FBWKES] MOUNDS NEAR TAMPICO 273 region, were made for the purpose of adding- new facts bearing on a

possibleconnection^" between the temple

mounds

of

Vera

Cruz and those

mounds

ofthe Mississippi valley that servedasfoundations for superstructures,religiousorsecular.

The

limited spaceallotted to this articleallows only averygeneral consideration of the subject. In studyingthe

Mexican

earth

mounds

ofthesecond type

we

finda

good

exampleof theconditioning of aboriginal buildingsbythe material available.

Many

ofthe

Vera Cruz

and Tamaulipas

mounds

are

made

of earthalone. Especiallyis thistrue in placeswhere stone for the builderwasnotathand.

The mounds

at

Cempoalan

wereconstructed ofriver-wornrubble stoneslaidincementor lime because the plain of theActopanfurnishednobetterbuilding material.

At

ElTajin,near Papantla, the surfaces of the

mounds

were facedwith cutstones,as

shown

in the plate. Thesedifferences in building material are not evidences of differencesinculture.

In comparisonsof the

Mexican mounds

with those of the Missis- sippi basin the objection has beenraised that the former are

made

of carved stones,while the latter are simple earthmounds.

While

thereisno doubtthatinstone

working

tlieMexicans reachedahigher degreeof excellence thananj'other peopleinNorth America,

we must

notlosesightof thefactthat therearemultitudes of

mounds

in

Vera Cruz

and Tamaulipas similar tothose of the Mississippivalley'and, like them, wholly destitute of a superficial covering of carved or

worked

stone.

The mounds we

are considering are not the

work

of aracethat had vanished before theadventof theEuropeans. The}' were probably

made

by the Huaxtec and were in use

when

the Spaniardsdiscovered the country.

At

thebeginningofthesixteenth centurytherewasa thrivingsettlement ofIndiansatChilaandothers

on

or near the banks of the lagoons north of where

Tampico now

stands. Stillotlier settlements existedalong the

Panuco

and Tamesi liversandtheirtributaries.

The

inhabitants of these places were hostile to Europeans and vigorously attacked theSpaniards on their firstappearance, forcing

them

tosail

away

without

making

apermanentlanding. Laterexpe- ditionswere

more

fortunate; the Indianvillageswere destroyed and their inhabitants dispersed or killed. Manj' were taken to distant lands, as the

West

Indies, for slaves; othersfled to the mountains,

where

theirdescendantsstilllive.

Apparentlythe ships ofGrijalva did not enter the

Panuco

riverin 1518,but, meeting the Huaxtecnear Tuxpan, weredriven out to sea and proceeded northward, sighting land again at

Cabo

Rojo.

The

oThisthesisisanoldoneandhasbeen ablydiscussedbyseveral authors,allofwhomhaverecog- nized thenecessity foradditionalfactsregarding thearcheologyofTamaulipasandTexasforsatis- factoryproof ofaculturalresemblanceofthemoundbuildersandthe peoplesofeasternMexico.

274

CERTAIN ANTIQUITIES OF

EASTERN MEXICO

[eth.ANN. 25

next yearD. Francisco de

Garay

sent an expedition to the

Panuoo

provinceunder

command

ofAlonso AlvarezdePeneda,whichentered the

mouth

of the river, but was attacked and driven back, aswas likewiseRuiz deAsis,

who

^hadbrought reenforcementstoPeneda.

These earlyfailures of the Spaniards to obtaina foothold in the

Panuco

territorylednolessapersonthan

Hernando

Cortestoorganize an expedition

much

larger than any previously attempted, said to

number

40,000 Mexicans and Tlaxcaltec in addition to Spaniards.

En

route this

army

encounteredatCoxcatlan 60,000 warriors,

whom

thej' defeated. After this defeat Cortes proposed peace with the natives, which

was

refused, and he then pushed onto occupytheir city, Chila, on the

Panuco

river, ^.5 leagues from the sea. This aboriginalcityhefound abandoned

by

itsinhabitants,

who

hadtiedto the settlementsonthe

Champayan

lagoon. Afterwaitingfifteendays atChila, Cortes

made

hiswa}'\)y

means

of balsas andcanoes tothis lagoon town,which

was

completelydestroyed.

The

various events that followed this

summaiy

proceeding concernthe historianrather than the archeologist,buttheoutcomeof

them

wasthatthesedentary people of theneighborhood

were

driventothemountainsor soldinto slavery.

Thus

arose a livelyindustry ⁱⁿ this region, for

Tampico

at one time sent

many

slaves to the

West

Indies. Such Indians as were left

were

gathered into missions, but their distinct- ive culture

was

practically destroyed, and their former temples were neglected and fell into ruins.

We owe

the ^little that is

known

of the antiquities of the neighborhoodof

Tampico

to Messrs Vetch, Lyon,

Norman,

and especially to ex-Governor Prieto and Doctor Seler,"

who

have published instructive facts regarding the character of the mounds, their distribution, and contents.

The

writings of

two

of these authors supplement each other.

Governor

Prieto's*accountdealing

more

especiallywiththeruinsnorth of

Tam-

pico,on ornearthe

Champayan

lagoon, including those at the San Franciscoranchandthe Sierra dePalma,whileDoctorSelerconsiders thosetothe south of the

Panuco

river, at Topila,Palacho,andelse- whei'e in the

Huaxtec

country.

The

ruins in the

Tampico

I'egion are p^-ramidalmounds,evidently constructed as solid foundations to supportsupersti'uctures. These

mounds show

^{nosigns of}havingbeen formed of debrisgatheredabout preexisting houses.

They

areordi- narilybuiltofearthandⁱⁿ

some

casesare facedwithcut stone,having one or

more

stairways of thelattermaterial. Apparentlythe super- structurewasgenerally built of perishable material, butsometimesof stone orcement.

Some

of these

mounds

are practically the

same

as theso-called

"temple mounds"

of the lowerMississippi valley. In

<Die AlterAnsiedlungeninGebietder Huaxtecan. GesammelteAbhandlungen,bandI.

fcHistoria,Geografia yEstadlsticadelEstadode Tamaulipas, Mexico,1873.

FEWKEs]

MOUNDS NEAR

TAMI'ICO

275

additiontothese

mounds

of thesecondtype there areinthevicinity of

Tampico many

^shell heaps,

some

of

immense

size.

The

nature of the coastlineand the

many

lagoonsin theneighborhoodofferedrare opportunities for a fisherman'slife,andfrom

Tampico

northward ^{v^^e} find

many mounds

of the character just described.

The

aborigines

who

leftdeposits of shell there were not necessai'ilyadistinct race, butledaspecializedlifeasaresultoftheirenvironment.

Shell Heaps

One

of the bestcollectionsof

mounds

near

Tampico

issituatedabout a mile fi-om the city,near the ranch directed

by Mr

Kiilke. It is readilyreachedafter ashortwalk

from

theterminusofthetramway, the cars of whichstart

from

theliridge near the railroad station of Tampico.

A

few hundredfeetbeyond

Mr

^{Kiilke'shousethefields}are coveredwith a thick forest growth,a portion of which has recently beencut

down

toenlarge the area under cultivation. In removing thisgrowththe

workmen

^))roughtto light aclusterof mounds,

some

of whichare ofcomparativelylargesize. Infollowing theroad

from Mr

Kiilke's house to these

mounds

onesees

many

evidences in the plowedlands of smallshellheaps,

some

ofwhichwere formerly

much

larger. These were situatedenahighblufi' overlooking the neigh- boringlagoon,onthebanksandislandsofwhichthere are nuich

more

extensive deposits. Theirpositionisindicated byshells strewed on theground.

The

clusterof large

mounds

latelybroughtto light by clearingtheforestsstandsonthe

same

bluff,a

few

feet

beyond

which one

may

haveafineviewof theneighboring lagoon and thecityof Tampico.

The

generalarrangementof these

mounds

issuchthatthey inclosealevelspace thatformerly

may

have beenaplaza. Thereare eight

mounds

in the cluster, fiveofwhichareonthe arc of a ^circle and

form

onesideof thesupposed closedarea.

Two

other mounds, not of theseriesinclosing the space,stand nearer the road than the clusterjustmentioned.

About

sixtypaces nearer the roadisacircu- lardepressionlikeai-eservoir. Thereislittledifferenceinthegeneral

form

or size of these mounds.

Two

are large and flat-topped and

two

are

much

^elongated. Theirinteriorstructureisrevealedbylim- itedexcavations

made

inoneofthe largestby

some

localantiquarian or treasure seeker

who

discovered

many

shells in this

mound

and fragmentsof ahard rock likecoquinalimestone.

The

greater

num-

ber ofthe

mounds

are constructed entirely of earthandarecovered withvegetation.

The

accompanj'ing

map

showsroughl}'thearrange-

ment

ofthe

mounds

andtheir relativedistances

from

oneanother.

276

CERTAIN ANTIQUITIES OF

EASTERN MEXICO

[eth.ann.25

Ruins near Altamira

The

ruinsonthe banksof theChampaj'an and other lagoons north ofTampico,probablj'theremainsof the settlementsvisitedbyCortes, have been described andtigured byPrieto."

Among

these maj'be mentionedthe

mounds

attheSanFranciscoranchandthe

pyramid

at

La

Palma.

Easy

trips maj'he

made

to the formerfrom a railroad station(Cervantes);for

La Palma

one

must

alight

from

the train at Estero; the ruin near

Aldama

ma}'bevisited

from

the station,

Gon-

zales. Thereisaline collectionofpotter}'andotheranticiuities

from

the San Francisco mounds,inAltamira,atthe house of Sefior

Don

AntonioParras,

owner

of the ranch. Effortsto visittheancientcity Cliilawerenot successful,although

enough

waslearned ofitssituation to impress the author with the desirabilit}'of future exploration.

Those

who

saidthattheyhad beenattheruinclaimed thatitliesina thick forestandthatthehillwhereitissituatedisvisible

from

Tamos.

A

peon

who

hasbeen thereinformedtheauthorthatitwould beneces- sarytocut a

pathway

through the jungle for a considerable distance butthatoncethere,thevisitwouldberewardedbj-viewsof plastered walls,

many

mounds,andotherevidences offormerinhabitants.

The

most convenientstation on the I'ailroad

from

which to visitChila is

Ochoa, abouthalfwa}'between

Tamos

andChila. Possiblj' thisisthe ruinontheCerrode Chilamentioned by DoctorSeler,buthisaccount

isnotcompleteenoughtoidentify

Old

Chila.

The

authorisunderthe impression thatno archeologist has j^et visited Chila,the city that figures soprominentlyinthe earlycampaignsintothe

Huaxtec

coun- try

by

Cortesand hislieutenants.

The

most northernI'uinofwhich theauthorreceived information, but did notvisit, is a

mound

said to be coveredwithcarved stones, situatednear

Aldama

(formerlycalled Presas),about10 leagues

from

the station Gonzales onthe Victoria and

Tampico

railroad. Accordingto information received this ruin has faced stones,and was probably not unlike the temple

mound

at Palma. Either this orone of neighboring ruins

may

be that

men-

tioned

by

Prietoassituatedabouta league north ofChocoy.

He

saj's thatitis near the banksof an arroj'owhich passes the Tancuayave ranch andunitingwith otherarroyos

from

Aldama,later flows into the lagoon San Andres.

Northward from

the ruin near

Aldama

sti-etches tothe Rio

Grande

a vastterritor}-thearcheologyofwhich

iswholly

unknown. What mounds may

be herehiddencanbeascer- tainedonly

by

laterstudiesandfieldwork.*

a Hist6riaGeogr&fica yEstadisticadelEstadode Tamaulipas,p.43-57,Mexico,1873.

bWildor partiallysavage^tribeswere encounteredin thisregionby Escandronandothers. Many name.shave been appliedtolhe.setribes,butas yetnoone hasbeen ablesatisfactorily todetermine theirsynonym-s. See Orozco y Berraandvariousotherauthors.

fewkes]

archeological

objects

277 Ruins near Champayan Lagoon

Sevenleaguesnorth of Altamira, in thejurisdiction of thatcity,a smallrangeof mountainsextendsinageneral northandsouthdirec- tion, ending in the neighborhood of the

Champayan

lagoon. Con- siderableruins, calledmoradores, arereportedinthis locality. These consistof artificial

mounds

arrangedinstraightlines,andaresaid to be covered with rectangular blocks of stoneshowing artificialwork- ing, indicating the remains of a large settlement. Prieto,

who

has described thesemounds, has alsogiven in his articlerepresentations of several characteristic objects of stone and clay

from

the same locality.

The mounds

of Topila and Palacho liesouth of

Panuco

near the right

bank

of theriver. These ruins are so extensive that there is

no doubt the settlements were large and important. Seler,

whose

brief accountisabout all that has been publishedconcerning them, speaks of aquadrangularplazawith a temple

mound

on onesideand smallerpyramids onthe other.

He

is led tobelieve that therewere passagewaysatoppositeends of thisplazaarrangedsoas toleadinto aballcourt.

He

speaksalso of stones found at thecorners of the pyramidsin Palacho, and describes andfigures

worked

plinths

from

both these ruins. Inexaminingtherepresentation of theselatter,oneisstruck withtheirresemblance toso-called pillar stones of theballcourts of the prehistoricPortoRicans,towhichreferenceis

made

inpreceding pages.

The

carving

upon

the stylated stones

from

the mainland is

much

finerandthesymbolism

upon

the insularspecimensquitediffer- ent,but thepossibilitythatboth stood near similarballcourts gives

them

additionalinterest

from

acomparativepoint of view.