Its southern part collapsed and . its northern end joined the northern wall of the building covered l>v the. The north wall of the building was completely continuous below the frame.
GAX.N] PAINTING ON EAST WALL 665 inches in length, was chipped from translucent, grayish flint; the
PAINTING ON THE WALLS WITHIN MOUND 1
In figure 8, due to the obliteration of the plaster work, the upper part of the headdress is missing. That at the back of the headdress is similar to those already described as dragon heads.
FED STUCCO ON WEST HALF OF ^
GANN] PAINTING ON WEST WALL 669 The 9-foot portion of the west wall which has been left presents.
GANN] PAINTING ON WEST WALL 669 The 9-foot section of the west wall which was left standino- presents
Any errors in the outline of the figure or its decorations were then corrected. I removed the plasterwork on which two of the most perfect of the remaining figures were painted.
HISTORICAL DATA GAINED BY STUDY OF MOUND 1
NINETEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXXI
ILIJLJU
GAXN] GLYPHS IN THK PAINTINGS 671
Ix-hiiid of the head of the individual shown in Fig. 5, Plate xxix, we will notice a gilf consisting of five constituent parts, two above and three below. The upper left section and the lower center section undoubtedly together form the Mayan symbol for the cardinal point east, called "likin'"—the. A huge ornament composed of jewels and plumes, decorated in . most examples with the animal's head just above the face .. used as a distinguishing mark or connection ])y a higher class—the.
The resemblance of Jigure 3, Plate xxx, to the left-hand figure in the 'J'emple of the Cross at Paleuque' has been adverted to, and this figure bears equally strong opposition to a bas-r(>lief in stone from the ruined city of Labphak, in Yucatan." In figures 4 and 5, plate xxx, the lower parts are unfortunately much damaged; but if the upper part of the figures be compared with the bas-relief sculpture of the Cross at Palenque, it will be seen that the subject is the same. The enormous head , the small body and limbs, the elaborate head-dress, the large round earrings, and highly ornamented sandals, are the same; and in two of the clay images, figure 1 and 'A, plate xxxii, monstrous heads suffering from those carried by the figure on stucco, worn as ornaments in front of the headdress.
GASX] DESTROYERS OF THE TEMPLE 675
We know on the authority of Veytia and Ixtlilxochitl, who are the most reliable historians.^ who have written down a dull and obscure count history of the Toltees. who renounced this nation after the pestilence and the disastrous wars which decimated them, the migratint;- from Tula, found their way, some to southern Mexico, where they founded Paleni^ue and Lorillard, others farther south) still to Guatemala and Honduras, while others turned eastward into the Yucatan.'. This migration lasted the city somewhere at the end (of the ninth century.). A period must have been required for the scattered remnant of the Toltees to make this long journey of nearly 1,000 miles before reaching the shores of the Cari))bean sea, on foot, crossing rivers, . swamps and mountains and everywhere encounters a barrier of dense and impenetrable bushes. On the western half of the north wall is depicted the god Quetzalcoatl, the god himself, who is depicted on the western edge of the wall, richly dressed and decorated.
Figure 8, on the west wall, with otters - heads - one in each hand .. is definitely one of the winners; but there appears to be little or no difference between his appearance, dress, and ornaments, and that of the prisoners represented in figures 1 to 8. plate xxix, which would seem to show that the warriors were, if not the same, at least of the tribe of nations. Two other mounds at Santa Rita rose above the ruins of the buildings, namely, those marked 8 and -i on the plan, figure 4. . ] The mound3 was situated 115 yards to the south-east of the painted wall, was almost circular at the base, pyramidal in shape, 02 yards in circumference, and flared up at its highest point. surface. Neither inside nor outside were any traces of painted plaster found on any of these walls, nor were any trace stones found during the excavation of the moimd, built of earth, limestone dust and rough stone blocks. attached to them.
MOUNDS CONTAINING POTTERY. IDOLS, AND ANIMAL EFFIGIES
The bones were found at a point marked E on the plan of the mound (Figure 6), close to the idols. A large number of the stones were squared and some retained. pieces of painted stucco still adhering to them evidently at one time formed part of the south wall of the temple already described. Judging from the very large proportion of square stones used in the construction of the upper layers of this mound, it appears that the greater part of the stone on this building had been used to build those which covered its ruins.
In the lower part of this layer, 6 feet below the surface of the mound, at the joint marked C in the plan, is a pottery urn. Two aninials were placed at each of the four cardinal points around ui. 'n and two above it. Each animal is hollow and has a small round hole in the .. century of the back which is connected to the inside.
ANIMAL EFFIGIES AND IDOL'S HEAD FROM MOUNDS 2 AND 6, SANTA RITA
In the front of the l)ody on either side are two human hands and arms, the former tightly closed. The turtles are all hollow and are pierced in the center of the back by a round hole.
The painted animals, the idols, and the bones were placed in the mound when the building was destroyed, and the upper part of the uu)und was raised over its ruins ; the urn and the animals on what had1>e(>n) the floor of the 1)uding, the idols and the bones. The original stone platform on which the building had stood formed the base of the mound. On reaching the groove level, directly in the center of the mound, a small stone cyst formed or chaml)er was discovered.
GANN] CONTENTS OF MOUNDS 5 AND 6 683 This urn is 5 incln's in height and '21^ inches in circumference at its
GANN] CONTENTS OF HOUNDS 5 AND 6 683This urn is 5 incln's high and measures '21^ inches in its circumference. Bodv is colored white and covered with red spots surrounded by black. he is red, his ears are white and his eyes are black. 1, which has already been ))een described, being .. an exact duplicate of that found in Mound 2.'.
Four of the 9 resemble tigui'e5, and are evidently intended to repi'e-sent alligators, judging the])form of the body and legs, the spine of the tail, and the double stream of excrescences which extend along the middle of the head and liak. The body of two of them is colored red. and two.. eyes and spines on all arc colored l)lack. The bodies are all hollow with a circular opening in the center of the back covered by a pyramidal plug, seen in situ.
GANN] SYMBOLISM OF EFFIGIES 685
A LOOKOUT MOUKD
In the center of the spai-e. . Surrounded by walls, there is a small hill one meter high and 12 meters in circumference. Excavations were made in the earthen wall, in the space around it, and in the small mound in the center of the room. Immediately north of the hill is a huge excavation, from which limestone has been oozing.
As has been proved by experiment, a tire lighted on the flat surface at the top of any of these mounds may be distinctly seen above the intervening bush—the land being perfectly level—either ... the smoke during the day, or t)y the flame at night, from the top of the mound on each side of it in the chain. Beginning at the head of C^hetumal Bay, these mounds extend in a chain for nearly 150 miles, first following the coast line, then inland in a southwesterly direction. chain along which it was easy to convey intelligent.
A SKPULCHEJR MOUND
There is little doubt that this was the source from which the material for the construction of the walls and the mound was drawn. All are more than 5U feet high, and have a flat, table-like surface at the top, a comparatively small base, and consequently very steep sides.
GANN] CONTENTS OF MOUND 8 687 been used solely for sci)ulchral purposes. It was one of the smallest
UNCLASSIFIED MOUNDS
See the tiger's head, which measures l. Sinche from the forehead to the tip of the protruding tongue, evidently once formed a gargoyle-like ornament on a building, as behind the head the stone from which it was cut was quarried for a distance of 14 inches, ol ) for the purpose of building it into masonry. It is an exact copy of the tortoise .. shown in figure ti, plate xxxiii, except that the mouth, instead of containing a human head, is closed. The whole animal is painted red and in the center of the back round holes leading to a considerable .. lt;avity, which has been hollowed out on the inside.
Further things were found in the mound until the ground level was reached, when an equilateral ti'iangle, built of stone, was revealed. Each side of the triangle was feet in length and was composed of roughly cut slabs of stone set into the ground and in contact on one side with similar slabs. The upper edges were irregular, the lower sunk to a depth of 5 or (in inches) into the ground.
GANN] CONTENTS OF MOUND 17 689 had been found at or near tlio conter, an excavation 14 feet hy 7 feet
I felt ahiiost ciTtain llial hr. alxi. ihcy would be di.scovered towards the center of the luound. liut thouyli an exeavatioii 15 >)y. Turning next to tho.^e mound at Santa Rita wliieh liavc not asj-et .. been excavated, we lind that the first of these.. by far tlie hirgest mound on tlie estate, and is iiuh-ed the largest .. high. as I have seen in the colony. It is situated courtyard nearly due .south of the great central mound, is 41i yards in circuuiferenoe, oval in shape, flat on top. and lo meters high.
It is approximately one meter high at its highest point, roughly 1.70 meters in circumference at the base. ]\Iound 20 on the i)lan is located 400 meters southwest of the large central hill. The mound is 1.5 meters high and 2.1 meters wide at the head, gradually shrinking until it is only 9 meters high and 2.5 meters wide at the tail. At the point marked 22 on the plan there are several of these (- mounds are very similar to the one just described, both in shape and size.. a number of similarly shaped mounds are found in the bushes surrounding the estate, and in other )) arts of the district they are commonplace.
STONE TIGER HEAD FROM MOUND 8, SANTA RITA
GANX] MOUND 23 UNDERGROUND RESERVOIRS 691
UNDERGROUND ROCK-HEWN RESERVOIRS