pars oe ee fhabas Perea errr Pate '' '' '' '' '' '' ceteris: CWO orgs coo mo ro \ Dn ooo oo <*) £4) a’ Danone ee ey | ET @ { / so ere pe we Sis He ie Oss By, ° ARCHITECTURE \\ "piesa MAYA | , oo oh eee P< Get —— dee ON DIODIIMM OD DUD) MM onennn = GEORGE -OAKLEY TOTTEN AD Ms Ao LAs Son eA. ‘ NY/ = Member Maya Society | | 7 ( _ Honorary Member and Medalist of the | Societé Centrale d’Architecture de Belgique Honorary Member Societé Centrale d’Architecture Espagnole | and Societé Imperiale des Architectes Russes - Member, Permanent Committee International Congress of Architects s /A\ | | | 10>: ——> > @ < Garw— <--> | Published by) > Ks; : THE MAYA PRESS: |. WASHINGTON, D.C. ol 3 i nies wT) : | BEL CIs ele ZOE). Se G:O: : . a : S Ola = oy: Ves ae DILL o ''ANTHROPOLOGY MEDAL AWARDED THE UTE OR BY THE SOCIETE DES ARTISTES FRANCAIS Al THE 1923 SALON FOR HIS EXHIBITS OF PHOTOGRAPHS MODELS, DRAWINGS AND MUSEUM DESIGNS Oe MAYA ARGHITECT ORE CopyRIGHTED 1926 BY GEORGE OAKLEY 'TOTTEN PRINTED BY W. F. Roperts Company, INC., WASHINGTON, D. C. '' '' '' ''Frontispiece LXXXVII PLATI DEFAIL: PALACE OF THE GOVERNOR UXMAL. ''To my Sons, GEORGE OAKLEY TOTTEN, 3rd and GIB RBERIS)ON FOS) COLTEN this book 1s affectionately DEDICATED 595 — ''FIGURE OF SINGING GIRL FROM EXTERIOR DECORATION OF TEMPLE No. 22. COPAN. (THE ORIGINAL SCULPTURE IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM.) '' MAYA MIONG have we sought to be inspired by ancient Greek N) and Roman art—the heritage of Europe. All unaware that buried deep in the dark jungles of our southern lands there lie vestiges of a_half- forgotten: race, a racé that ran its course and died—a race inspired by mighty Kukulcan to build the noble temples of Copan—Mother City of the Mayas. But art eternal never dies. So in the rebirth of this wondrous people new cities sprang to life—Chichen Itza, Uxmal and Mayapan. The embers of the dying fire were fanned to life and art once more flamed forth to their eternal glory. Then death again did claim its toll, and once more Maya art was dead. Not dead, but only slumbering, to be awakened by a young and vigorous people of the North; their privilege it shall be to take up the work where Maya left it off, and carry on. The Second Renaissance has just begun. O! Great Kukulcan, make clear to them their heritage sub- lime and inspire them to nobler ideals than Maya ever dreamed. [ Page Five | '': eis aig ob a reer ee ee a DB avcabee thtta 08 2g iran hawitctiage ''PLATE Il—Facing Page Six es i pi inane Measured and drawn by George Oakley Totten. cc eee FRONT ELEVATION Sabieet EVER TT) Eek Pas TIGERS BALL COURT CHICHEUNGIIEZA ''Ba Bees ''TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE DA A ee OO a Fa ee eee go ee etn ea We Spt LS tac hina ce 5 TNT RODUCT ION fe en ck eR ee Sega 13 OUTLINE History-—-Old: Empire’ or Classic Period, 36 ciao ets csciccee een 17 New dimpire sor. Renaissaned 2c etree pas crater than 22 Old Empire Chronology...................... a Summary of events New Empire Chronology................... 23 Christian Chronology. ......-.c:csc00e 23 ARCHITECTURE 6 6 ee a ee eo 27 ReOtoty pes en ee rene carne 27 Characteristics Bir er ee ie ee eee eae os Civics Planning coe es ae a ee 27 AP ELTACES ANG “SUDSETUCELITES ice ee eh 28 SPyrarnds——- Vi OUNGS toon ss ep eee Ate unde 29 SPAiP CASES: eo ae a a eee 29 Classes of Buildings: = © -Y ucatan.. Puate 70. Fig. 1, So-called House of the Magician. Uxmal. (Totten.) Fig. 2, Great Pyramid or House of the Magician. Uxmal. Courtesy of Ernest L. Crandall. Puate 71. Fig. 1, Photograph of House of the Magician or Great Pyramid. Uxmal Taken in 1919. (Totten.) Fig. 2, Drawing by F. Catherwood made in 1841, of House of the Magician or Great Pyramid. Pate 72. Details, Upper Temple. House of the Magician. Uxmal. (Totten.) Pirate 73. Lower Temple. An example of the Maya Rococo. House of the Magician. Uxmal. From Drawing by F. Catherwood. Piate 74. Examples of Passage Way under Stairway at Base of Pyramid or House of the Magician. Uxmal. (Totten.) Piate 75. The So-called Casa De Monjas, or Nunnery Quadrangle. (Totten.) Puiate 76. Fig. 1, Details of Northern Facade of North Range, Nunnery Quad- rangle. Uxmal. (Maler.) Fig. 2, Southern Facade of North Range, Nunnery Quadrangle. Uxmal. (Totten.) Pirate 77. Detail of Southern Facade, North Range of Nunnery Quadrangle. Uxmal. From Drawing by F. Catherwood. [ Page Ten ] ''PLate 78. Fig. 1, Western Facade of East Range of Nunnery Quadrangle. Ux- mal. (Totten.) Fig. 2, Eastern Facade of East Range of Nunnery Quad- rangle. Uxmal. (Totten.) PLATE ei oe Western Facade, East Range of Nunnery Quadrangle. Uxmal. Maler.) PiaTte 80. Fig. 1, Detail of the Northern Facade of the South Range Building, Nunnery Quadrangle. Uxmal. From drawing by de Waldeck. Fig. 2, Detail Western Facade, East Range, Nunnery Quadrangle, Uxmal. From drawing by de Waldeck. Puate 81. Fig. 1, Details of the Great Serpent. (Totten.) Fig. 2, Eastern Facade, West Range, Nunnery Quadrangle. Uxmal. (Totten.) PiaTe 82. Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, Masks and Faces of Eastern Facade, West Range of Nunnery Quadrangle. Uxmal. (de Waldeck.) Fig. 5, Restoration Drawing of Eastern Facade, West Range of Nunnery Quadrangle. Uxmal. (de Waldeck. ) PuaTeE 83. Fig. 1, and 2. Maya Quoins or Corner Masks. North Range, Nunnery Quadrangle. Uxmal. (Totten.) PLATE 84. See List of Color Plates. Pirate 85. Fig. 1, South Bay, Palace of the Governor. Uxmal. (Totten.) Fig. 2. North Bay, Palace of the Governor. Uxmal. (Totten.) Fig. 3, Palace of the Governor. Uxmal. From Model in the National Museum, Wash- ington, D. C. Made under the direction of Dr. W. H. Holmes by Delancy Gill. Pate 86. Figs. 1, and 2. Plumed Headdresses of Seated Figures over Door- ways of Palace of the Governor. Uxmal. Fig. 3, Palace of the Governor. Uxmal. Courtesy of Ernest L. Crandall. PiaTE 87. See List of Color Plates. Piate 88. Examples of Maya Cornices and Belt Courses. (Totten.) Pirate 89. A study of Maya Mask Panels. Piate 90. Signs used in inscriptions to denote Days and Months of the year. Pirate 91. Fig. 1, Maya Drums. Courtesy of American Museum of Natural History, New York. Fig. 2, Codex in Borgian Museum, College of Propa- ganda. Rome. PLATE 92. Figs. 1, 2, and 3. Sculpture. Courtesy of the Pan-American Union. Fig. 4, Panel and Ornaments in Terra Cotta. Fig. 5, Turquoise Masks. Fig. 6, Knife Handle of Mosaic. (From drawings by de Waldeck, Hertz Collection. ) Piate 93. Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4. Figures Representing Different Gods. Piate 94. Fig. 1, Audience Room, Palace of the Columns. Fig. 2, Patio, Palace of the Columns. Fig. 3, Mitla. Courtesy of the Pan-American Union. (Waite.) Fig. 4, Palace of the Columns. Model in the National Museum, Washington, D. C. Piate 95. Fig. 1, Stylobate. House of the Flowers. Xochicalco. Fig. 2, House of the Flowers. Xochicalco. (Restored: Model.) Made under direction of Dr. W. H. Holmes, National Museum, Washington, D. C. Pirate 96. Fig. 1, Tuluum. (Restoration by S. K. Lothrop.) By courtesy of the Carnegie Institution. Fig. 2, Plan of Tuluum. (Lothrop.) Piate 97. Fig. 1, Showing walls of city. Fig. 2, Various cross sections of Wall. Tuluum, one of the few walled Maya cities. Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution. PuaTte 98. Fig. 1, Restoration of El Castillo. Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution. Fig. 2, Plan of Three Levels of the Castillo. Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution. Fig. 3, Small Building North of Tuluum. Courtesy of R. R. Bennett. Fig. 4, Present Condition of El Castillo. Tuluum. Courtesy of R. R. Bennett. Pirate 99. Fig. 1, Temple of the Frescoes. Tuluum. Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution. Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5, Cross Section and Ground Plans of Temple of the Frescoes. ‘TTuluum. Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution. Piate 100. Patio, Pan-American Union Building, Washington, D. C. Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, Show Uses of Maya Figures and Designs. Pirate 101. Fig. 1, Elevation; Design for Museum. (Totten.) Fig. 2, Plan for Museum in Maya style. (‘Totten.) Piate 102. Fig. 1, Masonic Temple. A Modern Adaptation of Maya style. Meridia, Yucatan. Fig. 2, Fountain. A Modern Adaptation inspired by Maya Motives. Pirate 103. Fig. 1, Decorative Panel in Colored Terra Cotta. Inspired by Bas Relief in’ Temple of the Foliated Cross. Palenque. Executed by Leon. V. Solon: Fig. 2, Design for a Country House. Suggested by Maya Precedent. PLate 104: Sketch for a Museum: of American Indian Art: (Totten.) [i Page Eleven } ''PLATE I Morley. = @MAYAPAN Ux, +a \ \ NYG oe a Ne o LAeNa sy: . . eee oe ages Parenoue® * 2 ae kane oe = CHINIKIHA® nn Lge ae beat Poeet = 3 , = ‘eye PIEORAS NEGRAS f a4 W La Mare EL CHICOZAPOTE ¢ git “hax : SAN Jose 0€ MoTUL®, “ Cayo Ucawar YiaXCHiLan iyerare Fores 1 IXKUN ee 4 ; e =e <2 AGUASCALIENTES bh ee win Ec Pasefion cent POW AWS aa EO El sgue COPANe; mot we Mp = ‘ ik NM : ante Hamre * OF HO: N° DU. RoAzS 25 © ae - &B\ > i & A RUATAN |. THE MAY A. AREA. [ Page Twelve | ''INTRODUCTION rexq RCHITECTS have ever been in search of new material and new sources of inspiration. _We Americans have scoured the ends of the earth in search of something different and we have overlooked a vast fund of material at our very doors. The Maya civilization and still more wonderful architecture, heretofore so little known in the United States, is now every day referred to in the pub- lic press, owing largely to the awakening of the general interest in the study of archeology and to the recent excavations of the Carnegie Institution and Tulane University. My own interest in Maya art was aroused in 1919 when a client asked me to design a museum for his collection of American Indian Curios. Through the kindly advice and assistance of Dr. W. H. Holmes, Director of the National Gallery of Art, I began a serious study of the subject. So interested did I become that shortly afterward I decided to go to Yucatan and get my information first hand. The journey is a very delightful and easy one from any of the eastern states, and there are several routes one might take. I sailed from New York on a very fine ship, The Mexico, and after a voyage of seven days including an interesting one spent in Havana we arrived in Progresso, the only seaport in Yucatan. Merida, the capital, thirty miles inland, is a town of 100,000 inhabi- tants, of quaint Spanish-Colonial architecture, with picturesque little parks beautifully laid out and well kept and filled with tropical plants and many varieties of palm trees. A large part of the population is Maya-Indian or “Mestizo”. The Indians, while resem- bling in physiognomy our Northern tribes, have softer features and more intelligent faces; they, too, have the straight black hair. The ruined city of Chichen Itza is located about 100 miles from the Capital. It is reached by a railroad journey of a few hours to Dzitas, the nearest point to the railroad. The ruins are 20 miles farther. Dzitas is a town of but a few houses and two or three small shops and contains a garrison of rural police. These men are from the City of Mexico and, I was told, are gathered from the riff-raff of the Mexican Army. They are so well armed that they resemble our youthful ideas of bandits. The trail led nearly the entire distance through a dense jungle and as we started late in the afternoon it was long after dark before we arrived. Recently the jungle trail has been widened into a road which makes the ruins still more accessible. My first view of El Castillo, the great pyramid of Chichen Itza, was by moonlight. It was wonderfully impressive and full of mystery. An old hacienda owned by Mr. E. H. Thompson is located about a mile from the ruins and like many of the haciendas was built of stone taken from the Maya buildings. There was only an Indian and his wife occupying this building, and they gave me a room furnished with one chair and a washstand. In Yucatan most people carry their own bed which consists of a hammock. I had mine that I brought from New York. I was up at sunrise the next day to explore this old city which had been uninhabited for centuries and about which we know so little. This small knowledge only whets our curiosity and adds to our interest. I spent several weeks here, rising before dawn and working until sunset save for a couple hours siesta to escape the tropical heat of mid- day. It wasa time of enchantment and full of day dreams. Afterwards I visited Uxmal, Labna and Kabah, and other cities. So inspiring and vital does this architecture seem that this volume was prepared in the hope that other lovers of architecture may find as great enjoyment and profit in its study as I have found. The material is partly from notes, photographs and drawings which I made in 1919 and later from photographs of recent excavations at Chichen Itza by the Carnegie Insti- tution, and partly from illustrations taken from various monographs on Central America which have been published from time to time during the past hundred years. ‘These books are now nearly all out of print and difficult and costly to obtain. Originally it was intended to confine the book to the architecture of the Renaissance Period of Yucatan, but as the Classic Period is so appealing illustrations of many of the best examples have also been included. It is the author’s firm belief that this little known architecture of American origin, simple and classic in line, with a highly conventional ornamentation comparable with that of any period, is on the threshold of its second renaissance. Dr. Manuel Gamio and others of Mexico City are making a strong appeal to their people to preserve the Indigene Art of Mexico, to preserve what remains, to restore and reconstruct where feasible, and above all to develop a newer art founded upon the splen- did heritage which the white conquerors nearly destroyed, not realizing its priceless value. We { Page Thirteen ] ''Dr. Gamio contends that this treasure is the authochthonous art which in past centuries produced the famous architectural works of Yucatan and Teotihauacan and which is seen in ceramics, textiles, lacquers, mattings, basket work and a thousand articles pro- duced by Indigene. The Indian Olympus, with its thousand gods sumptuously arrayed, its luxurious and tropical vegetation, its innumerable and gigantic mountain peaks, its azure skies radiant with brilliant light and warmth, its varied and profuse fauna—all this con- templated by generation after generation of Indigenes and by them interpreted plasti- cally and pictorially explains the legitimate lineage of the indigenous art of Mexico as also its unique character. Dr. Gamio further maintains that the reconstruction of the typical and architectural remains left by his forefathers will arouse within the Indigene a noble emulation and will tend to resurrect within him new ideals leading to a new life full of activity and sane well being. Finally he asserts that we moderns should not strive to reproduce architectural works of art but should use the motives handed down to us, transformed, conventionalized and adapted to requirements of modern esthetic judgment, and should encourage the Indigene to continue the art of the lapidary, to carry on his wonderful work in obsidian, jade, rock crystal and other materials, to encourage the dying remnants of folk dances which suggest great possibilities for newer ballets to preserve the custom and design of former times. He believes that we are on the threshold of a renaissance of the first great American art. The early Spanish conquerors did not at first realize the importance of the Maya art and civilization, and in their zeal to conquer the country spiritually, as well as materially, they wantonly destroyed much of real literary and artistic value. Archbishop de Landa, second Archbishop of Yucatan, proudly writes, “I collected four thousand of their iniquitous books and images and burned them on the public square of Tikal, much to the lamentations of the natives.” Before his death, however, he realized his mistake and then gathered much valuable material which he published in Relacione de los Cosos de Yucatan.* This and the Chilam Balam, which are accounts from memory and traditions compiled by the remnants of the Maya priesthood, were pub- lished in the Maya language and Spanish type a hundred years or so after the conquest. It was not until John L. Stevens, a New Yorker who had gone to Honduras on a diplomatic mission in 1838 and had become interested in the Indian cities, wrote two fas- cinating books,§ that the modern world became aware of the fact that America had once possessed a race of artistic and cultural development comparable with that of any people of antiquity. Stevens was accompanied in his researches and journeys through Central America by Frederick Catherwood, an English arhcitect of great artistic talent, who has left by far the finest and most inspiring collection of architectural drawings yet made of Maya architecture. After the little furore which Stevens’ works produced, the tropical forests once more engulfed the ancient art until it was again brought to light by the admirable scientific researches of an Englishman, A. P. Maudslay, in 1880. His work has been of inesti- mable value.’ The four expeditions of the Peabody Museum, Harvard University—1891-1902, to Copan, Tikal and other cities by Marshall H. Saville, John W. Owens, Dr. George Bryan’ Gordon, . Teobert.Vialer and. Di; A... M.. Pozzer have been. of: the, utmost importance. Since then general interest has gradually increased until now there. are-a host of scientific research workers including Dr. Herbert J. Spinden, Dr. William Gates, Dr. Thomas Gann, Edward H. Thompson, Dr. Sylvanus Griswold Morley, and many others. mt the present time research: work and: excavations are being, carried on by the Carnegie Institution under the direction of Dr. Morley, at Chichen Itza, Yucatan, at Uaxactun, Guatemala and other places; by the Tulane University of New Orleans under Dr. ‘Gates; at Vera Cruse, Palenque and elsewhere; by the .Peabody -Museum, Harvard University, under Dr. Spinden on the little known cities of the east coast of Yucatan, and by the Archeological Society of Washington, D. C., under the direction of Dr. Manuel Gamio in Guatemala City. It gives me great pleasure to express my indebtedness to Dr. William H. Holmes, Director of the National Gallery of Art, for his early advice and assistance in the study of Maya art, and for his interest and encouragement in my researches; To Mr. Edward H. Thompson for his courtesy and hospitality in permitting me to occupy his hacienda, and for many delightful and instructive hours spent in his com- pany in Yucatan, and for his interest and approval of my attempts in restoring the original colors of the Temple of the Tigers; To Mr. C. C. Willoughby, Director of the Peabody Museum of Harvard University and Dr. Clark Wissler, of the American Museum of Natural History, New York, and Dr. L. S. Rowe, Director of the Pan American Union, Washington, for permitting me to make selection from their collection of valuable photographs; * Royal Academy of History, Madrid, 1556. § Central America, Chipas and Yucatan, 2 vols., 1841. Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, 2 vols., 1843. * Biologia Centrali Americana. A Glimpse of Guatemala. [ Page Fourteen | '') To Dr. G. B. Gordon, Director of the University Museum, Philadelphia, for the Maya photographs he kindly furnished me, and his permission to reproduce the Hiero- glyphics Staircase”, and “A King in all His Glory”. I want to thank my friend, Dr. William Gates, Director of Central America Research, Tulane University, New Orleans, for the very valuable help he has given me in the study of Maya art and civilization, and for loaning me his photographic collection. I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness, also, to Dr. Edgar L. Hewett, Director of the San Diego Museum, and to the Architectural Record for the use of Maya illustrations. It has given me great pleasure to know that Dr. Merrian, Director of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, has considered my efforts of sufficient seriousness to permit me to include in my book hitherto unpublished photographs of the excavations of the Institution at Chichen Itza during 1924 and 1925 for which I sincerely thank him. I am indebted to my good friend Dr. Sylvanus G. Morley, Associate of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, for his assistance and encouragement in my studies, and for revising the titles to my illustrations. I wish to thank Mr. Albert Kelsey and Mr. Leon V. Solon for kindly loaning me illustrations of their work; Mr. and Mrs. James of Merida, for their hospitality while in Merida, and Mr. Crandall and others for the use of photographs and other assistance ; and lastly I wish to acknowledge my deep indebtedness to Mr. B. H. Roberts, for his kind, sympathetic and untiring patience in aiding in the preparation and printing of this book. [ Page Fifteen | '' ''AN« OUTLINE“OEe MAYA HISTORY A. The. Old Empire « or Classic Period ne O IMBUED have we ever been with the importance of European history and art that we have not, until ba) oops realized that there lie buried in the tropical y] jungles of Central America a forgotten cultural civ- ilization, worthy of the highest consideration. At the time Imperial Rome was dazzling the ancient world by the brilliancy of its entertainments and the magnificence of its architecture, there flourished on this side of the Atlantic, a nation with an architecture so fine and a civilization so brilliant as to even rival Rome in its barbaric splendor. This people, the Mayas, aptly called “The Greeks of the New World,” inhabited that portion of Central America now known as Guatemala and Honduras. Their important cities, Copan, Tikal, Quirigua, Seibal, and many others, flourished at the beginning of the Christian’. ea: The architecture of these cities, with their great civic center, about which clustered Temples, Pyramids and Palaces of a highly developed architecture in carefully cut stone elaborately ornamented with sculpture, all in brilliant colors, evinced a civil- ization and a knowledge comparable with any people of antiquity. Nor was this culture limited to the fine arts. It included a political organization capable of conducting the affairs of great states. The exact nature of this we do not know other than that the rulers were hereditary and were closely allied with the priest- hood. ‘They possessed a highly organized and complicated relig- ion, and learning was confined to the ruling class and the clergy. Smaller states were managed by over-lords not unlike, it is thought, to’the steudal\ system of “urope:© 50 Advanced 42 civ hization needed and possessed a written, as well as a spoken, language. This they had already developed before the Christian Era—of a type unlike any other known writing. It’ was hieroglyphic and was comparable, if not superior to, the Egyptian and Assyrian. It was partly ideographic and had so far developed as to be on the verge of a phonetic writing: It had advanced to a point where different glyphs could be expressed by sounds. The earliest remaining records of this writing are cut in beau- tifully designed symbols or glyphs on their stone monuments and buildings, but particularly on a type of stelae which were small mono- liths of stone erected about their temples, and the inscriptions refer almost exclusively to either dates of the structures, or to mark periods of time. , Prof. William Gates has catalogued some 2500 different glyphs. The inscriptions also refer to astronomy. ‘The Mayas possessed a knowledge of astronomy based on carefully recorded observations of the sun, moon and stars extending over a period of many centuries. They were able to predict with abso- lute precision simple eclipses, and they had evolved a calendar, though somewhat complicated, of almost perfect accuracy, quite as accurate and far better arranged than our own Gregorian calendar, and this must have been invented at least 2000 years earlier. It was absolute within itself and was in use during all the early period of the civilization. The Mayas eauly developed several varieties of calendars.” Their earliest; itis thought, was a lunar calendar-of twelve months: of thinty, days each. making a year. of 360° days, and with a short month of five days. Later this calendar was changed to a month of twenty days and with a year of eighteen months and a * Venus Calendar. Dr. Herbert J. Spinden, Curator of Mexican archaeology of the Peabody Museum, Harvard University. According to the Associated Press of Dec. 28, 1925: “An announeement from the museum yesterday said that Dr. Spinden had completed a { Page Seventeen } ''short month of four or five days, recognizing the necessity of adding a day every fourth year. This little month, as it was called, was considered one of ill luck and misfortune. During this time, tradition relates, the people did practically nothing, fearing always some disaster. To record time accurately, a numerical system was early evolved, consisting of dots and short straight lines. One dot represented one, two dots two, and so on to five, which was expressed by a short straight line. From five to ten by a line and dots, ten by two lines, fifteen by three lines, sixteen by three lines and one dot, so on to nineteen which was expressed by three lines and four dots. ‘Twenty was represented by a glyph, which stood not only for twenty but the subject to be expressed. Their system was vigesimal. The political rule seemed absolute and it is more than likely that the highest temporal and spiritual powers were vested in one person. The Maya religion was Pantheistic with about twelve principal gods. These correspond more or less to those of ancient Greek and Roman mythology. ‘There were both benevolent and malevolent deities. The head god of the Mayas, Pantheon, was represented by the Roman-nosed god, probably Itzamma. He was regarded accord- ing to the early Spanish writers as the creator and father of all, the founder of the Mayan civilization and the god of light and life.’ Then there was the Maize God, and Kukulcan the Plumed Serpent of almost equal powers to the Roman-nosed God. Of the malevolent gods were Ahpuch, the Lord of Death, and others. There seems also to have been a belief in a supreme being without form or substance. The Maya writings were preserved in books called codices. Although there are a number of Aztec Codices, only three Maya ones ate knowns they are: The Dresden: Codex, the Dresden Museum; the Peresianns Codex, in the Louvre; the Tro-Cortesianns, in the Borgian Museum, at the College of Propaganda, Rome. All of these books treat of the calendar and religious subjects. They are illuminated manuscripts written on prepared deer skin and Maguey paper and folded like a Japanese screen. There were evi- dently many of them at the time of the conquest, as explained in the Introduction. Those destroyed are said to have treated of civil and religious history, rites, magic and medicine. Unlike the ancient Caldean and Egyptian they did not relate to the vainglorious deeds of forgotten Kings. : Brassem de Bourbourg in 1869-70 made careful studies of the codices. The Books of Chilam Balam relate largely to the biogra- phies of the Cocoom, Tutul Xiu‘ and the Chac*Zib Chac families. correlation between the strange and wonderful time count of the Mayas and the true astro- nomical positions of the planet Venus in the sixth century B. C. This achievement supplements the discovery by Dr. Spinden two years ago of the secret of the Mayan time count and is the culmination of investigations carried on for many years by members of the museum staff. AGREES WITH CALENDAR Dr. Spinden’s findings with regard to the Venus calendar of the Mayas are in complete agreement with those reached for the annual calendar of the ancient people and for dates in their day count, according to the correlation with modern chronology announced by the Peabody Museum two years ago. At that time it was shown that the first date in the new world was August 6, 613 B. C., when the Mayas began to give each day its consecutive number and to -keep a sharp record of celestial events, and that the perfected annual calendar was inaugurated in the Winter solstice of 580 B. C. Dr. Spinden now is able to prove that the Venus calendar of the Mayas was put in final working order between two risings of Venus as morning star in conjunction with the Summer solstices of 538 and 530 B. C. APPEARANCE OBSERVED The Venus calendar depends on the fact that Venus, holding an orbit inside that of the earth, makes thirteen revolutions around the sun in about two days less than eight years. Viewed from the moving earth the planet seems to make only five revolutions. These being the five laps she gains over the earth in the uneven race. To gain a lap Venus first swings out through space and passes behind the sun, where she is lost to view at the end of the phase as morning star. Then, to overtake, she swings wide again and turns in between the earth and the sun. Approaching the end of her race Venus is a brilliant object as evening star, going down into the west soon after sunset. At the finish she is lost in the sunlight at inferior conjunction only to emerge before sunrise as morning star. hi i Having invented already a time count and a system of hieroglyphic writing which gave them a means of accurate record, the Mayas studied the mysterious coming and going of Venus. They found that the planet disappeared for eight days between the last glimpse of her in the west and the first in the east, and that the same phases of Venus come back in about 584 days on the average, so that five Venus years are virtually equal to eight ordinary years. [ Page Eighteen | ''The records go back to about 160 A. D. but are somewhat clouded in mythology. These books have been of great service in correlating Maya and Christian Chronology. The Mayas had been careful from the earliest times to date their monuments, so that we have a carefully arranged chronology. The earliest recorded date is on the Tuxtla statuette which was found near San Andres Tuxtla in the State of Vera Cruz, Mexico, about 1902, and was acquired by the U. S. National Museum. Plate XV. The date on this reads 8. 6. 2. 4. 17, or 96 B.C. It is 160 years earlier than the next earliest date, namely, the Leyden Plate. The monuments of the Old Empire were continuously dated until about the year 600 A. D., when all dates in this area cease. It is therefore to be inferred that the civilization either suddenly became extinct or the people migrated to other localities. As mon- uments are found to the south, and to the north in Yucatan, dating from 600 A.D. on, it is to be inferred that the Mayas suddenly abandoned their monumental and costly cities.. Why they left this beautiful and fertile region we do not know. Various theories have been advanced: pestilence, war, famine. The period just past is known as the Classic Period or that of the Old Empire. In spite of mighty strides that archaeology has made in recent years, the origin of the Mayas remains cloaked in mystery which may never be fully dispelled. Students who have delved deeply into the subject have advanced various and sometimes fantastic hypotheses but the more honest ones confess that much is mere conjecture. From definitely dated monuments and other relics unearthed at Copan and its rival cities, Tikal and Quirigua, we know that at the very beginning of the Christian era and covering a period con- temporaneous with imperial Rome, the civilization of those places was at its zenith. This civilization, like that of ancient Egypt, seems to have burst in all its glory during that period and to have finally vanished leaving no record of its origin, preliminary stages or development. Southern India, Java, Carthage, Egypt and even the fabled lost continent of Atlantis have been severally suggested as the pos- sible birthplace of the Mayas. Lord Kingsborough diligently sought to trace their descent from the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, while Le Plongeon, apparently hopeless of even guessing where the Mayas came from, argued that Egypt itself was peopled by wan- derers from Yucatan many centuries ago! In all the maze of speculation, modern investigators, however, are not without some trustworthy lines of direct linguistic and archeological evidence. Dr. Morley has suggested that Maya art originated with the Huasteca, the only Maya-speaking tribe which is not contiguous to the main body of the Maya linguistic family, being entirely surrounded by other linguistic stocks. It is the only Maya group, moreover, which lives in a region barren of typical Maya archeological remains, save the Tuxtla Statuette, the earliest date in the Maya hieroglyphic writing. This relic is of unusual importance as indicating where the Maya first began to record their chronology. in a locality in which other distinctive Maya remains have not been found. The significance of the Huasteca, in the attempt to trace whence came the Mayas that left so indelible an impress upon the world’s development in. the arts. is now enerally conceded. In. their habitat on the Gulf of Mexico, far northwest of the site of the Maya civilization, they speak a Maya tongue but their prehistoric culture, as now revealed, shows no resemblance to that of the true Maya of either the Old nor the New Empire. The Huasteca possess no hieroglyphic writing, no highly developed calendar, nor does their architecture, sculpture and pottery show any resemblance to the remains of the true Maya civilization. ‘The Huasteca-Maya resem- blance ends with possession of a common language, but this postu- lates a common racial origin. Whether the Huastecas were left behind in a general southward migration of the Mayas or were a branch that pushed north from the parent stock is a question science as yet is unable to answer. * This vast territory thought to be the most thickly populated area in the world at that time. [ Page Nineteen ] ''T. A. Joyce states the belief that the Maya civilization orig- inated where it reached its highest development during the Old Empire, northern Guatemala, but he admits that no beginnings of the culture have been found in this region, civilization having sprung, as it where, “full-blown from the earth.”* Morley’s hypothesis, which he concedes lacks definite proof, is that at some remote time the Mayas may have lived somewhere north of Guatemala on the Gulf Coast plain of Mexico, between 18 and 22 degrees north latitude, and he says: “Before developing their calendar, chronology, hieroglyphic writing and distinctive civilization, by which they were character- ized in later times, the great mass of the stock moved south, leaving behind, perhaps, the more backward elements, who later developed a far lower and different culture but who continued to speak the mother Maya tongue, and who later became the Huasteca of historic times.” Sapper, on the other hand, believes that the original seat of the Maya family was Chiapas—Guatemala, and that tribes like the Huasteca migrated from there north and settled in their present cities. It will be seen that the origin of the race is perhaps forever lost in the mists of antiquity. There is no European influence in its architecture, either of the Classic or the Renaissance Periods. While there can be but little doubt of the American origin of the Maya style, in spite of not being able to trace all the steps of development from the archaic to the highly developed period, there are certain motives that suggest an Eastern origin of the decoration at least— the most important of which are the cross-legged figures, strongly reminiscent of Buddha on the frieze of Temple Number 11 at Copan Rilate=V Were the Mayas in communication with the East? This is a question which cannot be answered with our present knowledge. Later investigation may throw light upon this subject. Messrs. Channing Arnold and F. J. Tabor Frost in “The American Egypt” advance the following theory.t The origin of the Maya civilization, like many other mooted questions concerning this interesting and highly gifted people, is still a matter of speculation. Each one may evolve theories to his own fancy, each may dream dreams of this wondrous past until science, often the destroyer of romance; steps in with its hard, cold facts and puts an end to our visions. *Manuel Gamio has just left (Jan., 1926) for Guatemala City to investigate this very point. He heads the expedition sent out by the Archaeological Society of Washington, D. C. + “Let us make a brief examination of the architectural ornamentation of the ancient build- ings of the Buddhist East and those of Central America, and see if there exist any similarities which are of a nature to help the proof of the connection. Much has been made of that peculiar feature of Mayan decorative art, the ‘snouted mask’ or ‘elephant trunk’, common on the buildings of Palenque, and Chichen and Uxmal and many other cities. Heads of the alligator’s congener, the crocodile, exist in large numbers in Boro Budor and in the ruined Buddhist cities of Ceylon. In his ‘Cambodge et Java’ (1896) M. Albert Tissandier gives illustrations of the gargoyles decorating the terraces of Boro Budor showing them to be the fantastic heads of crocodiles, surmounted by a half-curled elephant’s trunk.” He writes (we translate) “This type of crocodile, ornamented with the trunk of an elephant, appears to be of .Singhalese origin. I have remarked numerous examples at Anuradhapura in Ceylon, the building of which is much more ancient than Boro Budor, and also at Polonnaruwa. From out the open jaws of these monsters peers in each case a little demon with grinning face.” It is difficult indeed to believe that so singular a design and detail of decoration should have been evolved at once in ancient Buddhist India and among the American Indians of Yucatan and Guatemala. At these two places, the ruins consist chiefly of stele and altars, and the decorations of these are un-American and Oriental in character. But if there is any similarity between the minuter architectural details of the Mayan and Buddhist buildings, we believe that carefully studied, the former and particularly, as we should have expected, those of Copan and Quirigua, exhibit distinct survivals of Buddhist influence. Mr. Maudslay, in his superb series of photographs of stele (Biologia Centrali-Americana), shows clearly in the hands of nearly every figure what he calls “a manikin staff’’—a short stick surmounted by a human figure issuing from feathers or leaves. We believe that it may be nothing less than a much corrupted survival of the sacred lotus held by Buddhist images. There appear, too, in the grasp of many figures on the friezes of Bharahat short sticks, and surmounted manikins seated on bannerets. The “manikin staves’ at Copan may be a blended memory of these two Buddhist symbols. It is a water lily—the Buddhist lotus—which figures, often with fish swimming around, in almost every carving at Boro Budor and the ruined Buddhist cities. The drawing Mr. Maudslay gives of the Palenque carving is so exact a copy of the Buddhist lotus as to be quite amazing. The figures on the stelae at Copan and Quirigua, in many instances have across their breasts what looks like a broad band. We believe this to be another Buddhist survival— viz. the ola or palm-leaf book which Buddha is nearly always shown holding. The headdresses of the stelae statues are most reminiscent. of the triple tiara of Buddhist images. The large square or round ear-ornaments at Quirigua are precisely like those in the sculptures of Boro Budor and in the island of Madura. On the north face of the gigantic monolithic turtle at Quirigua is a cross-legged figure which in Mr. Maudslay’s plate exhibits in the fullest manner many Buddhist survivals. { Page Twenty ] ''We suggest another Buddhist survival, namely that the “Crosses” (it is more obvious in the foliated one) are crude representations of the Sacred Tree of Buddhism, the “Tree of Wisdom.” As the Palenque tablets suggest that the “Cross” is the direct object of worship, it may be worth while here to mention that in the oldest Buddhist sculptures Buddha himself is never represented directly, but always under a symbol; often the sacred footprints- Buddha-pats-tree beneath which his meditations led him to divine knowledge. But the faces of the statues will take us a step further; for they seem to be represen- tations of those human types peculiar to Cambodia, Siam, and the Malay Peninsula, as will be seen from the illustrations. They wear an Oriental headdress such as is found in none of the admittedly Mayan ruins, and which we believe we have identified as the ancient Indian turban shown clearly in the carvings at Bharahat. At Palenque the figures have the characteristic features of the Americans and the native headgear, but the attitude is the typical Buddhist one, and there is moreover one figure which takes us back to the purer orientalism of Copan. ‘The principal figure’, says Stephens, ‘sits cross-legged’ on a couch ornamented with two leopard’s heads, the attitude is easy, the physiognomy the same as that of the other personages, the expression calm and benevolent. The headdress differs from most of the others at Palenque in that it wants the plume of feathers. In the Buddhist carvings, Buddha is often represented seated on a couch carved in the form of a tiger or lion, or really two, for the body is double-headed. This seat is spoken of in the Sanskrit as Simphasana, literally ‘the seat of lions.’ At Tikal, northeast of Lake Peten, a carved wooden lintel discovered by Mr. Maudslay, depicts two figures standing on two crouching bodies which he believed to represent prisoners. Elsewhere in Mayan ruins the design prevails. Now in the Indian, Cambodian and Javanese ruins recur again and again these crouching figures, acting as footstools for the chief personages of the sculpture. Well, we have traced such a counterpart just where it ought to occur, if our theory is to hold good, viz. in the forests of Cambodia. At Angkor there are several such structures built of large blocks of hewn stone. Then there are the curious figures carved on the walls of the Nunnery at both Chichen and Uxmal and on other Mayan ruins. They sit cross-legged in Buddhistic fashion in niches in the walls surrounded by an oval shaped ornamentation. These are like the images in the niches of the temples of all great Buddhist buildings. The oval-shaped ornamentation may easily be, it really looks exactly like, the aureole which invariable surrounds the figure of the Buddha at Boro Budor and elsewhere. More- over, these figures in Yucatan have a nimbus, too, just like the Buddhas. We are not, of course, trying to show that the Yucatecan figures represent Buddha; but we are suggesting that the Oriental pattern and designs for religious statuary had sunk deep into the Mayan mind. The sculptures of the two civilizations are, as has been said, strikingly alike in detail, and they are also similar in subjects. ‘They represent for the most part, when not strictly religious, processions, battle-scenes, and pictures of the daily life of the people. There are, too, bas reliefs showing the conquered submitting to the conqueror, the details being much like those of the famous carving on the rock at Behistun.” Whether Messrs. Arnold and Frosts’ theory is correct is left to the reader to judge. [ Page Twenty-one | ''THE NEW EMPIRE, or THE MAYA RENAISSANCE. Between 9. 18. 10. 0. 0. and 10. 2. 0. 0. 0. (541 to 619 A. D.), the cities of the old Empire were abandoned and the Mayas moved southwestward, and northward into Yucatan. But even before this period the country had in 452 A.D., been explored. It could only have been some dire misfortune which made the Mayas give up the rich and beautiful region which they occupied for less attractive Yucatan. The peninsula is of recent geologic formation. Geologists state that it rose from the sea about 10,000 years ago. It is a flat uninteresting country, unbroken save for a low range of hills crossing the central part. The general elevation is about 25 feet above the sea. The underlying limestone foundation is of vertical stratification with a thin layer of rich soil not deep enough to hold water. The torrential rains sink quickly through this and are carried off by subterranean passages to the sea, so there is not a river in the whole length and breadth of Yucatan. The climate is tropical with a dry and a rainy season. During the dry season of four or five months water is a matter of all importance. This is provided either by natural wells, called by the natives Cenotes, or by cisterns. The first settlement by the Mayas in Yucatan was at Bakhalal, just north of Tikal, but this lasted only 60 years. The second, in 531 A. D., was at the great Cenote from which it derives its name Chichen Itza. But this settlement was not of long duration, for in 669 A. D. it was abandoned. The migration from the Old Empire, according to Lizana, flowed in two main currents, known to the Maya as the Cenial, or Little Descent, to the East Coast, and the Nohenial, or Great Descent, to the western part of the peninsula. The Nohenial, or Great Descent, is thought to refer to the great outpouring of the people from the Usumacintla region into Western Yucatan, and as the latest date found here is 9. 18. 10. 0. 0., it is likely that this is the time, partly before and partly after, when the great migration took place. | During this wandering and unsettled period, culture and the fine arts must have retrograded. So that this epoch which lasted several centuries may be regarded as the Dark Ages of the Mayas. After the abandonment of Chichen Itza the Itzas wandered for some years and settled at Chakanputun, where they are said to have lived until its destruction by fire in 945 A. D. They were once more wanderers and in 965 A. D. they again occupied Chichen Itza and about the same time a new city was founded, called Mayapan. The nation began a new expansion, the arts were revived, and the end of the Transitional Period was at hand. About 1000 a new tribe appeared from the west under the lead- ership of one Titul Xiu and settled at what is now known as Uxmal. This was in the territory of Mayapan, but the newcomers were cordially welcomed and shortly after their arrival a Federation of States was formed, including Uxmal, Chichen Itza and Mayapan, with the seat of government at Mayapan. The people prospered and great cities grew up. Many other towns were founded and it is computed that at about this time the Maya population in Yucatan reached two millions of souls. Remains are known of 100 towns. During this period the arts were again revived and it is not unlikely that their architects visited the cities of their ancestors for study and inspiration. This was the beginning of the second great era. It was also the Golden Age of Architecture, just as the Classic Period had been: the Age of Sculpture: As. 2. separate art sculpture. never regained its lost supremacy but became the handmaid of architecture. [ Page Twenty-two | ''Elaborate facades with intricate and delicate sculptural deco- ration were created. While the great civic or religious centers do not compare with those of the classic period, nevertheless archi- tecture in its better studied detail and with a higher and still more conventional system of ornament attained its highest ideals. This period of universal peace came to an abrupt end in 1201 A.D. The ruler of Chichen Itza, Chac Xib Chac, seemed to have plotted against Hunac Ceel, the ruler of Mayapan, apparently over some personal matter, whereupon the ruler of Mayapan called in mercenary soldiers, the Toltecs from the Valley of Mexico, and defeated the Itzas. In recognition of their services they were given some control over Chichen Itza. During the Nahua occu- pation, new customs, new arts and a new or modified religion was introduced, This, nevertheless, did not have a disastrous result on the architecture but rather broadened and enlarged it. New motives of decoration were brought in, interior valuting was improved and at least one new type of building, the Ball Court, was introduced. But Hunac Ceel’s victory seems to have turned his head and he and his followers became arrogant and oppressive and in order to retain his power it was necessary for him to surround himself with his Nahua allies. Finally in the fifteenth century the unrest came to a climax. The Maya nobility, unable to endure such tyranny, banded together under the leadership of the Lord of Uxmal, proceeded against and utterly destroyed Mayapan. With the destruction of Mayapan the centralized government of Yucatan was at an end, and it was the beginning of the end of the Maya civilization. The country was now split into warring factions. No one party seemed strong enough to gain supremacy. Following, as usual the wake of war, came famine and pestilence. | While in this weakened condition arrived a still greater calamity. In 1517 Francisco de Cordobo landed the first Spanish expedition on the shores of Yucatan. This met with such strong resistance that the enemy hastily retreated without more than discovering the country. Two other expeditions met with similar disaster, that of Juan de Grijalva in 1518 and of Hermando Cortez in 1519. In 1526, Francisco Montejo, having been granted the title of Adelantado of Yucatan, set about a conquest of the country in earnest. He sailed with three ships and 500 men and landed on the island of Cozumel and then proceeded to the main land and took possession of the country in the name of the King of Spain. This empty ceremony was but an introduction, for fighting continued for fourteen years, and in spite of the weakened condi- tion of the Mayas due to recent epidemics and famines, and the fact that the Spanish possessed the advantage of firearms and horses, it was with the greatest difficulty that they were finally able to conquer the country, the Mayas fighting to the last in desperate defense of their homes. The pacification of the country took place June 11, 1541, when the independent history of the great Maya epoch was at an end. A brief summary of Maya history, with a table expressed in terms of the Old Empire Chronology (Initial Series), the New Empire Chronology (the u kahlay katunob), and the Christian Chronology, is given below,—* THE OLD EMPIRE. Ii. The Early Period. | aehe, .eatliestatumnes to, 9-100. 0.Ut le ADal oo Wavdbe| ld Chronology.) The earliest times to Katun | Ahau. (New Chronology.) The earliest times to 373.915 A.D. (Christian Chronology.) During this period the calendar and hieroglyphic systems were being developed. *The Inscriptions at Copan, Morley, Carnegie Institution, Washington, D. C. [ Page Twenty-three ] ''~ *°The invention of the Central American Calendar between Aug. 6, 613 B. C. and Dec. 22, 580 B. C. is one of the outstanding intellectual achievements in the history of man.” “The Mayan calendar which this man invented ran without the loss of a day for 2148 years and controlled the religious and civil life of several nations.” Earliest dated object is the Tuxtla *Statuette, 8.6.2.4.17, 8 Caban 0 Kankin, or May 16, 98 B.C. *Leyden Plate, 8.14,3,1,12, 1 Eb 0 Yaxkin, or Nov. 17, 60 A. D. Earliest dated monument, Stela 9, at Uaxactun, 8.14.10.13.15, or June 10, 68 A. D. Great cities were begun with enormous mounds and _ public squares, and many stele and altars set up. Number 3, the old- est stela found at Tikal, 214 A. D., and Stela 15 at Copan, thirty- seven years later; carving of this period crude. Principal conven- tions of Mayan art already fixed, including the Serpent in decoration. II. The Middle Period. 9.10.0.0.0 1 Ahau 8 Kayab to 9.15.0.0.0 4 Ahau 13 Yax. Katun | Ahau to Katun 4 Ahau. S13. 915:ADD. to-472480- A. D. + “Some of the most beautiful works of art belong to the middle period. While archaism did not actually disappear till the end of this period there is a certain purity of style and straightforwardness of presentation about many of these early sculptures. Flamboyancy is not apparent. At Copan the Great Mound was begun during this period and this enormous undertaking doubtless absorbed so much energy that few stele were set up. The best series of monuments from the middle period are seen at Naranjo and Piedras Negras.” . III. The Great Period. 9.15.0.0.0 4 Ahau 13 Yax to 10.2.0.0.0 3 Ahau 3 Ceh. Katun 4 Ahau to Katun 3 Ahau. 472.480 A. D. to 610.471 A. D. + “A short brilliant period followed in which many cities flourished. In addition to the cities already mentioned there were Quirigua, Ixkun, Seibal, Holmul, Nakum, Cancuen, Yaxchilan, Palenque, etc. The art passes through some interesting changes, becoming more complex in certain features and less complex in others. The architecture makes great advances. Rooms become wider, walls thinner, and forms more refined and pleasing. The calculations in the inscriptions deal more and more with complicated astronomical subjects and historical Initial Series dates become less and less common and finally cease. Many dates of the calendar round and period ending types are given. This brilliant epoch seems to have come to an end through civil war and social decadence. ‘The references in the chronicles to this early period are very brief. ‘The settlement of Bacalar is stated as well as the discovery of Chichen Itza. An Intitial Series inscription at the later site gives us one of our latest historical dates and permits the correlation of the ancient dates with European chronology.” IV. The Colonization Period. 9.14.0.0.0 6 Ahau 13 Muan to 10.6.0.0.0 8 Ahau 8 Yax. Katun 6 Ahau to Katun 8 Ahau. 452.767 A. D. to 689.323 A. D. During this period the great migration to the southwestward, and the northward to Yucatan took place. The arts retrograded. Chichen Itza was occupied and abandoned. V. The Transitional Period. 10.6.0.0.0 8 Ahau 8 Yax to 11.1.0.0.0 4 Ahau 8 Mol. Katun 8 Ahau to Katun 4 Ahau. 689.323 A. D. to 985.018 A. D. Hochob and Dsibilnocac date from this decadent period. The Itzas at Chakanputun until it was destroyed by fire, then in 965 A. D. return to Chichen Itza. 7 *The Reduction of Mayan Dates, Dr. Herbert J. Spinden, Peabody Museum, Harvard University. 7 Ancient Civilizations of Mexico and Central America, Herbert J. Spinden. [ Page Twenty-four | ''VI. The Renaissance Period. 11.1.0.0.0 4 Ahau 8 Mol. to 11.12.0.0.0 8 Ahau 3 Mol. Katun 4 Ahau to Katun 8 Ahau. 985.018 A.D. to 1201 861. AY Dd. Mayapan and Uxmal founded. Federation of States founded which included Chichen Itza, Uxmal and Mayapan, with capital at latter. This lasted for 200 years. Other cities, such as Kabah, Labna, Sayil and Izamal and many others, flourished during this time but we have no tradition of any except Izamal. Revival of classic learning and re-birth of the arts. The naturalistic styles of architectural decoration became more conventional than in the early period. Mask panel, a face reduced to a rectangular panel, the use of geometric diaper backgrounds, fret meanders and banded columns, are common motifs of decoration. Many beautiful buildings begun during this period. VII. The Toltec Period. 11.12.0.0.0 8 Ahau 3 Mol to 12.5.0.0.0 8 Ahau 3 Pax. Katun 8 Ahau to Katun 8 Ahau. 120-8614 Ds ta 1458140 Aa: Plot of Hunac Ceel. Federation of States ends. Conquest of Chichen Itza where the Toltecs introduced a new government, new arts and a new religion. Many undeveloped ideas from the Valley of Mexico were grasped by the Chichen Itza architects and developed into mas- terful works, such as the Ball Court, with its connected temples; the new treatment for facades as in the Temple of the Tigers; new ideas for plans as in the Castillo and the Temple of the Warriors; new motives of decoration as in feathered serpent columns; the use of roof crestings; animal friezes; ballusters; shields, etc. The exact length of the Toltec influence is unknown. The great Toltec cities were Tula, Teotihuacan and Cholula. The Toltec influence was but little felt at Uxmal, where the purest Mayan architecture continued to be practiced. The Palace of the Governor and the Nunnery Quadrangle—the two great Maya masterpieces—were built about this time and show no outside influence. The Ball Court was probably the only Toltec building erected here. In 1458, Mayapan was destroyed by army led by the Lord of Uxmal. NILE he Hingler entod: 12.5.0.0.0 8 Ahau 3 Pax to 12.9.5.0.0 6 Ahau 3 Mac. Katun 8 Ahau to Hotun 6 Ahau. 1458.130 A. D. to 1541.910 A. D. “After the fall of Mayapan, the Mayas seem to have been divided into many warring factions. All the great cities were abandoned although the temples were still regarded as sacred. Of course, stone construction was still prevalent, as we know from some of the Spanish descriptions of towns on the coast. Learning was still maintained by the nobles and the priests. But there was not the centralized authority necessary for the keeping of such luxurious capitals as existed in the old days. The Itzas, in part at least, returned to one of their ancient seats in the south, founding the island town of Tayasal in Lake Peten. Here Mayan culture was preserved until 1696. At the present time certain ancient ideas still persist as has already been stated in connection with the ethnology of the Lacandone Indians. Upon the western highlands there are preserved traditions which concern the Quichés, Cakchi- quels, and other Mayan tribes, but the history does not go back for more than two hundred years before the Spanish conquest. All in all, there is little to be said in favor of the frequent plaint that the coming of the white man snuffed out a culture that promised great things. The golden days of the Mayan civilization had already passed, and, if we may judge by the history of other nations, would never have returned.” Spinden. [ Page Twenty-five ] '' ''ARCHITECTURE mee tiE MAYA INDIAN architecture, so far as known, is . of purely American origin. As we have seen in the historical survey, it is easy to trace the prehistoric and archaic periods, and then we find a highly developed style. Between the two latter there is a missing link. This, however, may be accounted for by supposing that the arts were developed in softer and more perishable materials than stone, and so the steps of progress have been lost. That certain motives of decoration may have been imported from the East, as suggested by Frost and Channing, is not improbable; nevertheless the devel- opment was on American soil. The highly developed Maya style, as we find it in the Classic Period, may have had an adobe prototype, for we find at Copan walls faced with stone upon an adobe core. We also find in this period mounds which were doubtless surmounted by edifices of which there is now no trace. Had these buildings been of stone or even adobe, some remnant might have been left; on the other hand, had they been of wood, all vestige would have long since disappeared. Yet the architectural motives of the early period do not suggest a wooden prototype, but the heavy walls particularly point to an adobe origin. Furthermore, throughout all of Central America, Mexico and the southern part of the United States, adobe con- struction persists even to this day. _ Of a wooden prototype, we find the walls of the Palaces of Tikal, cerrated, resembling a continuous row of columns placed so close together as to touch each other. This suggests a stockade wall of logs, and a glance at the buildings of Kabah and Labna confirms this hypothesis, for a wooden prototype in a land abounding with splendid timber is most natural. The developed style of both the Classic and Renaissance periods is in a fine limestone, or sometimes of a rough stone-backing, faced with stucco. Brick is almost unknown, though a few examples have been found in the Usumatsintla Valley district. — The fundamental characteristics of the classic style dating from the Christian era to 600 A. D. and the Renaissance period, extend- ing to the occupation of Chichen Itza by the Toltects, 1201 A. D. —some twelve hundred years, are the same. Each city, however, possessed its own individuality, and the study of this variation of the style is most interesting. The chief characteristics of the style are the predominance of horizontal lines and the strong contrasts between perfectly plain surfaces and those of the greatest possible richness. In that por- tion which probably had an adobe origin we find facades divided into two parts, a lower half of perfectly plain ashler, and the upper of the richest possible decoration of highly conventional and symbolic ornament, the significance of which is unknown to us. The greater part of Maya architecture follows these lines. The two portions are separated by a strong horizontal line in the form of a belt course or medial cornice, as it is generally called, and the whole is crowned by a strong cornice. Openings are usually rectangular, and the smaller ones have stone lintels, while the larger are generally of sapote wood. Those of the earlier buildings are small but gradually become larger until in the late period they develop into real porticos, and actual tem- ples in Antis are found. CIVIC PLANNING, Early in the Classic Period is found a grouping of buildings about great plazas and courts, an appreciation of monumental dis- positions of buildings and the uses of vast terraces that is very ex- traordinary. Copan, Tikal and other cities thus possessed civic or religious centers in the first centuries of the Christian Era. Great natural and artificial acropoleis were also largely used. The orientation with greater or less accuracy of buildings and plazas continued throughout Maya Epoch. [ Page Twenty-seven | ''EXAMPLES OF STYLOBATES, TERRACES AND PYRAMIDS, SUPERSTRUCTURES OMITTED. By Dr. W. H. HOLMEs. ee fe ‘ a a, b, c, d and e Common forms. f. El Castillo, Chichen Itza. g. Palace of the Governor, Uxmal. A. Temple of the Magician. 1. Temple of the Tigers of Ball Court, Chichen Itza. TERRACES AND SUBSTRUCTURES. In a flat country like Yucatan one can readily see why the Mayas employed almost universally terraces and substructures. They were desirable to give the buildings proper settings, and the elevated terraces afforded agreeable resting places and more extended views. But this terracing originated during the Classic period when the race inhabited the hilly portions of Central America. The real reason, therefore, for their employment was the appre- ciation of the architectural value of placing structures on proper pedestals. Maya architecture is essentially monumental. The Maya architects understood the fundamentals of good design. [ Page Twenty-eight | ''PYRAMIDS—MOUNDS Unlike the Egyptian pyramids, the Mayas were always trun- cated and surmounted by a temple. There are many lower mounds without superstructure, but it is thought that these once possessed buildings of a perishable ma- terial, such as wood, which have long since disappeared. Pyramids were usually stepped but not always. Nine seems to have been a favorite number, as bearing some religious significance. Those at Tikal were the highest and steepest. At Palenque it is supposed the steps were about a foot high. There is always a grand staircase on at least one side which leads to the temple above. Many pyramids have grand staircases on all four sides. These are supposed to be sacrificial temples, and there was usually a sacrificial building at their base. The pyramids were generally faced with cut stone, though some were built of rubble and plastered. As there was an ever present desire to elevate buildings, when they were not erected on pyramids or terraces they were placed on stylobates. SLTALRKCASES: The Mayas appreciated the architectural value of staircases as they did terraces, each pyramid, as has just been stated, possessed one or more. Each terrace supporting a palace was mounted by a staircase of monumental dimensions. Although there are some Maya buildings from two to five stories in height, the staircases are nearly always on the exterior. A few interior ones are known, as those of the tower at Palenque and the Caracol at Chichen Itza. Many wooden ones were probably used, but have all disappeared. The Maya staircases are as a rule very steep, the rise in many cases being greater than the tread which is usually 8” or 9”. So steep and high are those of the great pyramids that few dare to ascend them except on their knees. CLASSES OF BUILDINGS. There are but two general classes of buildings, temples and palaces or residences of the rulers or clergy. ‘These may have been the governmental buildings; their exact use is unknown. A third class was introduced by the Toltecs after their occupation of Chichen Itza—it was the Ball Court, described on page opposite Pie xiet The dwellings of the masses were doubtless, as today, of per- ishable material, and no vestiges of them remain. The abode of the Indian of today, though simple and inexpensive to construct, 1s a perfect example of adaptation to conditions of a tropical climate. These houses are no mean structures and are well worthy a description. They are usually rectangular in plan consisting of but one room. The floor and side walls to a height of about two feet are made of lime mortar. Above this for a height of about seven feet is a wall or stockade of small timbers. This is some- times plastered. The roof, which is thatched and overhangs, rests on four free standing posts which are inside of the main walls. There is an air space of eighteen inches or two feet between the side walls and the roof which serves for ventilation, but the over- hanging eaves hide this space. The houses are remarkably cool in the hottest weather and their form and construction is a great prevention against reptiles and insect life. The inhabitants sleep in hammocks and at night folding screens are used. When the screens and hammocks are put away a large and. delightful living room remains. DEVELOPMENT OF PLANS AND THE MAYA VAULT. As usual in tropical climes, the Mayas were an outdoor people. Great halls for assembly were unnecessary, and undesirable on account of the heat. The religious services must have been held out of doors, as only buildings of very small interiors have come down to us. Temples were little more than shrines or great altars, before which the congregation probably worshipped. ‘The plans of the temples were therefore insignficant in size and underwent a gradual but not startling development from a single Coll ta’ ones at several chambers, as seen at Chichen Itza. The plans of the early Maya renaissance temples were again simple, but under the Toltec influence took on a new importance. [ Page Twenty-nine | ''Plans showing the development of the Maya Temple. co 1. Single chamber, with narrow door. 2. Plan, Temple No. 2, Tikal, showing three chambers, one behind the other—the doors are still narrow. et 3. Plan of Temple No. 22, Copan, showing an outer and inner chamber between which is a heavy wall to carry the roof comb. [ — ] 4. The Palenque type, sanctuary with tablet chamber and two small side chambers. The two central heavy piers carry the roof comb. The Tikal construction is the heaviest and the Palenque the lightest of the Maya buildings. 5. Two-chamber temple, see plan Temple of the Tigers, Plate XLII. Here the doorway has developed into a portico or temple in-antis. i u 6M i tr 6. Castillo, Chichen Itza. This shows two new principles in Maya construction—the front wall, as in the Temple of the Tigers of about the same date, is supported by two serpent columns and has become so open as to be a portico—the second point is that two piers, supporting triple vaults, take the place of cross walls. A still further development of this plan is that of the Temple of the Warriors. Opposite Plate LVII. The Maya architects seem to have been hampered in the develop- ment of the plan by their apparent inability to find any other method of supporting the roof except by the so-called Maya arch. The true principle of the arch they never knew, but they built an approximation to it by a method of corbelling, as did the early Greeks at the Treasure House of Artemus. Various modifications of this are shown on next page. As the corbelling was backed up by concrete many of the corbelled arches were in reality monolithic constructions. This method of construction naturally limited the widths of interiors, the widest known being only about 14 feet, but of lengths up to 100 feet or more. While there are slight variations in the form of the arches, the same principle was maintained from the earliest to the latest Maya period. [ Page Thirty ] '' TFavTavavaVo enonenonoener : : I T T | I I Drawn by W. H. Holmes. EXAMPLES OF MAYA ARCHES. a. Section of cuneiform arch with acute apex, Chichen-Itza. b. Section of ordinary arch with flat capstone. c. Section of ordinary arch with dressed surfaces. d. Section of ordinary arch with dressed surfaces and curved soffit slopes. e. Portal arch with long slopes, showing masonry of exterior facing. f. Section of trefoil, portal arch of Palenque. Rooms were usually built in pairs, one behind the other, but at Tikal we find examples that are three deep. It was not until the Toltecs’ time that the Mayas replaced the intermediate wall by columns when a radical change took place in temple plans. This is seen in the Castillo,,and Temple of the Watriors, at Chichen [tza. In Tuluum, perhaps of still later date, we find interiors roofed by logs which served as roof beams, and these were covered with plaster—a still better method for breadth, but not so lasting, as all such roofs have fallen owing to the decay of the beams. Of the palace plans there is greater variety. A typical plan is one of a long, rectangular building with a series of doorways, each Pivine -access, t0.a pair of chambers opening into each other. Often these buildings were erected with doors on either side, in which case the building was four rooms deep with a pair of chambers on either side of the building. In some instances four of these units were grouped about a court. Examples of this type are found at Tikal and the Nunnery Quadrangle at Wxmal | Still another type, was. 4 ‘rectancular building witha court in the center. Various palace. plans -are shown on the general plan of Tikal and other cities. AWNINGS, BANNER OR FLAG STAYS { Page Thirty-one ] ''MATERIALS A fine limestone suitable for building purposes is found throughout the Maya area. This also furnishes, when burned, an inexhaustible supply of lime. The stone, however, varies in different localities from a fine grained soft, easily worked quality, as in Yucatan, to a hard, coarse one at Palenque. As the stone is rare, or less workable, greater or less use is made of stucco or plaster. These materials in turn have naturally had their influence upon the mass and details of the architecture, in different localities. The ashler masonry was generally, though not always, laid up dry, but when finished was plastered over with a thin coat of lime plaster. An excellent mortar was made of crushed limestone and slacked lime. The floors and roofs were plastered over with heavy coats of mortar. Wood was, of course, largely used, but has come down to us only in the form of lintels. The Mayas apparently had no faith in limestone for lintels of any great length, as it was used only for narrow openings; wide ones were always spanned with wood, as having greater transverse strength. The material usually employed was chico sapote, the wood from which chicle is extracted which is used in the manu- facture of chewing gum. Mr. Frans Blom writes me from Tulane University that Comal- calco has several temples of unusual ground plan and built entirely of burnt brick. There is no stone whatsoever in that region, but mortar was burnt from oyster shells collected in lagoons not far from the ruins. The average height of the bricks is 19 centimetres broad, 25 centimetres long, and 4 to 6 centimetres thick. The layer of mortar between the bricks is from 4 to 8 centimetres thick. The largest brick found was in the palace (Charnay, French edi- tion, page 167, building No. 4). It lay as a lintel over a kind of window and was 1.02 metres long, 50 centimetres broad and 5 centimetres thick. TOOLS How was the exquisite carving of the Mayas executed? Iron was unknown, and but small quantities of copper were available, and this was brought from other countries. Some copper. tools have been found, but not many. It is believed that stone tools aS generally used for stone-cutting, and probably obsidian for wood. AMMITMCIAIT ICU COPPER CHISELS STONE HAMMER AND TOOLS WALLS AND CONSTRUCTION: The walls in many cases are of an excessive thickness. This may be due to an adobe origin, or to the method of construction which is not unlike the ancient Roman, where an outer and inner wall was built of ashler and the space between filled with concrete. The inner walls were carried up vertically to a certain height and then corbelled, thus forming chambers, and the Maya vault. Either as the walls went up or when they were finished the space between was filled with concrete, thus making the entire structure monolithic. It may be that some walls were built of concrete and faced with an ashler, which was not properly keyed to it. This may account for the falling of the ashler from the facade of the Palace of the Governor at Uxmal. [ Page Thirty-two |]: ''A glance at a typical cross section (see preceding page) will show this construction to be cumbersome at best. With two cham- bers the great heavy central mass was balanced but the outer ones were not. This cross section probably gives the raison d’étre for the roof comb and the flying facade. They served the same pur- pose the pinnacles did for the Gothic arch, viz: gave them stability. See Plate XX XH, At Palenque in many of the buildings the outer wall above the medial cornice sloped in, thus further weakening the construction. The reason for this was not constructive but for architectural effect. In the charming little Temple of the Sun and the Temple of the Cross, the sloping wall, the roof and the roof comb were moulded into a homogeneous, graceful, artistic mass. Plate XXVIII. It is possible to trace Maya civilization for nearly 1500 years. During all this time there was but little development in construc- tion, in fact, almost no change until the Toltec period of Yucatan. Architecture, on the other hand, although in plan and conception monumental from the very beginning, was always fresh, inspiring, imaginative, and ornament developed from natural and realistic forms to a beauty of design and convention unsurpassed by any art. ROOFS Roofs were generally flat as usual in countries without snow. An exception however is found at Palenque, where roofs similar to those designed by Mansard are to be found. ‘This may have been for artistic purpose or to shed the tropical rains. ROOF COMBS AND FLYING FACADES. A very remarkable development of super-structure dating from the very earliest buildings, as at Tikal and Palenque, continued to be practiced throughout Maya period. It is known as the roof comb. The roof comb and flying facade may have had their origin either as decorative motifs to increase the height of the rather low facades of the buildings, or to stabilize the top-heavy construction, or to furnish an opportunity for night illumination. How mag- nificent some of the great temples at Tikal, for example, would have looked at night with lights burning in each of the many apertures! Maler states that when he visited Menché, in the nineties, he found the Indians had shortly before left incense burners in some of the openings of one of the temples, and Thompson has stated that he has found incense burners in the roof combs of Northern Yucatan. The other purpose for which these may have been used was that of construction, to act as a vertical component to hold down the masonry of the corbled roof. While a roof comb over the mass of masonry between two chambers accomplishes this purpose for the central part of the structure, a so-called flying fagade would accomplish a similar purpose over the facade. But the Mayas do not seem to have used both motifs until a late date; “Vhe™ best~ example is~ the, Chichanchob, at Chichen Itza. «Plate XO. | HIGH BUILDINGS. The Mayas erected buildings as high as five stories. They were not in most cases sure enough of their construction to build the rooms over each other. The upper story rooms were usually erected over solid cores, as shown opposite Plate XXX. There are a few exceptions to this general rule; the most notable is the four-storied tower at Palenque. While the corbeled arch was the usual method for roofing an interior, logs imbedded in mortar were sometimes used, making flat ceilings as is shown in the late Temples at Tuluum. DOORWAYS. The characteristic Maya doorway is a small rectangular open- ing with plain jambs and lintel, or with carved figures formine an architrave and jambs, and in some cases with decorated lintels. The lintels in all except the narrowest doorways were of sapote wood, [ Page Thirty-three ] ''usually elaborately carved. No doors are known but there are holes in many jambs suggesting the use of curtains. There are examples of several doorways placed so close together that the space between really became piers and the space behind a portico, as in the temples and palace at Palenque. When columns took the place of such piers a still more open portico was the result as seen in the North Temple and the Temple of the Tigers of the Ball Court, Chichen Itza. WINDOWS There are no windows in Maya architecture, only smali openings at Palenque and Tuluum, a few inches wide by about 12 high. In a country of tropical sunlight where the intensive light creeps in and permeates the smallest aperture, the people sought repose in the escape from the burning effects of the sun and the intense light. CORNICES A peculiarity of the cornices is that they are made up of straight lines or planes. The typical Maya cornice is divided into three parts, two inclined surfaces separated by a fillet. See Plate LXXXIX. The fillet is frequently enriched as in the cornice of the Palace of the Governor at Uxmal, and the inclined surfaces are decorated as in the cornice of the Eastern wing of the Nunnery at Chichen Itza: While there is great variety in the detail of the design and although the cornice sometimes possesses five members, they always follow the lines of the typical cornice. COLUMNS. Columns were not used in Maya architecture until a late date and were probably introduced by the Nahaus from the Valley of Mexico after their occupation of Chichen Itza. There are more varieties of columns to be found in Chichen Itza than in any other Mayan City. Here are found elaborately ornamented round columns in the small temple of the Ball Court, plain round ones in the group of the Thousand Columns, elaborate square ones in the South Temple of the Ball Court and in the interior of many of the temples. The most splendid column of Maya architecture is the Feath- ered Serpent Column. The feathered serpent, the union of a bird, the God of the air, and the rattlesnake, the God of the earth, was the most sacred of the Maya-Toltec deities. The transmutation of this serpent into a supporting architectural member was a masterly achievement and this design is worthy to be classed as the sixth order of architecture. The Temple of the High Priests and the Temple of the War- riors each possess excellent examples of this column. These are square. The two most beautiful examples, however, both round, are found at the entrance to the Temple of the Castillo and Temple of the Tigers. ‘These are the finest‘known. Further descriptions of these columns are found under separate articles on these temples. Splendid examples of columns are also found in Tuluum. An altogether different variety of column is frequently used at abna, Kabah’ and other late cities of Yucatan... These are more properly speaking colonettes. ‘They are placed so close together as to form a solid wall and are really a form of wall decoration. A few examples of colonettes of this order are found at Uxmal but no free standing columns. It is possible that these were also Used iia ikal: ORNAMENTATION. Maya ornament is bold and vigorous, which is quite necessary in climates of intense sunshine. During the early Classic Period it was more or less realistic, but soon became conventional. Early, too, it was full of symbolism which gradually developed until the original motives were probably lost to view. The motives were drawn from plant, animal and human life. [ Page Thirty-four ] ''The human figure in high relief was used as a decorative motive on facade throughout the Maya era. In regard to the human form in Maya art, Spinden says :* “But, unfortunately for our fuller understanding, the human form had only a minor interest because the gods were not in the image of man and the art was essentially religious. ‘The gods were at best half human and half animal with grotesque elaborations. The high esthetic qualities were therefore wasted on subjects that appear trivial to many of us. But, as we break away more and more from the shackles of our own artistic conventions, we shall be able to appreciate more and more the many beauties of ancient American sculpture.” In reference to design, Spinden says :* “Tt is difficult to compare directly the graphic and plastic arts of different nations where the subject matter is diverse unless we compare them in accordance with absolute principles of design, composition and perspective drawing. The Mayas produced one of the few really great and coherent expressions of beauty so far given the world and their influence in America was historically as important as was that of the Greeks in Europe. Set as we are in the matrix of our own religious and artistic conventions, we find it difficult to approach sympathetically beauty that is overcast with an incomprehensible religion. When we can bring ourselves to feel the serpent symbolism of the Mayan artists as we feel, for instance, the conventional halo that crowns the ideal head of Christ, then we shall be able to recognize the truly emo- tional qualities of Mayan sculptures.” SO-CALLED CROSS OF TEOTIHUACAN (Suggestive for a Roof Cresting.) STELAE, LINTELS AND ALTARS HE MAYA STELAE are elaborately carved monoliths of stone always bearing the date of their erection and varying in width from 2 to 4 feet and from 12 to 36 feet in height. Their primary object seems to have been to mark ends of the even period of the Long Count. Their other uses are problematical though they probably commemorated actual historic events such as current astronomical phenomena. ‘To sum up all the evidence as to their nature and probable function, it appears possible to state the fol- lowing general conclusions concerning them, according to Morley: 1. “They were period markers erected to commemorate the pas- sage of successive units of the Maya era. 2. The unit chosen for this purpose was at first the katun, later the lahuntun and still later, at the end of the Old Empire, the hotun. 3. The Initial and Secondary Series, Period Ending and Calen- dar Round dates record specific days in the Maya Chronological era and the Supplementary Series set forth certain lunar and eclipse data concerning the Initial Series dates which they respec- tively accompany.” The location of many of the stelae and altars in front of the temples was architectural while others do not seem to have fol- *Ancient Civilizations of Mexico and Central America by Dr. Herbert J. Spinden. [ Page Thirty-five ] ''lowed any general rule. ‘They are of greatest interest to us in the part they play in the development of the art of sculpture. Dr. Spinden* has endeavored to classify them according to style and he has thrown much light on the subject. While the Mayas modelled figures in the full round but few examples have come down to us, possibly because they were so easily carried away from the ruins. It was a common practice especially in the early period to decorate buildings with statues in high relief or three-quarter round, and in the stelae of the earliest period we find usually a collosal figure in high relief but in an archaic position. These figures are strikingly dispropor- tioned and standing always in a certain position, holding a cere- monial bar, which indicates that they were perhaps wholly symbolic, or they may have portrayed the ruler or some important personage of the day. These early stelae are always square in plan, later they became rectangular, lower in relief, and the figure took on better proportions and became the all-important feature of the design. As a study in the development of Maya art they are of great value. The beauty of composition, the re- markable fore-shortening and perspective, the skill of execution, place these bas reliefs among the most interesting examples of decorative sculpture ever produced. While some of the designs may apear to be too ornate and complicated, it must be remembered that these were treated in strong colors which naturally tended to simplify the whole. . The extraordinary complexity of the decoration of the door lintels, especially in Yaxchilan, is quite remarkable. Why they should have spent such an amount of effort upon a door lintel which is so difficult to see is quite incomprehensible. Small altars in stone 6 to 10 feet in length were often placed in front of the stelae. ‘These are either amorphous or representing animal monsters. The skill and cleverness of design in connection with these is also worthy of study. It was during the great period of Maya art that the sculpture of the stelae reached its highest development. Later they seem to have fallen into disuse and in the Renaissance Period stelae are rarely used and the art of the sculptor became merely the work of the clever craftsman. Copan has, owing to its great number of stelae, been called the City of Idols. It contains forty per cent of all the Maya inscriptions. Copan is the best place in which to study the evolution of hieroglyphic . writing. There are thirty-six stelae here. Stelae No. 20 has the date 9. 1. 10. 0. 0. 0. This is also an excellent place to study the development of the stelae, the simplest form of which has one face sculptured and three plain. There are two examples. In the next form two alternate faces are sculptured, the remaining two being plain. Possibly as early as 9. 1. 10. 0. 0, the all-glyphic stelae was introduced, with inscriptions on all four faces. This class is represented by 9 monuments. The first representation of the human figure on stele was possibly as early as 9. 7. 0. 0.0, the back and sides of the stele being devoted to inscriptions. This class persisted for about 160 years and there are || examples. Stelae having human figures sculptured on two faces, the re- maining two faces being inscribed with glyphs, first appear in 9. 11. 0. 0. 0, and lasted about 125 years. There are four examples. Early in the Great Period, the apparel of the human figure be- came so elaborate that the glyph panel was crowded around on the back of the stelae, the sides being given over to the sweeping plumes and other details of the clothing. This style lasted about 45 years and there are six examples. There are 27 rectangular altars and 12 round ones and a few irregular shapes. COLOR. Color has almost disappeared from the buildings after their long exposure to rain and sun, although there are traces of it every- where. As far as known it was universally used both on the ex- terior and interior of the buildings from the earliest times to the *Maya Art, Peabody Museum, Harvard University. [ Page Thirty-six ] ''latest period. Color has been well preserved on buildings that have been covered up or buried. Last year when excavating the Temple of the Warriors at Chichen Itza, the officials of the Carnegie Institution report that the colors were probably as bril- liant as though just applied but faded quickly upon exposure to the air. Colored studies were carefully made of these buildings. The same is reported of the elaborate temple at the foot of the Temple of the Tigers at Chichen Itza—color studies are also pre- served of this in the Peabody Museum and the University Museum in Philadelphia. There are also many historical references to the use of color. Interiors were sometimes colored in solid tones, sometimes en- riched by decorative designs and sometimes by incised figures and by mural painting, as in Tuluum and the Temple of the Tigers at Chichen Itza. In the latter buildings a great battle scene is represented. This is pictorial and is rather more historic than decorative. [llustra- tions of this are found on Plate LI. Maudslay has gone into great detail illustrating these notable murals in Biologia Cen- trali Americana, and Lothrop in the Carnegie publication on Tuluum. We know from the traces of color still preserved that deep red formed the background for much of the ornament; that a lighter shade of red was used for flesh tones; that black, white and yellow were common and that all featherwork was in green. CONDITION OF THE MONUMENTS TO-DAY. As we have seen, the material of which all the remaining Maya architecture was constructed is an excellent limestone, and the buildings would today be in almost perfect condition but for three causes, the foremost of which is Man. ‘These buildings, like the Coliseum and many edifices of antiquity, offered tempting quarries for succeeding generations. "Thus we see what were once beauti- fully carved doorways and splendid ashlar facades robbed not only of their adornments but of the actual plain cut stone work as well. Many of the haciendas of recent date are largely built of the old buildings. The second cause of destruction was the use of wood for lintels over columns and wide openings. ‘The wood generally used was chico-sapote. This wood, of a beautiful mahogany color, is exceed- ingly hard and durable. Naturally the Mayas believed this to be stronger than stone, hence its use. While it may, when newly cut, have had a greater transverse strength than stone, it was of course not so durable and, after several centuries of tropical rain, it suc- cumbed and the lintels broke, thus precipitating upon the ground many of the facades. The third cause of destruction is plant life. Seeds carried by birds and the winds, fall upon joints between stones, previously filled with dust and dirt, and take root and the roots push their way between the stones forcing them apart. This destruction is ever going on. The greatest enemy of stone masonry is frost. Fortunately this is not present, so that many of the stones are as fresh and sharp as though carved yesterday. [ Page Thirty-seven ] ''COPAN HONDURAS. OPAN was made known to the Spaniards as early as 1576 by C a letter written to Philip II by Garcia de Palacio. A detailed description of the ruins is given in “Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and. Yucatan’ .by John... Stephens, published by John Murray, London, 1841, but more particularly through A. P. Maudslay, who visited Copan in 1881 and again in 1885. On the second expedition he cleared away the debris which brought to view the great staircase and outlines of many important pyramids. Maudslay’s investigations enabled him to prepare the first comprehensive plan of Copan, and the model which he made from his early drawings is still one of the best of this interesting city. Plate IV. Copies of the plaster cast and of the stelae and altars can now be found in many of the museums of this country and in England. ‘The beautiful drawings he prepared from these plaster casts are extremely. interesting. We have reproduced several... They - are published in “A Glimpse of Guatemala” and in the “Biologia Centrali-Americana.”’ There is a general impression among archaeologists that Copan is the oldest of the Maya cities, although the oldest dated stelaas at Waxactin. stela 9 (8. 14, 10.13. 15) and: the nexe oldest at Dikal-and the third at Copan; stela 24. (9.2. 10..0:°0.). In 1891, the Directors of the Peabody Institute of Massachu- setts made arrangements with the Government of Honduras by which they acquired complete control of the ruins for a period of ten years on certain conditions, of which one was that a certain amount of the work should be done on the spot during each year. Four expeditions were made, when the work was suddenly called to a halt in 1895 by the abrupt revoke of the edict by the Govern- ment of Honduras. Nevertheless, these expeditions were of great value.* The first expedition was in charge of Mr. M. P. Seville and Mr. J. G. Owens. The second expedition was in.1892, under the direction of Mr. Owens, who died of fever and was succeeded by Mir. G.B.Gordon: To quote Dr. Gordon:t ‘The area comprised within the limits of the old city consists of a level plain seven or eight miles long and two miles wide at the greatest. This plain is covered with the remains of stone houses, doubtless the habitations of the wealthy. The streets, courts and courtyards were paved with stone or with white cement made from lime and powdered rock, and the drainage was accomplished by means of covered canals and underground sewers built of stone and cement. On the slopes of the mountains, too, are found numerous ruins. On the right bank of the Copan River in the midst of the city stands the principal group of structures—the temples, palaces and buildings of public character. These form part of what has been called for want of a better name the main structure.” The ‘arrangement:.of this, the first .oreat. civic center of. the Mayas, may be understood from Maudslay’s model. ‘The Copan river has been gradually changing its course until it has washed away a portion of the city, thus revealing the greatest archaeologi- cal cross section of history. From this we see that Copan was evi- dently built upon the remains of a still older city and that the civic center was not predesigned but a gradual development. To quote Gordon again: “Tt faces the four cardinal points and its greatest length from north to south is about 800 feet. It is about the same length, east and west. Within the main structure, at an elevation of 60 feet, is a court 120 feet square, which with its surrounding architecture must have presented a magnificent spectacle. The court, itself, is en- closed by ranges of steps or seats rising to a height of 120 feet, as in an amphitheatre; they are built of great blocks of stone neatly cut and regularly laid without mortar. In the center of the west side is a staircase. To the north of the courts stand the two magnifi- *Memoirs of the Peabody Museum, Harvard University. +The Century Magazine, January 1, 1898. [ Page Thirty-eight | ''cent temples, Nos. 21 and 22, which create the feeling that they are the works of giants. Temple No. 22, in many ways the most interest- ing I explored, furnishes a typical example of this class of building. All of the interior walls are covered with a thin coat of stucco, on which figures and scenes were painted in various colors and the cornices were adorned with stucco and other ornaments likewise painted .... The horizontal arch formed by overlapping stones was always used in the construction of roofs, a type that is common to all the Maya cities. The outside of the building, profusely ornamented with grotesques at every line, bears witness to the am- bitious prodigality of the architect, his love of adornment and his aversion to plain surfaces—a characteristic that is manifest on all monuments and carvings at Copan. An elaborate cornice with foliated design adorned with plumage, all beautifully carved, ran around the four sides. Higher up a row of portrait-like busts are also carried around the entire building. Whatever of plain surface remained was covered with pure white stucco, and the same mate- rial was used upon the sculptures to give a finish to the carving and a suitable surface for the colors that were used to produce the desired effect.” { Page Thirty-nine ] ''fa eee '' From Painting by By Courtesy of the Carlos San Vierra Diego Museum -PHE RUINS: OF COPAN, L OOKING EAST HONDURAS. auo-h4404 260g—JIl ALWI1d '' '' PLATE IV—Page Forty-three Courtesy of the Pan-American Umon. MODEL OF COPAN. By A. P. Maupstay. Morley E nt p= N. Ss FEeBe wi = Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution. MIDDLE COURT. LEGEND me = STELAE ® RECTANGULAR ALTARS @ ROUND ALTARS = HIEROGLYPHIC STEPS OR JAMBS i THE HIEROGLYPHIC STAIRWAY SCALE IN FEET oe 0 50 “100 200 300 PLAN OF COPAN. HonDURAS. ''PH HIB ROGEYPHIC STATRWAY ‘The most extraordinary feature that our excavations have yet brought to light is the hieroglyphic stairway already referred to. Facing the plaza at the southern end, it occupied a central position on the western side of the high pyramidal elevation that forms the northern wing of the Main Structure. Even in the sad state of ruin in which we behold it now, it affords a magnificent spectacle. What must it have been in the days when it was entire, and reached from the floor of the plaza to the entrance of the temple that stood on the height a hundred feet above!” “In these tombs one, and sometimes two, interments had been made. The bodies had been laid at full length upon the floor. The cerements had long since moldered away, and the skeletons them- selves were in a crumbling condition, and give little knowledge of the physical characteristics of the people; but one fact of surpassing interest came to light concerning their private lives, namely, the custom of adorning the front teeth with gems inlaid in the enamel, and by filing. Although not all of the sets of teeth found had been treated in this way, there are enough to show that the practice was general, at least among the upper classes; for all the tombs opened, from their associations with prominent houses, seem to have belonged to people of rank or fortune. The stone used in the inlaying was a bright-green jadeite. A circular cavity about one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter was drilled in the enamel of each of the two front teeth of the upper row, and inlaid with a little disk of jadeite, cut to a perfect fit, and secured by means of a bright-red cement.” G. B. GORDON. The Century Magazine, January, 1898. [Page Forty-four] ''PLATE V—Page Forty-five Maudslay, FACE OF STEP OF TEMPLE NO. II. GREAT PLAZA. (ORIGINAL SCULPTURE Now IN British MusEvUM.) COBAIN, “THE HIRROGEYPHIG Ss TAIRC ASS From RESTORATION BY Dr. G. B. Gorpon. DRAWN BY SANDHAM. COPAN: Maudslay. FACE OF STEP OF TEMPLE NO, I, GREAT PLAZA. (OricInAL SCULPTURE Now In British Museum.) COPAN, HONDURAS '' ''Courtesy Pan-American Union. Tue TaALiest STANDING STELA, AT QUIRIGUA, GUATEMALA, 26 FreeT HicuH. There is a fallen Stela at this same city which is 34 feet high. Courtesy of the Peabody Museum, Harvard University. FicgURE FROM HIkEROGLYPHIC STAIRWAY. (Now 1n Peasopy Museum, Harvarp UNIversirty.) CopaAN. HonDURAS. uawas-h440q I60Qd—lA ALVId ''iA RING@AN ALL HES GLORY.” Of the series of excavations by the Peabody Museum at Copan, all, with the exception of the first, were conducted by Dr. G. B. Gordon. His field work extended from 1893 to 1900. Between 1893 and 1900, he excavated the remarkable Hiero- glyphic Staircase, all the risers of which are covered by heiroglyphs. At intervals up the staircase were seated human figures as shown in Mr. Sandham’s illustrations, Plate V. The most remarkable of these figures was the great statue found in Situ and shown in the colored illustration on opposite page, enti- tled, “A King in All His Glory.” This is the greatest single find ever made in the Maya area and is as interesting in its way as was the recovery of the Venus de Milo. This statue was complete when found, with the exception of a few inches of the top feathers. An original drawing in monochrome was made of this under Dr. Gor- don’s supervision by Miss M. Louise Baker. The coloring of the plate is entirely the work of the author and is based on Maler’s and other descriptions of the probable colors used. It is well known that all feather work was colored green, to represent the plumes of the quetzal. [Page Forty-eight] ''PLATE VII—Facing Page Forty-eight WOKING IN ALL FLS GLORY. ''me ate ; oat Pare. use ''PLATE VIII—Page Forty-nine a 4 ie ’ wz < i a ie. iS st Ss oo z oe ss < 2 Ze ee me Oo # 4 meee eens Q oe 0 eo oA n © Se } I — Gy g 2 mA > {x} 3 N = Sad OF ee ae #288 SAO ® . SkEE EE Ne < = 8 M ''* ie oy ae fe '' Maudslay. a, PROM THE TEMPLE OF THE FEATHERED CROSS. PALENQUE . ¢, FROM A W MAYA ORNAMENT. EXAMPLES OF THE SERPENT Birp. FROM BIOLOGIA CENTRALI-AMERICANA “It is only natural to find a race dwelling in the Tropics using the brilliant plumage of birds in personal adornment, but the frequent occurrence of the Serpent Bird appears to indicate that that particular conventional form was invested with sacred attributes. And the preference shown in the use of the wing, especially in headdresses, accounts for much that is otherwise difficult to understand in the carved ornament.”—M audslay. STELA F.QUIRIGUA ALTAR T. West Side, COPAN . STELA P COPAN auo-Aifiq 26vd—X1 ALW1d ''TIKAL (GUATEMALA IKAL is in the center of what was once a populous section in the northwestern part of the Department of Peten and was probably the largest of the Maya cities. Its important build- ings cover a square mile. The site is a general plain, with two shallow ravines running east and west. Between these and on either side is a natural hill leveled off and terraced, thus forming three great acropoleis. Tikal was contemporaneous with and the principal rival of Copan. Al- though the latter city is generally conceded to be the older, one of the stelaes found here is next to the earliest known. Like Copan, it had an important civic center, or perhaps better termed a religious center. . There are a number of plazas here; each with one or more pyramids facing them. Two of the great acropoleis have many temples, while the central one was almost exclusively occupied by palaces of the ruler or clergy. Tikal is one of the most isolated of all the Maya cities and in consequence has been visited less by foreigners than any other. It was hardly known until 1848. In 1875, Mr. J. W. Boddam-Whetham obtained from the Indians two fragments of carved beams which he presented to the British Museum. In 1877, it was visited by Dr. Bernoulli, who died on his way home and whose notes are lost. He, however, obtained several of the lintels which he sent to and are now preserved in the Museum at Basle. In 1881 and 1882, A. P. Maudslay visited and studied the ruins. He notes a great number of beautifully carved lintels in probably chico sapote wood. Many of these lintels have since disappeared. A study of the plan, Plate X, will show there were many temples and palaces of great size. The temples are very accurately oriented and different ones face all the cardinal points. Maudslay thinks that this supports the theory that the position of the buildings was due to astronomical considerations. But it is just possible that this orientation may have been due to worship at different times in the day; that is that worship was held only at times when the sun faced the temple. This theory, of course, would not hold with reference to the temple facing the north. On the other hand, it seems very probable that the Mayas held religious services and ceremonials at night as well as in the daytime and it is possible that the primary object of the roof-combs, as stated before, may have been for illumination purposes. Tikal, the magnificent, with great towering pyramids on the different acropoleis, might be called the Monumental City of the Mayas. These great pyramids which were really outdoor altars, are without question the most stupendous altars in the world. Tt requires little imagination to realize the magnificent spectac- ular effect of ceremonies being conducted at the entrance to the temple and on the grand staircases leading up to them, with broad plazas far below where thousands of spectators might worship, and witness these spectacles. We know from the bas reliefs and drawings that the robes of the priests and the nobles were magnificent, made of intricately woven materials, orna- mented by gold and jade, turquoise and other semi-precious stones, and with headdresses unrivalled by any peoples in the world—head- dresses made up in infinite variety of design and elaborated by the feathers of the quetzel and other birds of rare plumage. Judging from the number of musical instruments, such as the drum, Pl. XCI, whistles, flageolet, fife, flute and numerous other wind instruments, the Mayas must have had a highly developed music. The pyramids are either square or rectangular in plan, and are also stepped, usually with nine steps, and usually with but one grand staircase, leading up the front to the surmounting temple. Temple No. 66, however, has grand staircases on all four faces. It is supposed that those with four staircases were sacrifi- cial temples. So great and massive are the roof-combs that it was [ Page Fifty-two ] ''necessary to make the temples of almost solid masonry and con- sequently the chambers are smaller here than in any other of the Maya temples. Frequently there are three chambers, one behind the other. The plans of the temples are nearly always oblong owing to the roof-combs. There are several great quadrangular buildings here which may have been the abode of the priesthood or of the rulers. There are also a number of smaller buildings close to the pyramids which are thought to be sacrificial buildings. Although Tikal, like all the other Maya cities, has been plundered for generations and suffered much from fire, there is still doubtless a wealth of material to be found here when the Government or some great institution undertakes a systematic and exhaustive study of the site. We know from the dated monuments that Tikal is one of the earliest of the classic cities, as well as one of the last to be abandoned during the 7th Century in the northern migration of the Mayas. In the beauty of the carving of the stelae, lintels, altars and bas reliefs, the sculptural art of Tikal was unrivalled. NOTES. BY .MALER Teobert Maler undertook an expedition to Tikal in 1895 for the Peabody Museum of Harvard University. He made the most exhaustive study that had been made up to that time and his drawings are extremely interesting and his photographs are among the finest that have been taken. | He again visited Tikal in 1904.. He describes* a number of temples several stories in height. One building, the palace of five stories, he characterizes as ‘“‘the most stupendous edifice of the entire group” and -he. believes 1t.to have been the sacredotal: palace: be- longing to Temple No. 5, opposite, toward which the south facade is turned, the temple itself facing north. The first two stories are set against the rising hill, and only the last three are free on all sides, Maler says of Temple No. 2, shown in Plate-2@0lT a- restoration of which. has been made by the American Museum of Natural History and is shown in Plate XIV, that the facade faces almost exactly east of the magnetic needle. ‘A projecting step about 114 m. high also serves here as the base of the pyramid. ‘The three large and steep steps rising up from it are each about 6% m. high, having certain horizontal divisions and the usual recessed corners. It is probable (but not absolutely neces- sary) that the large, slightly sloped sides of the steps had a project- ing cornice, which has disappeared. ‘The base of this pyramid is, I believe, an equilateral square, each side measuring 34m. at the first step. The platform on top is 2114 m. square. A stairway about 9 m. wide, before which we found a circular altar but no stelae, leads up from the plaza to the platform upon which stands a substructure 2 m. in height (in front), upon which rises the temple proper. As usual a small front stair- way leads up over the middle of the substructure to the entrance of the first temple chamber. = The front leneth of the. temple (measured not at the slightly projecting base but from wall to wall) amounts to exactly 13 m. 95 cm. Breadth, measured from the cen- tral line of the structure, is 10 m. 51 cm. “The doorway is 225 cm. wide and 265 cm. high and was for- merly spanned by five strong sapote beams, which, alas! have been wantonly torn out, causing a great mass of masonry to fall down, together with the frieze and vaulting resting upon it. Whether the sapote beams were carved on the under side and what has be- come of them, nobody can tell. ‘The first temple chamber is 485 cm. long and 115 cm. wide. “A low step 215 cm. wide leads through a doorway into the second temple chamber. This entrance was spanned by five beams of sapote with very fine carving on the under side. All these beams were torn out by plunderers of this temple and three were carried away. . *Memoirs Peabody Museum, Harvard University, Vol. V. [ Page Fifty-three ] ''“The second temple chamber is 495 cm. long by 100 cm. broad. “Another low step brings one to the third temple chamber through a doorway, 193 cm. wide, spanned by six perfectly plain sapote beams. The third temple chamber is 350 cm. long and 94 cm. wide. The height from the floor to the narrow truncation of the very steep, wedge-shaped vaulting is 520 cm. “The frieze on the east facade doubtless had three great decora- tive carvings, one in the middle over the doorway, and one at each corner which, as usual, turn the corner to include on the other side the wall of the narrow ends of the structure. “Receding to the width of the terrace-roof of the front apart- ment of the temple, rises the enormous roof-comb, probably in three sections, of which the top one has fallen down. The roof-comb shows on its east side the most elaborate carving of figures it is possible to imagine. It is probable that below all this was a con- ventionalized gigantic face constructed of stones and stucco. If this supposition is correct then the circular design with its pendants, on either side of what was once the giant face, can be regarded as its ear-ornaments.”’ (Notes from Maler) “As it may interest some readers to compare the height of the five Great Temples, I give them as follows :— Great Temple I. Facade facing west. Height of pyramid, 27721. “Height of temple. 17.7 m. -“lotal, 47.2 im. Great Temple II. Facade facing east. Height of pyramid, 21 m. Height of temple 22%4 m. Total, 4334 m. Great Lemple III. Facade facing east. Height of pyramid, 3232 m. ‘Height of temple, 21.7.m. Total, 54.2 m. Great Temple IV. Facade facing east. Height of pyramid, 45m. Height of temple, 24.7 m. Total, 69.7 m. Great Temple V. Facade facing north. Height of pyramid, 3534.m. Height of temple, 21.8 m. Total, 57.3 m.” Maler states that the walls of the chambers of the principal structures of Tikal are generally covered with the finest white stucco, upon which are writings and drawings and incised drawings made presumably with a pointed flint or obsidian knife. In 1910 the Peabody Museum sent out another expedition to Tikal to enlarge upon Maler’s work. This was in charge of Dr. Alfred M. Tozzer and was eminently successful. The map prepared at that time is the best that has been published of the city. This expedition prepared many plans, and took innumerable photographs. [ Page Fifty-four ] ''PLATE X—Page Fifty-five From a painting by Carlos Vierra. Courtesy of the San Diego Museum. TIKAL. GUATEMALA. a4 ~ TeMPLE -V- And. ~SOVTHERN ACRODALIS ~ 14 - CENTRAL ACROPOLIS ~ ~NORTHERN CITY = CROPO'I3= =m LON. = Au A-B PLATE 29~ 7 al 3) , ; f ae 5 ! : / a TIKAL | 38] ate se z $| } ; } ’ i N Cees ee ; i t ~ ay -@-> SKETCH: NMAD- ; ; ( by 3 a -O-M-TOZZER wm - REMERWIA 2 —~ Scart. LIN: = 160 rr-= ~ LATENT ns ' KOC 73 na ‘ a . cy mz 22 Sey AP OM Rat His We SOT. Se RUA z ry RAVAEEERIRS RP t U ’ ow ‘ 2 . ‘ ° e . ’ . a . ° ® . a . » ? » x ’ -“SOVTHERA a a 4 N Ww 5 B Bee aca ad mccsonma SBM > ay a e TD tee ee eee ee eee ow : i oe tj sot : i : -Sev_-- LY FosTee - Courtesy of the Peabody Museum, Harvard University. '' '' CrrcuULAR ALTAR. fLIKAL. TIKAL. CIRCULAR SbONE, Altar No. 5, the most remarkable stone of the ruins. It was discovered at some depth and will probably become as famous as the Calendar stone of Mexico. Its seclusion in a little court with a single entrance proves that a large number of spectators could not possibly have witnessed the ceremonies performed near it and is indicative of its special sacredness. One of the prominent figures is that of a deity holding in his right hand, against his breast, a staff, and in his left hand, hanging down at the side, the pointed sacri- ficial knife of flint with strips of leather suspended from the handle. Maler. PLATE XI—Page Fifty-seven ''a ''Courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History, New York. TEMPLE No. II. a aK AT. Courtesy of the Architectural Record. MENCHE OR YAXCHILAN Maler auiu-Aifiqy 260g—IIX ALW1d '' '' oh we s S. oe ~~ PT PWA- kL. Ow oe > bo CQUNGO We rny ¢ pie AG Ore ES viges de Coictospott con bi, ’ ‘ * Waar 2% fon eh Fy Biatisce 5, 4 Courtesy of the Architectural Record. 2. x oo 2 uf Yass fioner ariode Ho nai Bice ol he cages Chseqess Ne Ae Hale r . spon dy tise wes 4 RESTORATION DRAWING oe OF TEMPLE NUMBER II. TIKAL. ! SECTION. - ee ke Mes auo-hyx1g 240q—TI1X ALVTd '' ''PLATE XIV—Page Sixty-three Courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History, New York. Mopet PREPARED BY Tue AMERICAN Museum oF Natura History, New York OF Great TEMPLE NuMBeER II. FacapeE Facets East. HEIGHT oF Pyramip 21 M. HeicuHt oF Tempie 22% M. Torar, 43% M. (Tempte Numper IV. 1s 69.7 M. HicH—Tue Tariesr Maya Bulbine.) MIRA: GUATEMALA. ''HOE POAT GAS EATUH Ts ff: “THE OLDEST DATED ANTIQUITY IN THE NEW WORLD Be Ce 70- ‘This important specimen was found near San Andres Tuxtla in the state of Vera Cruz, Mexico in 1902 and was acquired by Dr. W. H. Holmes for the National Museum the following year. It is made of jadeite and represents the figure of a birdlike deity with a. an By et cy é od Totten. 1: WESTERN FACE EL CASTILLO OR GREAT PYRAMID, PROBABLY EREGLED ABOUT 1200 A.D: CHICHEN, FEZA, POR PICO OF PEVIELE. 2. NortH FRONT OF GREAT PYRAMID. CHICHEN. LPZA, ''padgoossassssesssed ansaseonenesaesa SECTION THROUGH LINE A:B SECTION THROUGH LINE C-D Scale | inch=10 feet , Scale | inch=10 feet SECTION. B PLAN. GREAT PyRAMID CALLED Et CASTILLO. CHICHEN TEZA; [ Page One Hundred and Ten | ''PLATE XXXV—Page One Hundred and Eleven SBBEEEEEEEEELT: EL. CASTILLO: CHICHEN ITZA MopeLt Mave UNDER THE DIRECTION oF Dr. W. H. HotmeEs By Detancy Git. ‘U. 8S. Nationa, Museum, WASHINGTON, D. C. '' '' ELA CAS TIELO SERPENT’s Heap at Foot oF BALUSTRADE ON FRONT oR NortTH SIDE. CHICHEN ITZA ca Totten 4. SACRED CENOTE CHICHEN ITZA This natural well, 200 feet in diameter, with almost perpendicular sides, has a sinister and forbidding aspect. It is 70 feet to the dark greenish water which is 70 feet in depth. VZL] NAHOIH() OTIMISV.). 15] qINVL YWOOdG "9140 [, INTERIOR OF TEMPLE SURMOUNTING EL CASTILLO. CHICHEN I[Tza. Square piers supporting sapote beams take the place of the usual cross walls. A new and very late motive in Maya design. uaajsiy yy puv paapuny 9uQ) 26Vg—1AXXX ALVI1d '' ''PLATE XXXVII—Page One Hundred and Fifteen SEAS Ke sores ESE LOW DCs Washing FEATHERED SERPENT COLUMNS 1 Museum, by Dr. W. H. Holmes, Nationa e), 0 ao i (full s Restoration FROM EL CASTILLO CHICHEN -TEZA. '' '' = Maler. he eo ‘ : : i Totten 38 DECORATED PIER, ‘TEMPLE OF THE TABLES. CHicHen I7z4. PLATE XXXVIII—Page One Hundred and Seventeen SERPENT HEADS AT Foot OF BALUSTRADES. Hicu Priests TEMPLE. CHICHEN ITZzA. SQUARE SERPENT COLUMNS. Hicu Priests TEMPLE. 11-19-11-0-0 or Dic. 31, 1339). (SPINDEN,) CHICHEN ITZA. There are several small pyramids, known variously as the Temple of the Tables, the High Priest’s Temple, etc. Some of these are thought to contain tombs. There is a vertical shaft about 30 inches square extending downward from the temple platform of the pyramid of the Temple of the High Priest. At a depth of 50 feet there is a large cham- ber—temple or tomb. Mr. Thompson descended this and found an altar on one side of the chamber, upon which was a jadite case containing several large pearls. '' ''PLATE XXXIX—Page One Hundred and Nineteen poy ; > vt So 2 % pone in oe re oe ie a tae . pe DESL a Totten DETAILS FROM THE SO-CALLED MAUSOLEUM. CHICHEN ITZA. ''SQUARE COLUMNS, TEMPLE OF THE TABLES. Four of these handsomely sculptured, square columns are ranged across the eastern platform of the pyramid, and, judging by analogy, were employed to support the vault timbers of the sanctuary. ‘They are nearly identical in their sculptures with square columns in the sanctuary of El Castillo, and correspond closely with the square, sanctuary columns of several other temples. At the top are bearded, atlantean figures in the position of support- ing the entablature or beams; at the base are similar sculptures, not clearly made out; and occupying the middle spaces, one to each side, are life sized, elaborately costumed figures of men in low relief. The height is 9 feet and the horizontal measurement about 25 inches. With the columns are shown several of the pigmy atlantean figures used as supports for stone tables ranged around the margin of the terrace, as if originally placed against the back wall of the sanc- tuary. They are now much displaced, and in the view one is so placed as to show the graceful drapery of the back. —W.H. Holmes. [ Page One Hundred and Twenty ] ''PLATE XL—Page One Hundred and Twenty-one Maler ALTARS IN THE LATE PERIOD TOOK THE FORM OF TABLES AND WERE SUPPORTED BY ATLANTEAN FIGURES. CHICHEN FIZA: Maler 2. TEMPLE OFTHE TARUES. CHICHEN-TIEZA: '' ''BALL COURT CHICHEN ITZA S WE have seen, there are only two general classes of buildings in Maya art—the temple and the so-called palace. The Nahaus, with their occupation of Chichen Itza, introduced a third—the Ball Court. This is remarkable and is a unique type of building, and although the idea seems to have come from the Valley of Mexico, there is no example extant of a Court there of so architectural and monumental a character as the one at Chichen Hz The plan of this is really academic. The court, as shown, Plate XLII, consists of two parallel walls, each 272 feet in length, 27 feet in height, and placed 119 feet apart. In the center of each wall is a stone ring, through which the player tried to pass the ball. These rings are placed three feet from the top. They are single pieces of stone, four feet in diameter, eleven inches thick and ornamented with designs of intertwining serpents. The hole is 1-6" in dianieter. There is a platform in front of each wall which extends be- yond each end... Jt is-five feet high and: ten feet bread: . The face of this is battered and near each end is a series of conventional figures carved in relief. ‘The rear of the great walls were probably stepped from one end to the other and from top to bottom. ‘They thus formed a staircase their entire length. ‘There is a small heap of stone at the center and at either end of the walls. These, Maudslay thinks, were markers’ or umpires’ posts. Their exact form can only be conjectured until the stones are sorted out and rebuilt. Surmounting one of the great walls is a small structure in the form of a temple, known as the Temple of the Tigers, from the sculptured frieze of tigers or jaguars extending entirely around it. The design of this little building marks an epoch in Maya architecture. This is one of the finest designs in the style. The detail, too, is carried out with great feeling and delicacy. The criticism which might be brought against the design of most of the facades is that the effect on the exterior is usually that of a two- story building, while the interior is but one. This effect is largely due to the heavy string course or medial cornice which was usually placed about half way up the facade, thus making too abrupt a horizontal line between the plain lower and the richly ornamented upper portion of most of the buildings. In the Temple of the Tigers it will be noticed that this medial cornice has been omitted, thus giving a gradual gradation from the severe lower to the excessively rich upper portion of the building. The decorative motifs are the remarkable serpent columns which represent perhaps the finest conventional ornament used by the Mayas; the intertwin- Ng Serpent, eivine the elicct of a single eauilloche. the’ use of shields and balustrades, and the remarkable jaguars. The lintels over the columns and the doorway between the portico and inner chamber were both in sapote wood, richly carved. Plate XG Lit. Another unique feature of this splendid design is the roof cresting. I found a number of these on the ground at the foot of the Temple and made full-sized rubbings of them, as well as of all of the ornaments shown, and the plates are made from these full- sized details. Of the number of crestings on the roof I am uncer- tain, as it was impossible to tell how many were actually used. The drawings from which the model of the entire court was: con- structed were also made on the site. Traces of color are still to be found on the Temple of the [ Page One Hundred and Twenty-three | ''Tigers, and my colored drawings are thought to be correct by Mr. E. H. Thompson, who has perhaps given the matter as much study as any archaeologist. In the inner chamber of the Temple are mural paintings. These have been splendidly illustrated by Maudslay.* Although partly destroyed, the subjects can be made out. A portion repre- sents a human sacrifice. On one side is a battle scene, with war- riors attacking a town. On the roofs of some of the houses are shown women apparently cheering the defenders. The weapons are short spears hurled from throwing sticks or atlatl, and all of the warriors carry shields. Maudslay has pointed out that although bows and arrows were mentioned by the Spanish writers, the bow never figured on any Maya sculpture and was probably of late introduction. Directly back of the Temple of the Tigers, but on the ground level, are the remains of another temple, the rear wall of which is elaborately carved. It represents some sort of ceremonial or pro- cession in several courses, one above another. This was all in rich colors and when first unearthed the colors were very bright. A careful study of the original colors was made by Miss Breton and her original drawings are now in the Peabody Museum at Cambridge, and there is a plaster cast of this wall in the Univer- sity Museum, Philadelphia, which was colored after her draw- ings.** The procession, Plate L, represents gods, priests, and warriors in elaborate and interesting costumes. The piers of the temple are elaborately carved and between them is a unique tiger seat or altar. At the North end of the court is a small temple in antis. This has circular columns, richly carved with figures of warriors, and the rear of this temple is one elaborate mass of carving. Plate LIII. At the South end of the court is another temple or colonnaded pavilion. Plate LIV. This has square columns decorated. There are low walls at either end of the court as shown in the plan, thus enclosing it completely. The great walls were grand stands, the little temple at one end was used for religious ceremonies preceding the games, the pavilion at the other end may have served as a grand stand for the nobles— all in cut stone, enriched by color. The architectural arrangement and effect of this Court is most interesting and unique. Whether the so-called Temple of the Tigers, which is one of the gems of the Maya architecture, was really intended for relig- lous ceremonies,-or as the Royal Box for the reigning monarch is unknown; certain it is that the planning of the Court is the work of an architect of no mean ability. The placing of these walls, the little Temple and the Pavilion, is most admirably done and it is a work that calls for the instant admiration of the observer. The Mexican Government has just cleared the debris so that the building can be better studied at the present time than ever before. It is hoped that the Government will restore the court, which can be very readily done, as practically all the material is on the site. An account of the diversions of Montezuma, by Herrera, is herewith given, and it is supposed that the same game was played at Chichen Itza. It resembles somewhat our game of basketball. “The King took much delight in seeing Sport at Ball, which the Spanish have since prohibited, because of the mischief that often happened at it; and was by them called ‘Tlachtli, being like our tennis. The Ball was made of the Gum of a Tree that grows * Biologia Centrali Americana. ** Other examples of this cast are in the Natural History Museum, New York, and the National Museum, Washington, D. C. [ Page One Hundred and Twenty-four ] ''in hot Countries, which, having Holes made in it, distils great white drops, that soon harden, and, being worked and moulded together, turn as black as pitch. (Undoubtedly cacutchouc, or India-rub- ber.)* The balls made thereof, tho’ hard and heavy to the hand, did bound and fly as well as our Foot-balls, there being no need to blow them; nor did they use Chases, but vied to drive the adverse Party that is to hit the Wall, the others were to make good, or strike it over. They struck it with any part of their Body, as it happened, or they could most conveniently, and sometimes he lost, that touched it with any other part but his Hip, which was looked upon among them as the greatest Dexterity; and to this effect, that the Ball might rebound the better, they fastened a piece of stiff leather on their Hips. They might strike it every time it rebounded, which it would do several Times one after another, in so much that it look’d as if it had been alive. They play’d in Parties, so many on a Side, for a load of Mantles, or what the Gamesters would afford at so many Scores. They also play’d for Gold, and Featherwork, and some- times play’d themselves away, as has been said before. The Place where they play’d was a ground Room, long, narrow, and high, but wider above than below, and higher on the Sides than at the Ends, and they kept it very well plaster’d and smooth, both the Walls and the Floor. On the side Walls, they fix’d certain Stones, like those of a Mill, with a Hole quite through the Middle, just as big as the Ball, and he that could strike it through there won the Game; and in Token of its being an extraordinary Success, which rarely happened, he had a Right to the Cloaks of all the Lookers-on, by ancient Custom, and Law amongst Gamesters; and it was very pleasant to see; that as soon as ever the Ball was in the Hole, the Standers took to their Heels, running away with all their Might to save their Cloaks, laughing and rejoicing, others scouring after them to secure their Cloaks for the Winner, who was obliged to offer some Sacrifice to the Idol of the Tennis-court, and the Stone through whose Hole the Ball had pass’d. Every Tennis-court was a Temple, having two Idols, the one of Gaming, and the other of the: Ball; On aetucky Day at Miadnieht, they performed. certain Ceremonies and Enchantments on the two lower Walls and on the Midst of the Floor, singing certain Songs, or Ballads; after which a Priest of the great Temple went with some of their Religious Men to bless it; he uttered some Words, threw the Ball about the Tennis- _ court four Times, and then it was consecrated, and might be play’d in, but not before. The Owner of the Tennis-court, who was always a Lord, never play’s without asking some Offering and Performing certain Ceremonies to the Idol of Gaming, which shows how super- stitious they were, since they had such Regard to their Idols, even in their Diversions. Montezumia carry’d the Spaniards to ‘this Sport, and was well pleas’d to see them play at it, as also at cards and the : ny oo ei | ee eee Nel 25" PLAN of BALL CourrT | | SCALE SOM CHicHEen ITzZA Temple of the Tigers—Possibly Royal Box. South Temple or Pavilion—Probably Stand for the Nobles. North Temple,—Said to have been for religious ceremonies preceding each game. Temple with rear wall richly decorated. See plate L. 72 Ve ee a SOS SE {C WALL 1y619-hjuamy puv paspuny 2ugQ rbvg ''PLATE XLII—Page One Hundred and Twenty-nine LOOKING NORTHEAST. LOOKING SOUTHEAST. MODEL OF BALL COURT—%” SCALE xs GEORGE OAKLEY “TOTTEN CHICHEN ITZA YUCATAN The model of the Ball Court, to a scale of 1%” to the foot was made from actual measurements of the building. There is no data for the marking off of the floor of the Court into squares nor for the paths shown. The small blocks on the walls, probably um- pire stands, are also hypothetical. There are, however, heaps of stones at these places on the wall, but their exact nature can only be determined by further study. As may be seen from the photographs, the rear and sides of these buildings are suf- ficiently intact for obtaining measurements. The lower portions of the columns and piers of the small temple and the pavilion are in place and the upper portions lie close by on the ground so that it was possible to measure these accurately. The frieze of the small temple and of the pavilion may have been decorated in re- lief or color; more exhaustive study may determine this. '' ''Model by George Oakley Totten. TEMPLE-OF, CHE -PuGERS. BALL COUR £. CHIGHENGET ZA. The front elevation is shown in color Plate facing page 6. guo-hysiy [ pun paspunyy 2uQ 26vq—1]11X ALVId ''gr ee Prete ''PLATE XLIV—Facing Page One Hundred and Thirty-two “POR ECO. TTEMPLE OF THE TIGERS. BALL COURT. CHICHEN ITZA. '' ''PLATE XLV—Page One Hundred and Thirty-three Maler. EASTERN FACADE OF THE TEMPLE OF THE TIGERS HicHLy DrEcorRATED REAR WALL OF TEMPLE AT ITS BASE. BALL COURT, CHICHEN-TEZA. '' '' WAAL ATT AVN ee ‘ SIipMly aly 7 PVN CYOVOLOL KORO Yoviehron omoMKow ON OK CH ORCL E oyee ye yeyey re) ee \ iy) | Mi Yr EOIER ZIP p 4 Za Ze D \ be : i LO Ss 5 j ~ ‘ /, Ao Pp El | DAY AT / Y \ \ D | Ti | \ \\i , t | i} \\ \ Ald \ D |= BANAL hin d, RESTORATION FEATHERED SERPENT Pr. CAStitro. BY DR. Wie HOLMES. ie — Totten. FEATHERED SERPENT COLUMN. PORMIOO FiMPLE OF PHE TIGERS. BALL Court, CHICHEN ITzA PEL ae j rT o x tr» Measured and Drawn by George Oakley Totten. FEATHERED SERPENT COLUMN. TEMPLE OF THE TIGERS. BALL COURT. CHICHEN ITZA. (Tuis Micutr Be CaLLep THE SIXTH ORDER OF ARCHITECTURE. ) aay-Aysiy], puv paspuny] 2uQ) 260G—T ATX ALV'Id ''ae ae ''PLATE XLVII—Facing Page One Hundred and Thirty-six From full size detail. Drawn by George Oakley Totten. ROOF CRESLTING. TEMPLE OF THE TIGERS. BALL COURT. CHICHEN ITZA. '' ''PLATE XLVIII—Page One Hundred and Thirty-seven Courtesy of the University Museum, Philadelphia. Ts JAMBS AND LINTEL OF INNER Doorway. ‘TEMPLE OF THE TIGERS. Courtesy Pan-American Union. Maudslay. 2 Door JAMBS. INNER Doorway. ‘TEMPLE OF THE ‘TIGERS. CHICHEN ITZA. '' ''PLATE XLIX—Facing Page One Hundred and Thirty-eight From full size detail. Colored by Vicken von Post Totten. DETAIL OF INTERTWINING SERPENT ORNAMENT THMPEER OF “THE TIGERS BALL. COURE CHICHEN TEZA '' ''Courtesy of the University Museum, Philadelphia. DeraiL OF REAR WALL, IN RELIEF AND COLORED. ‘TEMPLE AT Base OF TEMPLE OF THE TIGERS. CHICHEN ITZA. Totten. REAR OF ‘TEMPLE OF THE ‘TIGERS. ‘TEMPLE AT Base Has REAR WALL DECORATED. Courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History, New Vork. REAR WALL DECORATION, IN RELIEF, COLORED. A Frieze or Gops, Priests AND WARRIORS. TEMPLE AT BASE OF TEMPLE OF THE ‘TIGERS. CHICHEN ITZA. auin-Ajily yy puv paspunyT aug a6vg—T ALWId ''*“This shows a picture of a human sacrifice which was painted on the space between the top of the doorway and the spring of the roof. Unfortunately the heads of the figures have all disappeared, as they were painted on the sloping surface of the roof itself, whence all the plaster has fallen away. The body of the victim is stretched backward, over a large stone, an attendant kneels to grasp its ankles, while what I venture to call the serpent-priest stands over the body, and is probably about to cut out the heart. The green and yellow band in front of the priest is undoubtedly part of the snake, which appears always to accompany the figure of the serpent-priest. Another attendant holds a sort of banner in his hand, and behind him stands a man whose body bears tattoo-marks, and who appears to be also a victim for sacrifice and is being pushed forward by an attendant wearing a short white garment and sandals. Three other figures are shown in the Plate, which are possibly those of two other victims and a third attendant.” —Maudslay. *“This gives what remains of the picture of a battle which covered a considerable portion of the wall to the south of the door- way. The attacking party is led by the priest or warrior under the protection of the plumed serpent. The town or village which is being defended is composed of houses with thatch-roofs. The roof of each house usually projects at one end beyond the walls so as to form a sort of portico or porch, which is supported by two posts. The women who are standing among the houses are apparently urging on their defenders or deploring their losses. Three of them have curious bulbous excrescences attached to their head-dresses or to the backs of their necks. "The weapons used by the warriors are the short spears, the ‘varas tolstadas’ of the old Spanish writers, impelled with the aid of an atlatl or throwing-stick. The warriors carry shields bearing devices which are so much worn that they could not be made out, and over the shield there usually hung a feather cloak. The feather cloak appears to have been painted on after the outline of the shield and had been drawn, and in some cases the feather-work has been almost entirely worn away, leaving the outline of the shield still distinct.” —Maudslay. * Biologia Centrali Americana. [ Page One Hundred and Forty ] ''PLATE LI—Page One Hundred and Forty-one Murat DECORATIONS. INTERIOR OF SANCTUARY, TEMPLE OF THE ‘TIGERS. CHICHEN ITZA. '' ''PLATE LII—Page One Hundred and Forty-three Maler. Tr FRONT OF TEMPLE. Totten. 2s an REAR OF TEMPLE. Mopet oF TEMPLE (RESTORED). By GEorRGE OAKLEY TOTTEN NORTH TEMPLE. BALL COURT. CHICHEN ITZA. ''<3 eee ad ee eae * 7 oe ''PLATE LUI—Facing Page One Hundred and Forty-four TIGER 4OR JAGUAR) PRIEZE, TEMPLE OF THE TIGERS. BALL COURT. CHICHEN ITZA. '' ''PLATE LIV—Page One Hundred and Forty-five NaTurRE Dances HeELp IN Batt Court 2. OPENING OF THE AuTomosBILE Hicuway. Mopet (RESTORED) 3. By GEorGE OAKLEY TOTTEN SOUTH TEMPLE BALL COURT. CHICHEN 1TZA. ''RECENT EXCAVATIONS AT CHICHEN ITZA BY THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON, D. C. EGOTIATIONS with the Mexican government were com- pleted in the summer of 1923, whereby the Carnegie Institu- tion was granted permission to excavate and restore Chichen Itza or at least part of the city. In the spring of 1924, active work was begun under the supervision of Dr. Sylvanus G. Morley, associ- ate of the Institution. Work was continued in 1925. The work of the Institution during these two years has been of tremendous impor- tance and the results have more than justified the great expenditure of money and labor involved. It is estimated that it will take ten years to uncover the ancient city which occupies several square miles. A number of very important discoveries have been made. Per- haps the most important, according to Dr. Morley, was the Group of the Thousand Columns. This stupendous group of buildings and col- onnades, covering more than twenty-five acres of ground, is named for its chief architectural feature, a round column with square capi- tal, more than a thousand of which have been counted here. The different parts of the group—pyramids, temples and colonnaded halls—are arranged around a great central plaza, the Court of the Columns, which contains four and a half acres. Its character is unique, and its detail, size and location show it to have been an im- portant center of the life of the city. When work began here early in February, 1924, there stood at the northeast corner of this court a high, steeply sloping hill, the sides covered with dense tropical vegetation, its top a waving beauty of towering trees. There was nothing to suggest that beneath the tangle of vines, orchids and strange foliage was one of the most beautiful and elaborate monuments of the Mayas. As the work went slowly on trees were felled, debris cleared away and the spades and picks of the excavators laid bare what proved to be a temple, with beautifully sculptured sides, the Temple of the War- riors, as it was called by the expedition. It is a pyramid formed by four receding terraces rising to a height of thirty-seven feet and supporting a temple about seventy feet square. The pyramid is ascended by a stairway thirty-four feet broad, rising at the sharp angle of 66 degrees. The balustrades of this stairway are carved in images of the feathered rattlesnake, the tails at the bottom, the heads, with yawning, fanged mouths, at the top, projecting forward like newel posts. The sloping sides of the three lower terraces are elaborately carved with magnificent friezes of jaguars, eagles, bears and war- riors. ‘This strange procession wound its way around all four sides of the pyramid and was originally painted in brilliant colors, blues, greens, black and white and yellow against a background of rich, deep red. The greater part of this splendid mosaic had fallen and lies scattered in confusion, but the nature of the carvings will make it possible to reassemble the stones and build them back into their original positions, so that the terraces will look as they did when erected. The top terrace alone seems to have been plain; although no part of it was in place, all the sculptured fragments were needed to reconstruct the lower terraces, and the conclusion is forced that the fourth had been left unsculptured. The pyramid is surmounted by a temple. Plate vet. Two serpent columns, carved like feathered rattlesnakes, with heads on the ground and tail rattles reared fifteen feet aloft, divide the facade into a triple doorway. Plate LIX. Through this doorway one enters a spacious hall, the outer chamber of the temple. This is finely proportioned, sixty feet long by thirty feet wide; twelve square columns, with sculptured sides, formerly supported the roof. The vaulting of the interior was carried on stone piers. This was a new method of construction with the Maya, as was pointed out in describing the Temple of the [ Page One Hundred and Forty-six ] ''Castillo. The interior of the Temple of the Warriors is therefore the largest and most imposing interior in Maya architecture thus far discovered. The figures on these columns are warriors with plumed helmets, armed with spears, clubs and shields, all originally painted in brilliant colors. These gave the name to the building —the Temple of the Warriors. A single doorway in the middle of the back wall gives entrance to the sanctuary proper, a chamber containing eight columns, carved and painted like the others. At either end is a painted stone bench, with a sloping back and against the back wall is the great jewel of the temple. This is a splendid altar or dais nearly four- teen -feet long by eight feet deep and about two and a half feet high; nineteen statues of human figures painted in colors, their arms raised above their heads, sustain the carved and painted slabs forming the surface of the altar. These are so individual and realis- tic that each seems to be a portrait. This magnificent structure, standing at the center of the real wall, was without doubt the most important part of the entire temple, its holy of holies. The Temple of the Warriors is also enriched with wall paint- ings, both within and without. Here are human figures rowing, fighting, offering incense, serpents weaving in and out, jaguars and other animals here and there—a brilliant, bizarre picture of Maya life and mythology. The Ball Court, the Castillo, and the Group of the Thousand Columns and its temples, all show the strong ‘Toltec influence and are of very late date; of these the: architectural details of the: Ball Court are the most vigorous and masterful. While the general mass of the Temple of the Warriors is very beautiful and the plan well proportioned, the details are florid and mark a decadence in foe ant. The excavation at the Temple of the Warriors was the most conspicuous work of 1924, but perhaps even more important were the discoveries determining the long-suspected function of the tall, round tower known as the Caracol. Plate XXXII. This curious building, whose winding spiral lines suggested the name of caracol or snail, contains small stone passages leading from a central cham- ber through which the Itza made their astronomical observations. The upper part of the tower is practically a lenseless telescope, and repeated experiments established the fact that on March 22 the sun set along the line of one diagonal and on June 22 it set along the line of the other diagonal of this cell-like chamber. This was proof that the function of this tower, or at least of this particular line of sight, was to fix the position of the equinoxes and the summer sol- stice. Other lines of sight were undoubtedly used in determining astronomical phenomena, so it is certain that this tower was the astronomical observatory of the city of Chichen Itza. In repairing the building a hieroglyph was found which Dr. Morley read as the Maya date corresponding to 1260 A.D. In the excavation of the Temple of the Warriors, eight beauti- ful, cylindrical vases were found hidden in the same hole behind one of the columns of the sanctuary. Who put them there and when are questions that must remain unanswered forever. Since they were found in the roof debris, they must have been hidden there after the roof had fallen, and since Chichen Itza was not abandoned until 1448 A.D., and since the roof of this temple could not have fallen immediately after the city was abandoned, it is probable that they were hidden there within the last four centuries. It is the hope of everyone interested in this wonderful Maya culture that the Carnegie Institution may have the same good for- tune in the future excavations that has marked its work up to the present time. { Page One Hundred and Forty-seven | ''TUMBA DEL CHAG MOOL SON ofee Pen octegteee® ise: eesse] TEMPLE OF THE WARRIORS e388 CASTILLO S ~ ACPORTRION.OF CHIGHEN EEZA. [ Page One Hundred and Forty-eight | ''PLATE LV—Page One Hundred and Forty-nine Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution. HACIENDA OF MR. EDWARD H. THOMPSON. Locatep ABouT A MILE FROM THE RUINS. Now THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTION PROJECT. CHICHEN ITZA, YUCATAN. Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution. Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution. TEMPLE OF THE NORTHEAST COLONNADE OF THE ‘TEMPLE OFSFHE XTOLOCG CENOFE GROUP OF THE THOUSAND COLUMNS: EXCAVATED IN 1925. EXCAVATED IN 1924. EXCAVATIONS BY THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTION. CHICHEN ITZA, YUCATAN. '' ''PLATE LVI—Page One Hundred and Fifty-one Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution, se THRONE OR DAIS. AN INTERTWINING SERPENT ON BELT CouRSE WITH FRIEZE OF WARRIORS BELOW IN THE NORTHEAST COLONNADE. EXCAVATED BY THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTION IN 1924. CHICTHEN TEZA. Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution. 2s A PORTION OF THE NORTHEAST COLONNADE EXCAVATED BY THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTION IN 1924. CHICHEN- FEZA; '' rs Ros mel é : ‘ . a % 4 fe : 2 ; ‘ 7 . ‘ s — Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution. fe PLAN, TEMPLE OF THE WARRIORS. Reb | ) 3 | ba Pe SCHICHEN: IZA. ee, — ae EXCAVATED BY THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTION IN 1925. Vener ae f . 3 n ; ; Fe ; » ; " ; e Z d y 5 % ) \ v : ; [ Page One Hundred and Fifty-two ] ot ''PLATE LVII—Page One Hundred and Fifty-three Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution. Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution. WESTERN FRONT TEMPLE OF THE WARRIORS. CHICHEN ITZA, YUCATAN. EXCAVATED BY THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTION IN 1925. ''a ; A ''PLATE LVIII—Page One Hundred and Fifty-five Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution. OUTER CHAMBER (Looking Northward.) TEMPLE OF THE WARRIORS. CHICHEN TPZ Ae YUCATAN. EXCAVATED BY THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTION IN 1925. Re ee CHACMOOL AT. CHICHEN: TTZA Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution. MAIN STAIRWAY. '' et ites a ''Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution. Courtesy of the Carnegie FEATHERED SERPENT COLUMNS AT ENTRANCE. TEMPLE OF THE WARRIORS. CHICHEN ITZA, YUCATAN. EXCAVATED BY THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTION IN 1925, Institution. COLUMNS ~ OF THE OUTER CHAMBER. uanas-Aifiq puv paspunyy 2uQ 26vg— XT ALVI1d ''™, : * on ''PLATE LX—Page One Hundred and Fifty-nine Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution. DECORATION OF MAIN FACADE. Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution. » FANDARD BEARER. Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution. HEAD OF FEATHERED SERPENT COLUMN AT ENTRANCE, DETAILS FROM THE TEMPLE OF THE WARRIORS. Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution. CHICHEN. FPZA. YUCCA LAN. CTANDARD: BEARER. ''EABNA, KABAH, ETC. Neither history nor tradition tells us anything of these great cities. The ruins themselves speak of a brilliant past, for here we find the ruins of many unusual and interesting buildings. The style of architecture is very original and quite unlike anything found at either Uxmal or Chichen Itza. Only the most superficial accounts have thus far been published of Labna, Kabah and a score of other cities in this part of Yucatan. Stevens and Gann have touched upon the subject. It is almost virgin soil and he who investigates will reap rich returns. The architecture of these cities seems to have been derived from a wooden prototype. There are remains of buildings at Tikal which may have inspired the architects of this region but this can only be determined by more careful study, of which these splendid ruins are worthy. [ Page One Hundred and Sixty ] ''PLATE LXI—Page One Hundred and Sixty-one THE PALACK, LABNA. Totten. LHE PAUACH, LABNA. Totten. CIPAL TEMPLE. THE PRIN LABNA. Totten. TH PALACE. LABNA. In the above view, the Author is shown standing on the left. '' ''PLATE LXII—Page One Hundred and Sixty-three E. A THE PALAC LABN Maler '' ''PLATE LXIII—Page One Hundred and Sixty-five ap = oO 3 o oo 3 o Si > 3 poe oF oe Ww aS Pic 5.2 6s QO > z OS a os rye pela se a Mo a Sd a n ones gene a ee K a & eo a ae 2 2 mw oe See pe eee er Uh ms 6 cmale epee Ae) Z fms % — fy ops OD 3s = © 8 (x MFes et EHS E eae a Ls O x2 s fy 2°95 Z ws o ae O wa S26 o ac o's SS ty So wo oe OO ww eG o S SI o a] _ ~ — Maler. '' ''Maler. SECOND STORY OF PALACE. SAYIL. KEWIC. FACADE OF STRUCTURE. FACADE PALACE. SAYIL. SACBE. OF THE PRINCIPAL STRUCTURE. uanas-Ajxig puv paspunyyT IUuQ 26VG—AIXT ALVId '' '' NORTH SIDE OF SPRUCTURE ANGLE OF STRUCTURE. XKALUPOCOCH XAMPON bee HOUSE OF FATHER REJON. COZUMEL. Photo by R. R. Bennett. STRUCTURE. Similar to Present Day Indian Abode. ACAMBALAM § puv paspunyy 2uQ 260gd—AXT ALVId . auiu-h4x1 '' < + 8 a a Qty, 25 gS ; + b% Ziff = = 3 MANN : e Z eS MT meeconmeanearircaciog = 0 Z AUN Rae oat ‘ PAINS NA ttt eet rodeels Bessececeessscecaces ney i : . He aymnnr san nora orem § \ ANT WWM 2 a Z Wines : 0 RQ 2A 2 3 SSS Niwa} 52 at a eZ PE 15 ¢ 2= VE <0 Q 3 se : A am 2 3 3 3 : & Z ° 3: 0 Sa ae ; 8 a a W “Ming Many 2 & « = My ji iy, é é E 9 eS Mugs z MAM MN : - $ ‘ Salayy, =] £ Muy, S > Mittinnnyy, if Ng ° I eles i is 3 p a0: ie “ly Uy, i : = UM ow a Te aS Sy Minis 7S 5 Uy aD 7s 2 : “eta == hin, 2 ss i? mang 5 Sn, z ov Wty < "Mn, My : MM, Ae “ty : : 3 “Oy, Zens S z : UHM ies 2$ me yO & ° > wi eee = is : z g 3 z ean ie ; § = = is "Heys MS : 5 ~ 3 3 33 oc € NY MES gig = a ed So uy : ES 3s SS) ZB ° = S538 Hi 33 a Cue $s Z Ziff} i ZafMUuf= > 3 8 2 3 CHUM — = 4 = : =~ ay ~> PLAN. UXMAL YUCATAN '' SECTION THROUGH THE TEMPLES OF THE GREAT PYRAMID, UxMAL. a. Grand stairway rear of pyramid. b. Upper Temple. c. Lower temple. The charming little temple surmounting the so-called House of the Magician, Uxmal, is exquisitely refined and delicate in design and detail. It suggests work of the Louis XVI period of France. The pyramid was doubtless originally faced with cut stone, probably removed to supply building material for the nearby hacienda. The Maya pyramids are usually square or rectangular in plan. This one is an exception; it is oval. It measures on the base 160 by 240 feet and is 80 feet to the platform above. The little temple ts. (2 by. /U-aeet,. Plated xX ste tetatetatatetata’ Eatete . RRO a eS Sane —s Totten. WESTERN FACADE OF EAST RANGE OF NUNNERY QUADRANGLE. PYRAMID OF THE MAGICIAN IN DISTANCE. UXMAL. Totten. EASTERN FACADE OF EAST RANGE OF NUNNERY QUADRANGLE. UXMAL. ''nee Cte Oe gy Tr a —— C2 Ter - ie pf —. KKEKT 2 ae SYA ESE ae oy TONG ame ON Pa Poa SSS bh vies pesca fis = —— ——— Gane ph Io ta sr | | ry : rh x WAS THE DECORATION OVER CHE CENTRAL DOORWAY Ob. THE PALACE OF. THE GOVERNORS AND ON THE EAST RANGE OF THE NUNNERY INSPIRED FROM WOODEN CRIBBING? [ Page One Hundred and Ninety-eight | ''PLATE LXXIX—Page One Hundred and Ninety-nine F NUNNERY O E T RANGE QUADRANGLE. Xx EAS ) MAL. AD U ERN FAC WEST DETAIL, Maler. '' ''PLATE LXXX—Page Two Hundred and One From drawing by de Waldeck. 42 DETAIL (OB THE NORTHERN -HACADE Ol fH cOUrTH RANGE BUILDING, NUNNERY QUADRANGLE. UXMAL. From drawing by de Waldeck. 2. DETAIL WESTERN FACADE, EAST RANGE, NUNNERY QUADRANGLE, UXMAL. Note: There is a feeling of doubt among certain archaeologists as to the accuracy of de Waldeck’s drawings. In this connection it is interesting to compare the above with the photograph of the same subject on the preceding page taken nearly a century later by Maler. '' ''PLATE LXXXI—Page Two Hundred and Three Totten. DETAILOF THE GREAT SERPENT. Totten. EASTERN FACADE, WEST RANGE, NUNNERY QUADRANGLE Note THE CoLossAL INTERTWINING SERPENT. UXMAL. ''Se ee * : ''ize 3. MASKS AND FACES ON THE FACADE SHOWN BELOW By DE WALDECK. aR ef is i: ; CC ree entrees sr : Fey itor beets HOR NRT AERA NE ks snyescny i oh to Pieskr yy . ( 6 AS 17h idl ae . Fanele MMA HC brk * bifuc WA RESTORATION DRAWING, EASTERN FACADE, WEST RANGE, OF NUNNERY QUADRA By De WALDECK. UXMAL. GLE. 1LV Id - . 9D00g—I1XXXT eT ea1y puv paspunyy 0 '' '' Totten. i Totten. MAYA QUOINS OR CORNER MASKS. NORTH RANGE, NUNNERY QUADRANGLE, UXMAL. usrag pun paspuny ory 26Vqd—]IIXXXT1 ALV1d ''PALACE OF THE GOVERNOR, UXMAL. THE Most REMARKABLE PALACE IN AMERICA. HIS beautiful building, probably the princely residence of the Tutul Xiu family, is the finest single Maya building extant. It was erected about 1200 A. D. The plan shows it to be a rectangular structure, 325 feet long, 39 feet wide, with a height of 25 feet. The interior arrangement of the Maya palace is so unlike any- thing we are accustomed to that we naturally regard it as crude and inconvenient, but we must take into account several points wherein the climatic conditions make life in the tropics dif- ferent from that of the temperate zone. The Mayas, like the ancient Greeks, were an outdoor people, their houses serving pri- marily as places in which to sleep and to spend the time during inclement weather. The necessity of more complicated domestic arrangements was further obviated by innumerable slaves. SECTION THROUGH PALACE OF THE GOVERNOR: UXMAL. A surprising feature of their habitations was the utter lack of windows, for there is not, properly speaking, a single win- dow in Maya Architecture. Their arrangement of rooms was usually in suites of two—an outer chamber opening directly out of doors and an inner one directly behind it. The chambers were totally dark, save for the light that came in through the doorway of the outer chamber. The absence of windows is accounted for by the excessive tropical sunshine, where light is not wanted, but where it is a rest to the eyes and the brain to escape from the dazzling sunshine. Furthermore, where great brilliancy of sun- shine prevails, a small aperture will admit abundant light to sufficiently illuminate large interiors. The facade is cleverly divided into three bays by two pointed arches, introduced doubtless to relieve the otherwise excessive length. A contrast of plain and richly decorated wall surface is carried to its highest development,—characteristic of the purest Maya designs. The lower portion of the facade is entirely unorna- mented save about the doorways while the upper portion is one exuberant mass of detail. To analyze the facade, we find the usual medial and crowning cornices. The zone between, some 10 feet wide, has a fretwork background, probably inspired by lattice work. Upon this is applied the “mask panel” ornament carried across the facade in festoon fashion, and interspersed throughout the facade is a large fret ornament, while over the central doorway and at intervals along the facade are seated human figures, about life size, wearing enormous and elaborate headdresses. [ Page Two Hundred and Eight ] ''The figure over the central doorway has an additional back- ground of bars terminating in serpents’ heads, between which are hieroglyphs. Small squares in rows are also effectively introduced. Maya architecture developed, as it was, primarily for religious purposes, was full of mysterious symbolism. This was naturally carried to the structures used for other purposes, so we find the decorations of this great palace full of mysterious symbolic orna- ment, the meaning of which we cannot even surmise. Architecture should of course be the outgrowth of the needs and customs of a people and should fit the climatic conditions under which it is constructed. The Mayas fulfilled these requirements. It is very noticeable that in countries of intense sunshine, such as Egypt and Greece, the architecture is in strong, bright colors. As we look at a colored plate of Egyptian architecture, for example, with the actual colors of the original, we are inclined to think it crude and barbaric, but in order to understand it we must see the original under its normal conditions of intense sunshine, for the stronger the light the more it eats away the color -—so that the plate of glaring color, when seen in its natural sur- rounding, softens down and becomes beautiful. The Mayas real- ized this and their architecture is a wonderful achievement of beau- tiful tones and shades of brilliant color. The Mayas early in their history had realized the artistic value of terraces—and probably of gardens, so we find this build- ing splendidly elevated. According to Stevens there were three great terraces, the lowest of which is 3 feet high, 15 feet wide, 575 feet long. The second is 20 feet high, 250 feet wide and 545 feet long, and the third 19 feet high, 30 feet broad and 360 feet long. They are all of stone in a fair state of preservation. What an enormous undertaking for a people who relied only on man power! { Page Two Hundred and Nine | '' Wi Sr ee na ae ea a Sf my 5 ee Nps es" pe eS LE ESPLANADE pe eee Grand Esplanade or Terrace three hurd. cd ard. SY ly feet long Vie a large Stone Building TUXMAL in YUCATAN | The tron? extends 575 fer and the \ wcholeof’ the upper part, the stiles and | the backare covered with aruh and .- | enlricate desigi skilfully werked uw | Sere and vriginadly colored of which , soiree rerrtains are still seert ‘ \ \ x x VV \S bate Se a MR MT Teas ak {5 Dp TT a a ea Ee ae aS Ma er A pe ah > vg oe oes ase gt ee fat ke ae. MTN pT Whole CRM Of CrOHRA ee ay the Fuse Sule of eck g CLO cul by A710 Feb E Lee 290 Feet F Catherwood ded OD (len. wy. SHA Fo Lace pOLE>- ua, puv paspuny omy abvg ''PLATE LXXXIV—Facing Page Two Hundred and Ten George Oakley Totten. RESTORATION OF THE PALACE OF THE GOVERNOR. UXMAL. YUCATAN, '' '' Totten. Tie Totten. SOUTH Bay. NortuH Bay. a . peceeees & Made under the direction of Dr. W. H. Holmes. By Delancy Gill. PALACE OF THE GOVERNOR. From Mobet 1n THE Nationa Museum, WASHINGTON, D. C. UXMAL. uIanaly puv paspuny 0%] I6Vd—AXXXT ALVI1d '' ''PLATE LXXXVI—Page Two Hundred and Thirteen PILUMED HEADDRESSES OF SEATED FIGURES OVER DOORWAYS OF PALACE OF THE GOVERNOR. UXMAL. THese Ficures WERE BrouGHT FROM YUCATAN BY STEPHENS AND PRESENTED to Mr. JoHN Cuurcu Crucer. THEY Were PresenteD AFTER His DEATH BY His DAUGHTER TO THE AMERICAN Museum or Naturat History, New York. Courtesy of Ernest L. Crandall, PALACE OF THE GOVERNOR. UXMAL. ''Sea. Me : . A ee set « ''PLATE LXXXVII—Facing Page Two Hundred and Fourteen From photograph of the model in the National Museum, Washington, D. C. Di EAGK: PALACE OF: PEE GOVERNOR UXMAL YUCATAN ''ats ae nt '' Totten. S0-CALLED “HOUSE OF THE TuRTLES” so NAMED BECAUSE OF THE USE OF TURTLES AS ORNAMENTS OF THE CORNICE. The Building is 34 by 94 Feet, of Very Simple Design but Excellent Proportions and with Chaste and Simple Ornament; a Portion of this Facade Catherwood Says Fell Between the Years 1839 and 1842. UxMAL. Totten. Tue House or THE PIGEONS This Building is 240 Feet Long, Composed of a Double Range of Rooms, from the Central Wall of Which Rises a Roof Comb not Unlike the Gables of an Elizabethian House. The Small Oblong Openings Give Somewhat the Appearance of a Pigeon House, Hence its Name. UXMAL. A mn ‘ee 3 SSE Uf YY) yy a, LYS); NGG Totten. Comparative Study of Maya cornices and Belt Courses. 1—Uxmal—House of the Pigeons. 2—Uxmal—Palace of the Governor 3—Uxmal—Western Range of Nunnery Quadrangle 4, 5—Uxmal—Cornice and Belt Course—Eastern Range of Nunnery Quadrangle. 6, 7—Chichen-Itza—Cornice and Belt Course 8—The Iglesia (Church)—Belt Course of Flying Facade. Nunnery. ITC usaifiy puv paspunyy omy 260d—I1IAXXX1 ALV 1d ''he #, Pea, ''PLATE LXXXIX—Page Two Hundred and Seventeen ‘sv[NO] MSV] bs i mat Be ct & 4 LW mas jez . ‘ Si : es SN SSS Oo F ‘SV[NOJ ASVIA jy i Ws, a a = , ]oued yseu,, oY} YyIM pajeloosap souaYy pue [VUOTVU 9JOM SSUIPTIng snorsifo1 [[e Jey} asod -dns 0} ‘paryye Ayasoyo os dJaM YIINYO puR 9}e}s 9Y} VdUTS ‘00} ‘aTqe -uoSBal SI }]T ‘JoJOvIVYS [euOT}eU B JO SuUTpyIng AJOAI UO UOTeIODIp ve se pasn sem pur sekejA oy} Jo Woalqui7y [euoNeN 9y} ‘a]sva IO Sey ino oy¥IT ‘oweoeq ,jourd yseuw,, sty} yey} ofqissod ysnl st 37 “IVNX!) SMSVIN NI ACN.LS yg ==> nail i, aed Vi “YONUAAOD) FHL AO AOVIVG—HASV]N *‘poomsay yoy ‘ *s0]61S SO] ap Saavay, D ‘oIIvaT UtOss7 wot ur vl HW - a) cry WK ae Ge Le (Clee oe RO Ye it OF) cre © '' ''DAY. Uinal or Month of v Wa") SSS J Ss ra 20 Days oy eo D | ZZ Fe} y OOS EY) HH 7 BY f Hi Y B ‘i OOS 8 ht 5) Tun or Chronologi- cal Year of 18 Uinals KATUN. 20 Tuns Baktun or 400 Tuns Ahau. Maudsley. THE ABOVE SIGNS ARE EMPLOYED IN THE INSCRIPTIONS TO DENOTE THE DIFFERENT DAYS AND MONTHS OF THE 365 DAY YEAR. PLATE XC—Page Two Hundred and Nineteen '' ''Courtesy of American Museum of Natural History, New York, MAYA DRUMS i. 3 AL ae hag i passat 5 (3) tm ca i CODEX In BorciaNn Museum, COLLEGE OF PROPAGANDA ROME. Illustrations from the monumental work Antiquities of Mexico, By Lord Kingsborough, published in London in 1831. auo-hjuaomy puv paspunyy OL 260g—]DX ALVTd ''Pema eres ee ae : Mee. ac 2 ae cpa pee i, Dak sods had ''PLATE XCII—Page Two Hundred and Twenty-three Courtesy of the Pan-American Union. I DETAIL PHOTOGRAPH OF AN OLD MAN AT PANTALEON, GUATEMALA. STELA IN THE Maya STYLE AT PANTALEON. GROUP OF SCULPTURE AT PANTALEON. Upper PANEL: DECORATIVE PANEL OveER Doorway. OCOSINGO. 4. LOWER PANEL: WHISTLE AND ORNAMENTS IN COLORED [TERRA COTTA ‘TurouoisE MASKs. From Drawings by de Waldeck. Hertz Collection SACRIFICIAL KNIFE, HANDLE oF Mosaic. '' ''PLATE XCIII—Page Two Hundred and Twenty-five Courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History, New York. 2. MAsK FROM WESTERN FacaDE OF THE EAsT RANGE, NUNNERY QUADRANGLE, UXMAL. In IMITATION OF ‘TURQUOISE Mosaic, PROBABLY INTENDED TO REPRESENT SUN Gob. Courtesy of the Pan-American Union. 3. AN AzTECc FIGURE. “Gop OF THE FLOWERS”, Wir Maya FEELING. Courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History, New York. 1 Heap oF DioriteE, FRoM THE VALLEY OF Mexico. HUITZILIPOCHTLI, AzTEC Gop oF War. ''MITLA LTHOUGH THE architecture of Mitla is not Mayan, it is inter- esting as illustrating another pre-Columbian style, and by way of comparison with it a few examples are shown. The ruins are probably the best known of any of the ancient Americas. This is partly due to their accessibility as they are located but 30 miles from Oaxaca, and partly because they are the best preserved buildings of the Highlands of Mexico. Mitla was the burying grounds of the Zapotican Kings and is thought to have been a place of pilgrimage in ancient times. Although a later style than the Maya it seems to show but little influence except in the plans of the palaces. These have a resemblance to those of Tikal and other Maya cities. They are usually square, with a court yard in the center, or consist of four rectangular buildings forming a court, as the quadrangle at Uxmal. The walls are heavy and are faced with cut stone and filled with concrete or rubble. Developed under confined and isolated conditions it is a style unto itself. Its chief characteristics are the predominance of horizontal lines and the peculiar wall treatments in finely cut stone of small pieces like a Mosaic but of a design inspired by patterns of the weaver’s art. The delicacy of the stone work is partly:due to the wonderful qualities of the material, which is a soft yet tough and durable trachyte. Many of the stones are but a few inches in length and breadth. The interior rooms are long and narrow and the roofs flat. The doorways are broad and low. The exteriors were washed with a thin coat of plaster, col- ored red. There are traces of frescoes.in red and black upon a white base. These represent ceremonial processions and resemble the pictographic art of the Codices. Cruciform tombs have been found under several of the tem- ples, the inside walls of which are carved in woven patterns similar to the exterior of the temples. Bancroft, has reviewed the literature of the site, and Bandelier’ has written of the people and has published measured drawings of the buildings, and Charney*® has taken a series of superb photo- graphs, while Dr. W. H. Holmes has written of the people and the architecture.* * Native Races—Vol. 4. * Archeological Reconnoissance into Mexico. * Ancient Cities of America. oa i oe GROUP oF THE tt CATHOLIC ESTABLISHMENT : * Ancient Cities of Mexico. é SKETCH MAP OF THE RUINS or MITLA. Letters indicate Quadrangles. Figures “ Buildings. The point ef view of the panorama is alittle to the east of + Scale about 200 ft.to 1inch ee ees 22 ees. : ee f NUNN ? t ANE ' 2 \ proses = i Z 3g : eS : 9S & ; 7 Reese era cene See, : Neeeeneede : Ppa} YAMIN + Zrmminynnnws Reseccncceserseseoces ADOBE GROUP [ Page Two Hundred and Twenty-six ] '' AUDIENCE Room. PALACE OF THE COLUMNS. PATIO. PALACE OF THE COLUMNS. See ta ha? Waite. Courtesy of the Pan-American Union. MITLA. PALACE OF THE COLUMNS. MOopEL IN THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. WASHINGTON, D. C. aALV 1d UIwas-AJusoe] puv paspunyy omy a6Vg—ATOX ''~ HOUSE OF THE FLOWERS—XOCHICALCO NEAR CUERNAVACA. This is perhaps the most beautiful example of Toltec archi- tecture that has come down to us. As we have seen, the later Maya work at Chichen Itza was strongly influenced by the Toltecs, so, too, a reciprocal and refining influence was exerted by the Mayas. The plan of the House of the Flowers is almost identical to that of the Temple of the Tigers at Chichen Itza. It stands on a low mound richly decorated with sculpture of great plumed serpents, seated human figures, hieroglyphs, etc. The mound has been carefully restored. The great serpents bring to mind those of the stylobate of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. [ Page Two Hundred and Twenty-eight | ''PLATE XCV—Page Two Hundred and Twenty-nine STYLOBATE “HOUSE OF THE FLOWERS.” XOCHICALCO. “HOUSE OF THE FLOWERS,” RESTORED, KOCHICALCO: Model made under the direction of Dr. W. H. Holmes, National Museum, Washington, D. C. ''TULUUM HIS IS the largest and most important Maya city on the east coast of Yucatan. It may have been a colony or trading post during the Old Empire, for a stela, dating 9. 13. 10. 00. 7 Ahan 3 Cumber, 442 A. D.,-was found here. But the city was not devel- oped, as we see the ruins, until a late date, and probably by refugees from Mayapan. The Maya cities, it will be seen from a glance at the map, were well inland. ‘This was at least partly due to their being an agricul- tural people, and perhaps as a defensive precaution. The Mayas, and other aboriginal nations of Central America, had no transportation facilities. Beasts of burden were unknown; although the Mayas were surrounded by less civilized and more warlike nations, these could not besiege them in great numbers. Invading armies of any size must carry their provisions with them. Transportation is a necessity. Without mechanical facilities, or beasts of burden, an army cannot leave its base of supplies. Interior Maya towns were safe from attacks of armies of any magnitude. Further, none of these towns are walled, nor had they any apparent means of defense. Coastal towns, on the other hand, were subject to attacks of flotillas of canoes. This doubtless accounts for the great wall surrounding Tuluum. There are two general types of buildings here, as is usual in Maya architecture: Femples and the so-called Palaces. The temples were erected upon terraces, not upon pyramids as in other Maya cities. They are small, containing one or two rooms, with an altar against the rear wall. The palaces are simpler, too, and usually contain but two long rooms. As S. K. Lothrop* has observed, the Tuluum palace resembles the temples of Palenque. Stucco was largely used here, and there are many examples of well preserved color. The grouping of the buildings and great plazas, with the sea beyond, made Tuluum, in spite of its somewhat decadent style, a place of great beauty. *Tuluum. An archaeological study of the East Coast of Yucutan. Published by the Carnegie Institution of Washington, D. C. An expedition in charge of Gregory Mason and Dr. Herbert J. Spinden has just been seen sent out by the Peabody Museum of Harvard University to explore the Eastern Coast of Yucatan. January, 1926. [ Page Two Hundred and Thirty | ''PLATE XCVI—Page Two Hundred and Thirty-one Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution LULOGUM Restoration by S. K. Lothrop. pees L a 27 OR Continuation of wallat X pe ‘ See msert for continuatan 200 detail of wala X t ‘ Scale 200 Feet : Sketch contours, location approximate Contour interval § feet Lothrop. Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution. PLAN OF TULUUM. '' ''PLATE XCVII—Page Two Hundred and Thirty-three Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution Ts SHOWING WALLS oF ClTy. Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution 2. VARIOUS CROSS SECTIONS OF THE WALL. a-c North Wall; d-e South Wall; f-7 West Wall. TULUUM ONE OF THE FEW WALLED MAYA CITIES. ''THE-CasliLe® TULUUM The largest and most important building is the Castillo. It was doubtless used for religious ceremonies. The building includ- ing the wings measures at its base 100 feet in length. The grand staircase 24 feet wide with 24 steps and a substantial parapet on each side, still in good preservation, gives it an unusually impressive char- acter. The main entrance contains two serpent columns with square recesses above them which once contained ornaments and in the cen- ter ones fragments of statues still remain. The interior is divided into two corridors each 26 feet long. The one in front is 6 feet 6 inches wide and has at each end a stone bench. A single doorway leads to the back corridor which is 9 feet wide and has a stone bench extend- ing along the foot of the wall. On each side of the doorway are stone rings intended for the support of the door and in the back wall are oblong openings which admit breezes from the sea. Both apartments have the usual triangular arched ceiling. The wings are much lower than the principal building and are two stories in height. They contain two chambers 24 feet long and 20 feet wide and with © two columns in the center of each chamber. The columns are orna- mented in stucco. There is every indication that the roofs were flat which belief was verified by the discovery of wooden roofs still entire in the adjoining buildings. TEMPLE It stands on a terrace 6 feet high with a staircase in the center. The front of the building measures 25 feet by a depth of 26 feet. [ Page Two Hundred and Thirty-four ] ''PLATE XCVIII—Page Two Hundred and Thirty-five Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution. RESTORATION OF EL CASTILLO | Courtesy of R. R. Bennett. ea 3- : | SMALL BuILDING NorTH OF CLE, «= CY, s TULUUM ‘ee SSS et ma. ZZ 8 ° 5 10 20 Fe Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution. 2. Courtesy of R. R. Bennett. PLAN Of [THREE LEVELS OF .THE CASTILIO. PRESENT CONDITION OF EL CASTILLO TULUUM ''ae ''PLATE XCIX—Page Two Hundred and Thirty-seven ee e*e e ee e Yr. es*eet?8e@8eee@ L: eeeeekeee ee eee @e@e H eoeoe7#eeeses#eee# © © 2 © 9 @..9. 8. ©. @:@. € .6 eoeee#@ ee eee eees e@eee#ee#ee#ee#eese# eoeoeoeeee#e¢?e@ @.@-6 © @€ 6 6 4 0@ @ 8 ¢€ | J Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution. 2. Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution 2 GROUND PLANS, A, B, E, F, TULUUM C—Plaza Carmen; D—Tuluum Plaza; TEMPLE OF THE FRESCOES. G—Chichen Itza; H—Chacmool ; TULUUM I—Cancuen; J—Aké. WA A Bl 3 ISS c Kw Oo Wp PO, 95 315 BOP Wii 25: 3.85 Oo Wk ; 3! OO '\ fL a O o y ; : Ws on Bk EB 58 SG Yi te f 8 ob oy, ee, IP 7 PEA p VD ka EE NaS 4 wood beam ond Os A PEO Wee the TZ VZA NZ) ATA rh oi} 2 AG a4 88.5 3 ey a We OT STON ne MOI POS BMS ZZ BOO on, SLY Los “~~ BN ee ES BS Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution CROSS ‘SECTION OF STRUCTURE: 21.2 TULWUUM (Restored.) A. Curved Sides; B. Bottle Shape; C. Overstepping. a 8 O 5 10 15 Ft. a ,;— MLL Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution. 2. FIRST FLOOR PLAN AND ELEVATION ae - TEMPLE OF THE FRESCOUS, TULUUM CROSS SEC LION” OF SERUCTURE GL DULUUM - (Restored) ''HE WELL-KNOWN buildings and grounds of the Pan- American Union in Washington contain perhaps the first examples of Maya architecture used in the United States. In this problem, the Architects, Messrs. Kelsey and Cret, had to interpret the various civilizations of the Americas, emphasizing the aboriginal art of Pre-Columbian days. In the patio of the main building, which as a whole stands for Spanish America, the floor and the fountain are distinctly aboriginal, while the great wall under the loggia of the Annex is embellished with an interesting frieze in the Maya manner, carried out in colored terra cotta. At the end of the long pool in the garden is a curious and attractive seated figure adapted from a stone statue found in Mexico which, although Aztec in style, is Maya in feeling. Mr. Kelsey made two journeys to Yucatan to study the Maya style, and in a garden fountain for an estate at Chestnut Hill, Phila- delphia, he has carried out a grille in tints of jade (the most precious stone known to the ancient Mayas) in which the pattern is formed of crowned feathered serpents, while the dominant unit, front and back, also reproduces famous Maya forms—in one case, the long- nosed god and in the other, the well-known jaguar, with the quetzal bird feathers for eye-brows. [ Page Two Hundred and Thirty-eight ] ''PLATE C—Page Two Hundred and Thirty-nine Tie AZ LEG FIGURE ATCEND OF REFLECTION: POOL IN FHE BEAU Slhut, GARDEN, LOGGIA OF ANNEX. 2. WALLs IN CoLoreD TERRA Cotta. THE FRIEZE IS AN INTERESTING ADAPTATION OF THE Maya STYLE oF NORTHERN YUCATAN. 4. TILE FLOOR, SHOWING USE OF MAYA FIGURES. MAYA, AZTEC AND ZAPOTECAN FOUNTAIN REPRESENTING THREE PHASES OF ABORIGINAL AKT IN MEXICO AND CEN EPRAL AMERICA: PATIO PAIN-AVLE RICAN -UNION BUILDING,“ WASHINGTON, D.C. ''ae “Ea One ma 2 oe ''PLATE CI—Page Two Hundred and Forty-one ELEVATION. son hy, ee Stee VWih Ee UNL Wet, 0) Ne sth VS Sates) \s (ay We yee whee Ne Ne De Wle ay aun ae In rch 3 Tt MG SN Lae la 4 7) + i vitte ya er t g eet ee Aug yy, 4, Wh | fle ene . Ae ee ' st ON at 4 “ oe Ney Ns sel, eh ty hited cearars py Mee « FA : Pec eat be PY ty UE LOSE GEG ANS wales Mies ry ths ee laren. Sons ® ee ara MEUEPIA RS COSTUMES PLAN. DESIGN FOR A SMALL MusEUM In THE Maya STYLE, OF THE RENAISSANCE PERIOD BY GEORGE OAKLEY TOTTEN ARCHITECT '' ''PLATE ClIl—Page Two Hundred and Forty-three Masonic TEMPLE. A Mopern ADAPTATION OF THE Maya STYLE. Goop IN CoMPosITION AND Micut Have BEE» IF CARRIED OUT IN COLOR. MERIDA, YUCATAN. ge a = ¢ FOUNTAIN wiTH ILLUMINATED TERRA Cotta GRILLE AND JAGUAR Heap, WITH QUETSAL FEATHERS ABOVE EyEs. INSPIRED BY Maya Morives. ALBERT KELSEY, ARCHITECT. ''so Se ee a ogee ''PLATE CIII—Page Two Hundred and Forty-five DECORATIVE PANEL IN COLORED TERRA COTTA, ABOUT 5x10 FEET INsPIRED From Bas RELIEF IN TEMPLE OF THE FOLIATED Cross, PALENQUE DESIGNED AND EXECUTED BY LEON V. SoLon. DESIGN FOR A COUNTRY HOUSE. SUGGESTED BY Maya PRECEDENT. ''ie es ''PLATE CIV—Page Two Hundred and Forty-seven George Oakley Totten, Architect. SKETCH FOR A MUSEUM OF AMERICAN INDIAN ART The buildings would be in aboriginal American Architecture. The Maya style would predominate, with at least one example of Aztec, Inca. ete. Classic Examples in each style, as the great pyramid in Chichen Itza or Tikal, the Governor’s Palace at Uxmal, would be repro- duced and still other buildings would be of original design in these styles. It is also suggested that groups of Indians could be brought from their Reservations for short periods of time to live in their own wigwams, and act as guardians of the grounds. These would always appear in their native costumes and would daily give exhibitions of their sports and national dances. oo '' ''BIBLIOGRAPHY ARNOLD, CHANNING and F. J. Tazor Frost. The American Egypt. Bancrort, H. H.—The Native Races of the Pacific States. 5 vols. New York and London, 1875-1876. BANDELIER, ADOLPH F.—On the Distribution and Tenure of Lands and the Customs with respect to inheritance, among the Ancient Mexicans. (Eleventh Annual Report, Peabody Museum of American Archeology, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 384-488, Cambridge, 1878.) Social Organization and Mode of Government of the Ancient Mexicans (Twelfth Annual Report, Peabody Museum of American Archeology and Ethnology, Vol. 2, No. 3, Cambridge, 1879.) Boursourc, BrAssEuR DE—Monuments Anciens du Mexique. Paris, 1866. Bowoitcu, C. P.—The Numeration, Calcular Systems and Astronomical Knowledge of the Mayas. Cambridge, 1910. BRANSFORD, J. F.—Archelogical Researches in Nicaragua. (Smithsonian Contribu- tions to Knowledge. XXV., Art. 2, pp. 1-96, 1881.) Brinton, D. C.—The Maya Chronicles. Philadelphia, 1882. (No. 1 of Brinton’s Library of Aboriginal American Literature. ) The Annals of the Cakchiquels. The original text with a translation, notes and introduction. Philadelphia, 1885. (No. 6 of Brinton’s Library of Aboriginal American Literature.) Bulletin 28. Mexican and Central American Antiquities, Calendar Systems and History. “Twenty-four papers by Eduard Seler, E. Forstemann, Paul Schellhaus, Carl Sapper and E. P. Dieseldorf. Translated from the German under the supervision of Charles P. Bowditch. (Bulletin 28, Bureau of American Eth- nology, Washington, 1904.) CuHarnay, D., and Vio_Let-Le-Duc.—Ruines Americaines. CuHarnay, D.—The Ancient Cities of the New World. Trans. by J. Gonino and H. S. Conant, London, 1887. DEWALDECK, J. F.—Monuments Anciens du Mexique, Paris, 1866. — Dias Dev Castitio, BERNAL.—The True History of the Conquest of Mexico, 1568, 3 Vols. (Translated by A. P. Maudslay. Hakluyt Society, London, 1908.) ForsteMANN, E.—Commentary of the Maya Manuscript in the Royal Public Library of Dresden. (Papers, Peabody Museum, IV., No. 2, pp. 48-266, 1906.) Gann, T.—Mounds in Northern Honduras. (Nineteenth Annual Report, Bureau of American Ethnology, part 2, pp. 661-692, Washington, 1897-1898. ) Gann, T.—In an Unknown Land. Hartmann, C. V.—Archeological Researches in Costa Rica. (The Royal Ethno- graphical Museum in Stockholm, Stockholm, 1901.) Archeological Researches on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. (Memoirs, Carnegie Institute, Vol3, pp 1-95. 1907.) Hoimes, W. H.—Ancient Art of the province of Chiriqui. (Sixth Annual Report, Bureau of American Ethnology, pp. 3-187, Washington, 1888.) Archeological Studies among the Ancient Cities of Mexico. Publications, Field Columbian Museum, Chicago, 1895-1897.) Joyce, T. A——Mexican Archeology. An Introduction to the Archeology of the Mexican and Maya Civilizations of pre-Spanish America. New York and London, 1914. ; KrncsporoucnH, Lorp.—Antiquities of Mexico, 9 Vols., folio. London, 1831-1848. DALANDA, Dreco.—Relacione de las Cosas de Yucatan. Royal Academy, Madrid, 1566. LEHMANN, W.—Methods and Results in Mexican Research. Trans. by Seymour de Rieci, Paris, 1909, Lorurop, S. K.—An Archeological Study of the East Coast of Yucatan. Carnegie Institution, Washington, D. C. LumuHo.tz, C.—Unknown Mexico, 2 vols, New York, 1902. Symbolism of the Huichol Indians. (Memoirs, American Museum of Natural Flistory, ‘Vol.-3,: Part 4, 1900.) Decorative Art of the Huichol Indians. (Memoirs, American Museum of Nat- ural History, vol. 3, part 4, 1904.) MacCurpy, G. G.—A Study of Chiriquian Antiquities. (Memoirs, Connecticut Academy of Sciences, Vol. 3, 1911.) Maupsray, A. P.—Biologia Centrali-Americana, or Contributions to the Knowledge of the Flora and Fauna of Mexico and Central America. Archaeology, 4 vols. of text and plates. London, 1889-1902. [ Page Two Hundred and Forty-nine | ''A GLIMPSE OF GUATEMALA Memoirs of the Peabody Museum, Harvard University, vols. 1-5. Reports on excavations and exploration by Gordon, Maler, Thompson and Tozzer. Mor ey, S$. G.—An Introduction to the Study of the Maya Hieroglyphs. (Bulletin 57, Bureau of American Ethnology, Washington, 1915.) Inscriptions at Copan, Carnegie Institution, Washington, D. C. PENAFIEL, A.~—Monumentos del arte Mexicano antiquo. 3 Vols. Berlin, 1890. NOMENCLATURA GEOGRAFICA DE Mexico, Mexico, !897 SAHAGUN, BERNARDINO DE.—Histoire general des Choses de la Nouvelle-Espagne. (Edited and translated by D. Jourdanet and Reni Simeon, 1880.) SCHELLAS, P.—Representation of Deities of the Maya Manuscripts, 2nd edition revised. (‘Translated by Miss Selma Wesselhoeft and Miss A. M. Parker, Papers, Peabody Museum, vol. 4, No. 1. Pp. 7-47, 1904.) SELER, Epuarp.—Codex Vaticanus No. 3773. (Codex Vaticanus B.) An Old Mexican Pictorial Manuscript in the Vatican Library. (Translated by A. H. Keane.) Berlin and London, 1902-1903. SPINDEN, H. J.—A Study of Maya Art. (Memoirs, Peabody Museum, Harvard University, Vol. 6, 1913.) The Reduction of Mayan Dates, 1924, Peabody Museum. (American Museum of Natural History, N. Y.) ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS OF MExico SgurerR, E. G.—The States of Central America; their Geography, Topography, Climate, Population, etc. New York, 1858. STEPHENS, J. L.—Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan, 2 vols. New York, 1841. Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, 2 vols. New York, 1843. CATHERWOOD. Book of Plates. Tozzer, A. M.—A Comparative Study of the Mayas and Lacondones. New York, 1907. | Page Two Hundred and Fifty | '' '' ''Sete: Plo BeiVi e NE AT INCE the publication of the first edition of “Maya Architecture” in June, 1926, many American architects have tried their hand at this most fasci- nating style. Two of the most meritorious examples that have come to the author’s attention are illustrated in the accompanying pages. The so-called “Aztec Hotel’? at Monrovia, California, by Robt. B. Stacy-Judd (which is Aztec in name only, but Maya in feeling), is bold and original. The furni- ture and minor details have received careful study and have been well carried out. In “The Mayan Theatre” at Los Angeles, California, by Morgan, Walls and Clements, the architects have had a far greater opportunity. ‘This they have fully grasped, apply- ing the principles of the style in a truly masterful way. The conception is interesting, the masses are bold, the composition is architectural and the details are thoroughly Mayan. While the details were inspired by the best examples in the style, the inventive genius and the imagination of the designers have saved them from being servile copies. The work shows a thorough assimilation of a new style and its practical application to one of the most exacting and trying types of buildings. The architects are to be congratulated upon their notable achievement. The office building by John Mead Howells shows how the new zoning law, with its set-backs giving pyramidal effects, would seem almost to have been in force during the ancient Maya days. ‘The illustration is taken from a small model and, unfortu- nately, does not show the beautiful detail which will grace the finished design. Two years ago, Doctor Merriam kindly allowed the author to publish a number of photographs of the marvelous discoveries at Chichen Itza by the Carnegie Institution of Washington. These included the gem of their excavations, the so-called Temple of the Warriors. Since that time the work has been carried to completion. In the fol- lowing pages will be found an illustration of the completed building—or as nearly com- pleted as the Institution expects to carry the work. 2 Last winter, the Beaux Arts Institute of Design, requested the author to prepare a program for a problem in Maya Archeology... It is stated that the architectural -stu- dents throughout the country showed the keenest interest in the subject and the results were most gratifying, over eighty designs being submitted. They were large drawings in color. As space permits the reproduction of but four, the selection was most diffi- cult. They are not necessarily the four best designs, but are beautiful examples of the style and were chosen largely as representing types to be found at Tikal, Palenque and Chichen: ltza. : The author hereby expresses his gratitude to those who have so graciously permitted him to include their work in this supplement. GEORGE OAKLEY TOTTEN. ''ou ts COPYRIGHT 1928 BY GEORGE OAKLEY TOTTEN — _ WASHINGTON, D.C. '' '' THe Mayan THEATRE Los ANGELES, CAL. Morgan, Walls & Clements, Architects AUDITORIUM THE Mayan ‘THEATRE Los ANGELES, CAL. Morgan, Walls & Clements, Architects '' Lossy THe Mayan THEATRE Morgan, Walls & Clements, Architects Lossy THe Aztec Hotet, Monrovia, CAL. Robt. B. Stacy-Judd, Architect '' A MoperNn SKYSCRAPER WITH ITS SYMMETRICAL SET BACK BEARS WITNESS TO Maya INFLUENCE,—Now BEING ErReEcTED IN NEw YorK City. John Mead Howells, Architect Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution ‘TEMPLE OF THE WARRIORS CHICHEN ITZA Latest Work of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, D. C. ''vonkany Ao ALISUYAAIN (I) OVTOHLV ADOTONHOA T, dO ALALILSN] *) ‘aaIdYHOS “gd “Y—dIGNAWWOD “IvVaa_ ANOOAS SECOND Mepat—C. Meics GEORG SEcoND Mepat—S. H. SuHrrtntan ERSITY NIV U E WASHINGTON RMOUR INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY x MPLE”’ okt ARCHAOLOGY II PROJET—“A MAYAI te CLASS “A Si GN a a Ie Go a) AOR ES abeiNee Pie Tk BEAUSX ''sek ere '' ''Sse aoe oe i '' ''Roch USE ONLY CMO nud Voe VALT. ''U. C. BERKELEY LIBRARIES COS) SSb8S '' etd ie S ''