Fig. 72. Red pottery vase found in Mound No. 27.Fig.72.—Red pottery vase found in Mound No. 27.
Fig.72.—Red pottery vase found in Mound No. 27.
Mound No. 27 was situated within 100 yards of the next preceding, compared with which it was slightly smaller. It was built of blocks of limestone, limestone dust, and earth. No remains were found in the mound till the ground level was reached. Resting on this, about the center of the mound, lay a small vase (fig.72), 8 inches in height, of rough red pottery. Close to this were a few fragments of human bones and some teeth. This mound contained nothing else of interest.
Mound No. 28 was situated close to Nos. 26 and 27, and was built of similar material. It was 6 feet high by 120 feet in circumference. On the ground level about the center of the mound lay a circular, flat-bottomed bowl 8 inches in diameter, painted a dark chocolate color and polished. A hole had been bored in its bottom and the bowl itself was broken into three pieces. With it was an irregularly shaped piece of flint about 5 inches in length, into which nearly 20 circular holes had been bored. It would appear that this piece of flint had been used to test the merits of various boring implements, as some of the holes were shallow depressions, while others were half an inch deep. Most of them were mere circular depressions of varying diameters, with a smooth flat bottom, and had evidently been made with a solid cylindrical borer, others, however, had a solid core projecting from their bottom, and appeared to have been bored with a hollow cylinder; while a third variety had a small indentation at the summit of this central core. No further excavation was done in this group of mounds, as they all appeared to be sepulchral, belonging to persons of the poorer class, hence it was considered very improbable that objects of interest would be found in them.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 64 PLATE 21.Plate 21a. SMALL VASE DECORATED WITH HUMAN HEADa. SMALL VASE DECORATED WITH HUMAN HEAD
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 64 PLATE 21.
Plate 21b. HUMAN BONES FROM MOUND NO. 29b. HUMAN BONES FROM MOUND NO. 29
Mound No. 29, situated close to the seashore, near Corozal, was of unusual construction, being built throughout of marl dust. It was a low, flat mound, 2 feet in height by 25 feet in diameter. Nothing of human origin was found in it with the exception of a few rough potsherds. On reaching the ground level two circular well-like holes, 2 feet in diameter, were discovered, about 15 feet apart. At the top both openings were covered with large blocks of limestone, on removing which it was found that each hole was filled with marl dust, enclosing in both cases a single male human skeleton. The knees had been forcibly flexed on the thighs, and the thighs on the pelvis, while the back had been bent till the head, which rested on the folded arms, almost touched the symphysis pubis. Evidently the body had been doubled up at the time of burial, so as to fit tightly into the cavity, and had been further compressed by ramming down large stones on top of the marl dust with which it was surrounded.[54]The bones in one of the graves were in an excellent state of preservation, as may be seen from plate21,b; they are those of a young adult male, probably somewhat more than 5 feet in height, of poor muscular development. The teeth are excellent; the skull is decidedly brachicephalic, the measurements being: Length, 15.4 cm.; breadth, 17.5 cm.; circumference, 52 cm.; cephalic index, 113. Beneath this skeleton were found an unfinished flint arrowhead, four fragments of small obsidian knives, and the broken fragments of a small, round, unpolished chocolate-colored bowl.
The bones in the other cist, though placed apparently under precisely the same conditions as the one first opened, were found to be so friable that they crumbled into fragments when an effort was made to remove them. Beneath them were found only fragments of obsidian knives.
Mound No. 30, situated close to Corozal, was completely dug down, and was found to contain multiple burials. The mound was 8 feet in height, roughly circular, and 40 feet in diameter. It was capped by a layer of reddish-brown earth, 6 inches to 1 foot in thickness, beneath which were alternate layers of soft cement, each about 1 foot thick, and of small limestone rubble about 2 feet thick. Scattered over the surface of the mound, just beneath the earth capping, were found a number of fragments of clay figurines. The best preserved of these were three human faces, an arm with the hand holding a small bird, a bird's head, an alligator's head, and a plaited cotton breastplate. At depths varying from 2 to 3 feet, six interments were found; of these only a few fragments of the skull and long bones remained, not enough to determine even the position in which the corpse had been placed at burial. With the bones, in some cases close to them, in others at some little distance, the following objects were discovered: One rubbing stone (for grinding corn), 2 pear-shaped flints, 9 flint hammerstones, 1 ax head, 1 flint scraper, 1 broken hone of slate, 1 flint spearhead, 2 fossil shells, 2 pieces of brick-like pottery, 1 pottery disk, 3 small beads, and 1 shell.
On reaching the ground level of hard compact earth, it was found that an oblong trench had been cut through the latter down to the limestone rock beneath, 3 feet in breadth, and varying from 2 to 4 feet in depth; this trench had been filled in with small rubble. In its inner wall, at the north side of the quadrangle, three interments had been made by scooping out small cists in the earth, depositing the remains therein, and filling in with limestone dust and rubble. With one of these burials was found a small three-legged pot, of rough, unpolished pottery; with another, a vessel in the form of a quadruped, 7 inches in length, the identity of which is difficult to determine; and with the third a small saucer-shaped vessel of red ware, and a nearly spherical vessel of dark polished red ware. Within the latter were discovered a few small animal bones, some freshwater snail shells (as are found at the present day in the neighboring swamps and eaten by the Indians), and a few bivalve shells. It seems probable that this vessel contained food, either as an offering to the gods or for the use of the deceased in his passage to the next world. It is not uncommon to find considerable accumulations of the shells of conchs, cockles, snails, and other edible shellfish, with the bones and teeth of deer, tiger, gibnut, snake, and (along the seashore) manatee, in British Honduras mounds; but the remains of food offerings contained within a vessel are of rare occurrence.[55]
A number of these large flat mounds containing multiple burials have been from time to time completely dug down near Corozal, in order to obtain stone for repairing the streets. Beneath nearly all of them were found trenches cut through the earth down to the subjacent limestone. These trenches varied from 2 to 5 feet in breadth; in the case of the smaller mounds they formed a parallelogram, a triangle, or even a single straight line; in the larger mounds two parallelograms were joined by parallel trenches (see fig.23). They were invariably filled with small rubble, and a few of them contained interments in their walls. The purpose of these trenches is difficult to surmise, as they could hardly have served as foundations; drainage was unnecessary; and, while the trenches themselves were never employed for sepulchral purposes, it is only occasionally that a few burials are found within cists excavated in the earth along their margins.
Three kinds of burial seem to have been commonly employed among the ancient inhabitants of this part of the Maya area. The poorest class were buried in large flat mounds, some of them a half an acre in extent and containing as many as 40 to 50 interments. The body was usually buried with the feet drawn under the pelvis, the knees flexed on the abdomen, the arms crossed over the chest, and the face pressed down on the knees; the position, in fact, in which it would occupy the smallest possible space. With the remains are usually found a few objects of the roughest workmanship, as flint hammerstones, scrapers, and spearheads, pottery or shell beads, stone metates and henequen scrapers, small obsidian knives and cores, and unglazed, rough pottery vessels. In the second class of burials, each individual has a mound, varying from 2 to 30 feet in height, to himself. Several mounds of this class have already been described from the neighborhood of Corozal. The objects found with interments of this class are usually more numerous and of better workmanship than those found in the multiple burial mounds, though they do not show much greater variety. The position of the skeleton, where it has been possible to ascertain this, is usually the same as in the multiple burial mounds; occasionally, however, it is found in the prone position, and, in rare instances, buried head down. The third mode of burial was probably reserved for priests, caciques, and other important individuals. The interment took place in a stone cist or chamber, within a large mound, varying from 20 to 50 feet in height. The skeleton is found in the prone position, surrounded by well painted and decorated vases, together with beautiful greenstone, shell, obsidian, and mother-of-pearl beads, gorgets, studs, ear plugs, and other ornaments.[56]Some of these mounds contain two or even three chambers or cists, superimposed one upon the other. The skeleton is then usually found in the top cist, the accompanying objects being placed in the lower ones. In one instance partial cremation seemed to have been practiced, as fragments of half-burned human bones were found in a largo pottery urn.
Fig. 73. Pottery vessels found in Mound No. 31.Fig.73.—Pottery vessels found in Mound No. 31.
Fig.73.—Pottery vessels found in Mound No. 31.
Fig. 74. Chocolate pot found in Mound No. 31.Fig.74.—Chocolate pot found in Mound No. 31.
Fig.74.—Chocolate pot found in Mound No. 31.
Mound No. 31 was situated close to the Rio Nuevo, about 16 miles from its mouth, in the northern part of British Honduras. It was a somewhat flattened mound, 15 feet in height, built of blocks of limestone, limestone dust, and earth. At a depth of 9 feet, the angle of a ruined building, formed by two walls averaging 2 feet high, intersecting at right angles, and built of squared blocks of limestone, was brought to light. The walls enclosed part of a floor of smooth, hard cement. Numbers of blocks of squared stone were found throughout the upper part of the mound, which had evidently at one time formed part of the ruined building. Resting on the cement floor, close to the wall, were found nine pottery vessels, covered with limestone dust. Five of these were of the type shown in figure73,a, of dark-red, rather coarse pottery, 12 inches in diameter at the rim. One, pictured in figure74, is the usual Maya chocolate pot, similar to the one already described (see fig.24,g), except that the spout, instead of bending inward toward the vessel, passes directly upward parallel to its perpendicular axis, an arrangement which must have rendered it far easier to drink from the vessel or pour fluid out of it. The three other vessels found are illustrated in figures73,b,c, andd;bis of polished chocolate-brown pottery, 3 inches in diameter by 5 inches in height;cis of thick red pottery, 3 inches high, with two small handles for suspension, one on each side;dis of coarse polished red ware, unusually thick and clumsy, 12 inches high by 8 inches in diameter. Each of these vessels contained a single small polished greenstone bead. No other objects were found associated with them, and there was no trace of human bones. Excavations were made in this mound to the ground level without results. The lower part of the mound was built of large blocks of limestone and rubble, held loosely together with friable mortar.
Fig. 75. Pottery vessels found in Mound No. 32.Fig.75.—Pottery vessels found in Mound No. 32.
Fig.75.—Pottery vessels found in Mound No. 32.
Mound No. 32 was situated quite close to No. 31, which it very closely resembled in both size and construction. At a depth of 9 feet the end of a small building constructed of squared blocks of limestone was brought to light. The walls were still standing to a height of 2 to 3 feet, and showed traces of a red stucco covering on their inner surfaces. The cement floor of the building and the platform upon which it stood could also be traced. Lying upon this floor were five pottery vessels and an unfinished flint celt. Two of these vessels were precisely similar to that shown in figure73,a; one is a large, circular, shallow plaque, of rather thick reddish-brown pottery, in the center of which a small hole has been made, evidently with the object of rendering the plaque useless. The last two vessels are illustrated in figure75,a,b.Ais an unusually large vessel of very coarse, thick, red pottery, 18 inches high, which had probably been used to contain corn or some such dry material, as the pottery was too friable and soft for a cooking pot, or even to hold water.Bis a small three-legged vase, 4 inches high, of coarse, unpainted pottery. Each of these five vessels, with the exception of the plaque, contained a single polished greenstone bead. The celt was roughly blocked out of yellowish flint. No objects except those above described were found with these vessels, nor were there any traces of human burial. Excavations were made in the mound to the ground level, and it was found to be composed below the platform upon which the building stood of a solid mass of rubble and limestone held together by loose, friable mortar. There are numerous groups of mounds of all sizes in the neighborhood, and judging by these, and by the potsherds and flint and obsidian chips which one finds strewn over the surface of the soil in great profusion, it must have been a densely populated regionat one time. The two life-size human heads shown in figures76and77were found close to these two mounds in digging a posthole. Figure76represents a grotesque head cut from a solid block of crystalline limestone. Figure77is a mask, rather crudely cut from greenstone and unpolished. Both were buried in the marl and were unaccompanied by other objects.
Fig. 76. Head cut from limestone found in Mound No. 32.Fig.76.—Head cut from limestone found in Mound No. 32.
Fig.76.—Head cut from limestone found in Mound No. 32.
Fig. 77. Greenstone mask found in Mound No. 32.Fig.77.—Greenstone mask found in Mound No. 32.
Fig.77.—Greenstone mask found in Mound No. 32.
Mound No. 33 was situated near Bacalar, in the Province of Quintana Roo, Mexico. It was 6 feet in height by 20 feet in diameter, and was built of blocks of limestone, limestone dust, and earth. Near the summit of this mound, close to the surface, was found the small soapstone lamp illustrated in figure78, 43/4inches in length by 13/4inches in depth. The lamp is decorated in front with a floral design, and at the back by wing or feather-like ornaments, possibly meant to represent the tail and half-folded wings of a bird. It is finely polished throughout but had probably never been used, as in hollowing out the interior the maker had carried one of his strokes too close to the surface, making a small hole, which would have allowed the oil to escape. There is a freedom and lack of conventionality, both in the pleasing and natural floral design and in the flowing lines of the back part of this little lamp, which are totally unlike the cramped and highly conventional style to be observed in similar small objects of ancient Maya manufacture. So widely does it differ from Maya standards that there can be but little doubt that it was introduced in post-Columbian days, probably very soon after the conquest, especially as in the same mound was found one of the small painted clay figurines so common in mounds in this neighborhood, which with the censers probably belonged to the latest period of Maya culture.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 64 PLATE 22.Plate 22a. PAINTED CLAY FIGURINE FROM MOUND NO. 33
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 64 PLATE 22.
Plate 22b. PAINTED CLAY FIGURINE FROM MOUND NO. 33PAINTED CLAY FIGURINE FROM MOUND NO. 33
Another explanation which suggests itself is that the lamp was buried in the mound at a much later date (possibly during the troublous times of the Indian rebellions, between 1840 and 1850) by someone who wished to hide it temporarily, and that it had no connection with the original purpose of the mound. No other objects were found in this mound, with the exception of a number of potsherds, till the ground level was reached, where, near the center of the mound, the painted clay figurine shown in plate22was uncovered. This represents a deer with a human head, whose headdress is the upper jaw of some mythological animal. The back of the figure, which is hollow, contains a small opening near the tail, covered with a conical plug of clay. Within were two small beads, one of polished red shell, the other of polished greenstone. The whole figurine had been coated with lime wash, over which were painted black lines, dots, and circles.[57]The human face, earrings, gorget, and part of the headdress are painted blue, while the mouth of both the human face and the face in the headdress are painted red. Near the figurine lay a vessel (fig.79) of rough yellow pottery, unpainted and undecorated, with two small ear-like projections just below the rim. No bones and no trace of human burial were found in the mound.
Fig. 78. Soapstone lamp found in Mound No. 33.Fig.78.—Soapstone lamp found in Mound No. 33.
Fig.78.—Soapstone lamp found in Mound No. 33.
Fig. 79. Rough pottery vessel found in Mound No. 33.Fig.79.—Rough pottery vessel found in Mound No. 33.
Fig.79.—Rough pottery vessel found in Mound No. 33.
Fig. 80. Objects found in Mound No. 34.Fig.80.—Objects found in Mound No. 34.
Fig.80.—Objects found in Mound No. 34.
Mound No. 34, situated near Progreso, in the northern district of British Honduras, was 5 feet in height, roughly circular, and about 20 feet in diameter at the base. The mound was built throughout of rough blocks of limestone, rubble, and earth. At the ground level, about the center of the mound, were found large flat unworked flags, which seemed to have formed the roof of a small cist that had caved in. Beneath these were found a few fragments of bone, which crumbled away as they were being removed, with a small spherical vase of rough unpainted pottery, 11/2inches in diameter (pl.21,a). This was decorated on the outside with a human head wearing a peaked headdress, somewhat resembling the cap of liberty, and large circular ear plugs in the ears. Below the head projected a pair of arms with the hands clasped in front, supporting between them a small pottery ball. Within this little vase, which was filled with earth and limestone dust, were found: (a) A small earthenware bead (fig.80,a). (b) A small, very delicate obsidian knife, the tip of which is broken off, but which otherwise shows hardly any signs of use (fig.80,b). (c) The terminal phalanx of a small and delicate finger, in a very fair state of preservation (fig.80,c). The burial of a terminal phalanx of one of the fingers of the mother, with a favorite child, is not an unknown custom among semicivilized peoples, and it is possible that this little mound contains such an interment. The bones of the child being fragile and deficient in calcareous matter, may well have almost disappeared, while the finger bone of the mother, being of more compact bony tissue, and protected to some extent by the vase in which it lay, has been preserved. The crudeness of the modeling of the little vase and of the face and arms thereon would suggest that it may have been a plaything of the child during life, and even perhaps may have been modeled by its own hands. The obsidian knife may have been used by the mother to separate the bone at the last finger joint. The little figure which decorates the outside of this vase closely resembles those curious figures in a diving position, with arms pointed downward and feet upward, which are not uncommon in this area. Figure 81 shows one represented on the outside of a small vase; several are to be found, molded in stucco, on theruined buildings of Tuluum, on the eastern coast of Yucatan, just below the island of Cozumel, and they are occasionally, though rarely, found decorating pottery incense burners, instead of the commoner representations of the Gods Itzamna and Cuculcan. Neither Landa, Villagutierre, nor Cogolludo mention the custom as practiced by Maya mothers or relatives on the deaths of their children. Had it been prevalent at the time of the conquest it seems hardly possible that such a practice could have escaped their notice; on the other hand, if the solitary phalanx had not been buried with the dead as a memorial, its presence under these circumstances is very difficult to explain.
In nearly all extensive groups of mounds one or more middens, or refuse mounds, are to be found. The four mounds next described, though varying much from one another, are all distinctly of this type.
Fig. 81. Figure in diving position on small vase.Fig.81.—Figure in diving position on small vase.
Fig.81.—Figure in diving position on small vase.
Mound No. 35 was situated near the Cayo, on the Mopan River; it forms one of a group of about 30 mounds scattered over a considerable area. It was 12 feet in height and seemingly had been about 30 feet in diameter, but situated as it was, immediately on the river bank, nearly half of it had been washed away by the floods of successive rainy seasons, leaving a clean section almost through the center of the mound, very favorable for observing its construction. The lowest layer, 1 to 2 inches in thickness, resting on the ground level, was composed of ashes mixed with fragments of charcoal; above this was a layer of earth and stones about 1 foot in thickness, and above this a further layer of ashes; and so on to the top of the mound—strata of ashes averaging 2 inches thick alternating with strata of earth averaging about 1 foot. No objects with the exception of a few potsherds were found in the earth layers, but the layers of ashes were rich in flint and obsidian chips, fragments of conch and snail shells, clay beads and malacates, potsherds in great variety and abundance, with the bones of the deer, gibnut, and peccary. It would seem that this mound had formed a sort of kitchen midden; that when a certain amountof refuse had been deposited it was covered with a layer of earth, and that the mound must have been in use for a considerable time to have reached its present height.
Small mounds containing considerable quantities of ashes and charcoal mixed with earth and stones, together with refuse material, as flint and obsidian chips, broken implements, potsherds, bones, shells, clay beads and malacates, and similar indestructible objects, are not of infrequent occurrence, and probably mark the sites of ancient kitchen middens. Two such mounds were found on the mainland, south of the island of Tamalcab, in Chetumal Bay, Yucatan, situated in what seemingly had been a village site, occupying an area of approximately 20 acres. Great numbers of potsherds, fragments of pottery, images, beads, malacates, chips and broken implements of stone and obsidian, broken metates, fragments of conch and cockle shells, stone water troughs, and other indestructible rubbish were found scattered in great profusion over the whole of this site.
Mound No. 36 was situated at Sarteneja, in the northern district of British Honduras, quite close to the seashore. This mound was 2 feet 6 inches in height, about 12 feet in diameter; it was composed throughout of conch shells mingled with cockle and whelklike shells. Nothing except the shells was found in this mound, which forms one of a group of similar mounds, evidently dumping places used by each house, for the disposal of the shells of shellfish brought in from the reef by the fishermen after the fish had been extracted and eaten.
Mound No. 37, situated close to the next preceding mound on the seashore, at Sarteneja, is about 2 feet high by 12 to 15 feet in diameter. It is composed almost entirely of fragments of rather rough unpainted pottery and seemingly marks the site of a manufactory of this class of ware, as great quantities of fragments are also to be found scattered in all directions around the mound. A small quantity of earth was mingled with the potsherds, but nothing else was found in the mound.
Mound No. 38, situated about 5 miles from Corozal, in the northern district of British Honduras, was 6 feet in height by 15 feet in diameter, with a flattened top. It was covered with a layer of humus and contained nothing but fragments of weathered stone, of sizes varyingfrom small rubble to blocks weighing 30 to 40 pounds. Similar mounds are found elsewhere and are apparently merely heaps of stones, which have been picked up on the surface of the fields, as, unlike other mounds, they contain no clay, limestone, or marl dust, mortar, or other binding material and no trace of burials or any object of human construction.
Fig. 82. Design incised on femur of deer found in Mound No. 39.Fig.82.—Design incised on femur of deer found in Mound No. 39.
Fig.82.—Design incised on femur of deer found in Mound No. 39.
Mound No. 39 was situated on Wild Cane Cay, a small island off the southern coast of British Honduras. The island seems to have been built up with stone and other material brought from the mainland and to have been used as a burial place. Several small mounds are scattered over the face of the island; unfortunately most of them had been dug down for the sake of the stone they contained and the objects from the graves lost or given away. Those which could be traced consisted chiefly of copper ornaments, as rings, gorgets, and studs. Mound No. 39, the only one whose contents were ascertained with any degree of accuracy, was a small circular mound 10 feet high, built of sand and blocks of reef stone; near the ground level, about the center of the mound, a single human interment was found, the bones of which were in an advanced state of decay; mingled with these were: (a) A round red earthenware pot, containing a few small circular beads made from conch shell and five or six medium-sized, unused obsidian knives. (b) A second somewhat larger pot, of the same shape and material, which contained the upper part of the femur of a deer, on which is incised the design shown in figure82. This is neatly executed in shallow lines; the upper part evidently represents a tiger, or the skin of that animal, and is separated by a platted design from the lower, which may be intended as a representation of the God Itzamna. Withthe bone were two objects of copper, one a finger ring constructed of thin flat bands two-fifths inch apart, joined by double scrolls; this is very much worn, either from use or from oxidization, consequent on long exposure in the damp soil.
Fig. 83. Copper object found in Mound No. 39.Fig.83.—Copper object found in Mound No. 39.
Fig.83.—Copper object found in Mound No. 39.
The second copper object (fig.83) was probably used as a gorget, or for attachment to a headdress, as at the back is seen a cruciform grille, evidently intended to hold it in place. This object is in the form of a human face, the lower part with its large mouth, thick prominent lips, and flattened nose, exhibiting marked negroid characteristics, which the upper part with its bulging prominent forehead contradicts. The headdress is ornamented with three spikes passing along the sagittal suture from front to back, while under the chin is a projection probably intended to represent a short beard. The ring and ornament are both strongly suggestive of Spanish influence, as the face with its thick lips, flattened nose, and bulging forehead is totally unlike any type with which the Maya were likely to come in contact, unless, indeed, it were the Carib, who even at this early date had possibly formed small settlements as far north as the southern coast of British Honduras. If the objects were of Spanish origin they were probably obtained from some Spanish settlement farther north, possibly Bakhalal, as there was no settlement between that town and the coast of Guatemala till many years after the conquest. That the cult of Itzamna was still flourishing is shown by the effigy of the god incised on the deer bone, and according to Villagutierre, the Indians of this neighborhood up to the end of the seventeenth century were closely allied to the Itzaex,[58]who still freely practiced their ancient religious rites.
Mound No. 40, situated near Pueblo Nuevo, on the Rio Hondo, consisted of a ridge about 10 feet high by 40 feet in length. On the summit of the ridge near its center, covered only by a layer of humus, was found a small rough three-legged vase 3 inches high, containing a single long, polished, greenstone bead. The upper part of the ridge was found to consist of blocks of limestone, limestone dust, and rubble, on removing which to a depth of about 4 feet the ruins of a building were brought to light (fig.84). The bones were in so poor a state of preservation that it was difficult to determine the exact position in which the body had been placed at the time of burial; it had, however, certainly been fully extended.
Close to the head were found fragments of three round bowls, all precisely similar in both size and coloring. Each was of the shape shown in figure71,b, 31/2inches high by 61/2inches in diameter, and was made of rather fine ash-colored pottery, finely polished. Each of these bowls before burial had the bottom knocked out. The mound beneath the building was composed of blocks of limestone, rubble, and limestone dust, forming a tough, solid, compact mass. This would seem to have been a small private house, not a temple, which (probably on account of the death of its owner) had been deliberately wrecked, and the owner's body buried beneath the cement floor of the one chamber remaining partially intact. Fresh cement seems to have been applied over the grave before the greater part of the house was pulled down and the wreckage piled up, to form a capping to the mound upon which the house stood.
Fig. 84. Ruins found in Mound No. 40.Fig.84.—Ruins found in Mound No. 40. These consisted of broken-down walls about 2 feet high, joining each other at right angles. Of the wallA-B, 10 feet remained standing; of the wallB-C, 8 feet. The shaded space included between the walls was covered with hard smooth cement, which had been broken away to a rough edge at its outer border and was continuous at its inner border with the stucco which was still partly adherent to the walls. The walls themselves were built of blocks of limestone (squared on their outer surfaces but rough within), rubble, and mortar; they were nearly 2 feet thick. The long diameter of the ridge pointed almost due east and west. An excavation was made in the cement floor, and at the depth of 18 inches, at the point markedD, a single interment was brought to light.
Fig.84.—Ruins found in Mound No. 40. These consisted of broken-down walls about 2 feet high, joining each other at right angles. Of the wallA-B, 10 feet remained standing; of the wallB-C, 8 feet. The shaded space included between the walls was covered with hard smooth cement, which had been broken away to a rough edge at its outer border and was continuous at its inner border with the stucco which was still partly adherent to the walls. The walls themselves were built of blocks of limestone (squared on their outer surfaces but rough within), rubble, and mortar; they were nearly 2 feet thick. The long diameter of the ridge pointed almost due east and west. An excavation was made in the cement floor, and at the depth of 18 inches, at the point markedD, a single interment was brought to light.
Mound No. 41 was situated in the northern district of British Honduras, about 9 miles from Corozal. It consisted of a circular wall or rampart varying from 4 to 10 feet in height, inclosing a space 30 yards in diameter. The wall was built of earth and blocks of limestone, and in places had become considerably flattened out from the action of the heavy tropical rains of this region. To the north an opening or gap existed about 10 yards across. Excavations were made in the encircling wall of the inclosure, and also in the central space, but nothing except fragments of pottery was discovered.
Mounds of this kind are found throughout the area, though not in great numbers. Some of these are circular or horseshoe shaped, some crescentic, and others curved or even straight ridges. As a rule they contain nothing except a few potsherds, which would naturally be picked up with the earth of which most of them are made; in some, however (especially in the straight ridges), superficial interments have been found. These mounds were probably used as fortifications, the circular, horseshoe-shaped, and crescentic mounds being particularly well adapted to this purpose.
At Yalloch, just across the Guatemala boundary line from Choro, a small village in the western district of British Honduras, the Alcalde made a remarkable discovery a few years ago. While hunting for a gibnut he traced one to a hole in the ground; on poking a stick into this hole, he was astonished on withdrawing it to find that he had brought out on its end a small painted pottery cylinder. The hole on being enlarged proved to be the entrance to achultun, one of those curious underground chambers cut in the limestone rock found throughout Yucatan and the northern part of British Honduras, especially in the neighborhood of ruins. Thischultuncontained numbers of fragments of very finely painted and decorated pottery vases, together with two complete cylindrical vases, an ovoid vase, and a pottery cylinder without bottom. Some of these were within thechultun, some in a pit sunk in its floor, from which at a later date several pieces of beautifully decorated pottery were taken. The pit had evidently been used as a burial place, in which the memorial pottery was deposited with the body. Merwin found similar painted Maya vases some years later in a chamber covered by a mound, at Holmul, within a few miles of Yalloch, and at Platon, on the Mopan River, a sepulchralchultunwas cleared out in which human bones still remained. (Pls. 23-28.)
Near the point where Blue Creek or Rio Azul joins the Rio Hondo, in the northern district of British Honduras, is situated in the bush about 100 yards from the latter river a small circular lagoon, of a deep blue color and considerable depth; from this flows a narrow stream, also deep blue in color and highly impregnated with copper, which opens into the main river just below the mouth of the Rio Azul. The little lake is bounded on its eastern side by an almost perpendicular cliff of limestone, in which are several small caves and one large cave. The interior of one of the smallest of these caverns, situated near the base of the cliff, not more than a few yards in depth, was roughly hewn out so as to form shelves. Upon these were found several hundred small binequins of incense, varying in size from 3 to 4 inches in length by 11/2to 2 inches in breadth, to 8 to 10 inches in length by 3 to 4 inches in breadth. The incense was composed of the gum of the white acacia mixedwith various aromatic substances; when burned it gave off a very pleasant odor. The gum had evidently been poured while in a liquid state into small bags, made of palm leaves, as in some of the binequins considerable fragments of the palm leaves were still adherent to the copal, and in all, casts of the leaves were left on the soft surface of the gum before it solidified. The binequins which the present-day Maya Indians manufacture as receptacles for their homemade lime, though vastly larger, are precisely similar in shape, construction, and appearance to those their ancestors used as receptacles for copal. The entrance to the large cave was near the summit of the cliff and so difficult to reach that it can never have been long used as a place of residence, though it would form an exceedingly strong position to hold against an attack from without, as it is necessary to cross a fallen tree trunk in order to enter, and this might easily be hauled back into the cave or pushed away from its mouth, leaving it practically inaccessible. Nothing was found in the cave except a large quantity of bats' excrement and of rough red potsherds.
Two human faces molded in stucco and painted were discovered in a small stone-lined chamber situated beneath one of the end rooms of the Casa del Gobernador in the ruins of Uxmal, northern Yucatan. The room was accidentally disclosed by the caving in of a small part of its roof. One of its walls was covered, above a stone cornice, by a frieze of hieroglyphs, and against this wall stood a small square stone altar, each side of which had been decorated with a human figure molded in stucco and painted. Unfortunately these figures had fallen: the two heads here described are the best preserved parts of them which remain. Describing the sculpture in stone which adorns the outside of the Casa del Gobernador, Stevens ventures the opinion that some of the heads were portraits of celebrated men of the period.
The discovery of this chamber is extremely interesting, as it opens up the possibility that many, if not all, of these vast substructures, built apparently of solid stone, which throughout Yucatan support more or less ruined buildings, may in fact be honeycombed with chambers. Stevens first suggests the possibility of this. Unfortunately since Stevens's day little or nothing has been done throughout Yucatan in the way of excavation to verify the truth of his surmise.
Of the two heads now described, one probably represents a male, the other a female; there is, moreover, a marked individuality about each of them which renders it extremely probable that they are portraits, possibly of some "Halach Uinic" (real man, or chief) of Uxmal and his wife, during the palmy days of the triple alliance.
Each face is painted black with white circles round the orbital margin, red rims to the eyes, and brick-red oval patches at either angle of the mouth. The center of each upper lip is decorated by a figure 8 shaped labret, the lower portion of which has been broken away in the male head. Over the bridge of each nose is a curious ornament consisting of a small oblong object with rounded corners, held in place by a loop passing down the median line of the bridge. Over the center of the forehead in both faces hangs a pendant, that of the male composed of four small round beads, that of the female appearing as a rounded comblike excrescence. Traces of the headdresses remain as a few feathers above each forehead. Both heads were probably held within widely distended animal jaws, as a part of the lower jaw is seen below the chin in the male head, where alsothe large circular red ear plug still remains on the right side. The measurements of the faces are as follows:
Male.—Top of headdress to bottom of lower jaw of animal head holding the face, 11-3/10 inches; top of headdress to bottom of chin, 9-3/10 inches; forehead below headdress, to bottom of chin, 8-3/10 inches; extreme breadth of face (midway between a transverse line passing through the pupils and one passing immediately beneath the lower margin of the nasal septum), 7-1/10 inches; extreme breadth at level of the pupils, 7 inches; length of nose, 2-6/10 inches; breadth of nose, 1-6/10 inches.
Female.—Top of headdress to bottom of chin, 10-4/10 inches; forehead below headdress to bottom of chin, 8-8/10 inches; greatest breadth of face, at same level as the male, 7-8/10 inches; greatest breadth at the level of eyes, 7-6/10 inches; length of nose, 2-8/10 inches; breadth of nose, 1-9/10 inches.
The city of Uxmal belongs to the later, or northern Maya, civilization. Unlike the earlier southern cities, Uxmal is without a single initial series date by which its age might be approximately determined. It was founded by Achuitok Tutulxu, probably about the year 1000 of the Christian era. In the "Series of Katuns from the Book of Chilam Balam of Mani" the date given is Katun 2 Ahau, whereas in that from Tizimin it is recorded as having taken place 180 years later.[60]The cities of Uxmal, Chichen Itza, and Mayapan formed a triple alliance, which lasted for nearly 200 years, during probably the most prosperous period of the whole Maya rule in Yucatan. After the disruption of this alliance, caused by a quarrel between the rulers of Chichen Itza and Mayapan, Uxmal gradually declined in prosperity, till at the time of the conquest its temples and palaces seem to have been completely abandoned. The city was visited in 1586 by the Franciscan delegate Alonzo Ponce, one of whose companions gives an interesting account of the ruins. Describing the house of the governor, he says:
Besides these four buildings there is on the south of them, distant from them about an arquebus shot, another very large building built on a "Mul" or hill made by hand, with abundance of buttresses on the corners made of massive carved stones. The ascent of this "mul" is made with difficulty, since the staircase by which the ascent is made is now almost destroyed. The building which is raised on this "mul" is of extraordinary sumptuousness and grandeur, and like the others very fine and beautiful. It has on its front, which faces the east, many figures and bodies of men and of shields, and of forms like the eagle which are found on the arms of the Mexicans, as well as of certain characters and letters which the Maya Indians used in old time—all carved with so great dexterity as surely to excite admiration. The other façade, which faces the west, showed the same carving, although more than half the carved part had fallen. The ends stood firm and whole with their four corners much carved in the round, like those of the other building below.... The Indians do not know surely who built these buildings or when they were built, though some of them did their best in trying to explain the matter, but in doing so showed foolish fancies and dreams, and nothing fitted into the facts or was satisfactory. The truth is that to-day the place is called Uxmal, and an intelligent old Indian declared to the father delegate that according to what the ancients had said it was known that it was more than nine hundred years since the buildings were built.[59]
Besides these four buildings there is on the south of them, distant from them about an arquebus shot, another very large building built on a "Mul" or hill made by hand, with abundance of buttresses on the corners made of massive carved stones. The ascent of this "mul" is made with difficulty, since the staircase by which the ascent is made is now almost destroyed. The building which is raised on this "mul" is of extraordinary sumptuousness and grandeur, and like the others very fine and beautiful. It has on its front, which faces the east, many figures and bodies of men and of shields, and of forms like the eagle which are found on the arms of the Mexicans, as well as of certain characters and letters which the Maya Indians used in old time—all carved with so great dexterity as surely to excite admiration. The other façade, which faces the west, showed the same carving, although more than half the carved part had fallen. The ends stood firm and whole with their four corners much carved in the round, like those of the other building below.... The Indians do not know surely who built these buildings or when they were built, though some of them did their best in trying to explain the matter, but in doing so showed foolish fancies and dreams, and nothing fitted into the facts or was satisfactory. The truth is that to-day the place is called Uxmal, and an intelligent old Indian declared to the father delegate that according to what the ancients had said it was known that it was more than nine hundred years since the buildings were built.[59]
From this account there appears to be little doubt that at the time of the conquest the great buildings of Uxmal were deserted and already falling into ruins. In the minds of the Indians they were evidently associated with the practice of their ancient religious rites at a much later date, for one of the reasons given by the regidor when he applied for a grant of the land upon which the ruins stand was that—
It would prevent the Indians in those places from worshipping the devil in the ancient buildings which are there, having in them idols to which they burn copal, and performing other detestable sacrifices as they are doing every day notoriously and publicly.[61]
It would prevent the Indians in those places from worshipping the devil in the ancient buildings which are there, having in them idols to which they burn copal, and performing other detestable sacrifices as they are doing every day notoriously and publicly.[61]
The ruins of Uxmal were probably venerated by the Indians up to a very recent period, as in one of the chants used by the modern Maya of southern Yucatan in their "Cha chac" or rain ceremony the "Noh Nah ti Uxmal," "Great house of Uxmal," is introduced, which possibly refers to the Casa del Gobernador, as this is the largest building among the ruins.