead was broad, not low, covered with a round cap or low turban; the eyes were narrow, elliptical, boldly cut; the nose was straight, broadening downwards; the mouth half-open, with thin, but well-formed lips; the cheeks were lean, but carefully sculptured; the chin was broad and powerful. The ears were large, very prominent. The length of the face from the lower edge of the turban to the lower edge of the chin was 35 cm.; its breadth 26 cm. The thickness of the slab of stone was about 30 cm. Most fragments of this relief were lying at the western margin of the mound V.
λPl. 32.
Not mentioned bySquier.
Relief representing a male figure with the face of a skull. It was of much rougher workmanship than the reliefs before described. The face wasformed only by an evenly curved, broadly oval elevation, with two circular cavities to mark the eyes, an irregularly triangular one for the nose, and a linear one for the mouth. The chest was evenly rounded, the arms only indicated by two round bands along the breast, ending abruptly with five narrow, round staves, placed at right angles to the arms, and designed to represent the fingers. The lower part of the slab with the legs was lost. Above the head were two sugar-loaf-shaped elevations, and above these a third one with parallel sides, downwards rounded. The slab had square incisions at the same height with the neck and the hands. The length of the figure from the crown of the head to the beginning of the hip was 82 cm. The length of the face was 32 cm.; its breadth 20 cm. The breadth across the shoulders was 24 cm.
Several fragments of broken statues were found on the plateau, but so shattered, disfigured, and intermixed with one another, that it would have taken much time and patience to reconstruct them. Several of the statues, mentioned bySquieras being in comparatively good condition, for inst. his nos. 3, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, and 18 were no more to be found in the place. Some of these have possibly been destroyed by human violence or by the effects of the climate during the thirty years between our visits, others may have been carried off to be deposited in museums or to form the hearth-stone of some Indian rancho.
In general, the statues of this locality chiefly remind of the last described group of statues atPunta del Sapote. Perhaps, from an artistic point of view, they must be considered as inferior even to these. None of the statues atPunta de las Figurascan be compared as a work of art, to the figures of the mound 1 at Punta del Sapote.
The fact that in most of the statues, found in Zapatera, the organs of generation were represented, and often more conspicuous than natural, gives corroboration to the suggestion ofSquierthat a phallic worship or a worship of the reciprocal principles existed among the Niquirans.