Ancient America, in Notes on American Archaeology

far north as New Mexico and Arizona. But here the antiquities do not all belong to the same period in the past, nor exhibit unvarying li

the civilized condition of the old inhabitants, some of the oldest and

egion specified, development was more advanced. Here, in the last ages of American ancient history, was the seat of the Mexican or Aztec civilization, but the monuments in this part of the country are mostly older than the Aztec period. The most astonishing remains are found still farther south, in Chiapa, Tabasco, Oxaca, Yucatan, Honduras, Tehuantepec, Guatemala, and other parts of Central America. In this southern region, mostly buried in heavy forests, are wonderf

THERN R

were built of perishable materials which have left no trace. Many of them, however, were built of stone, and have left ruins which show their character. Stone ruins are common in this northern region, although wood and adobe seems to have been more commonly used as building material. Some of the ruined stone edifices were inhabited when the country was con

later by Lieutenant A. W. Whipple, who described it in his report to the government, published in the third volume of "Explorations and Surveys for a Railroad Route to the Pacific." On the summit of this height, which Lieutenant Simpson named "Inscription Rock," are the ruins of an extensive Pueblo edifice built of stone. The walls were built "with considerable skill." In some places they are still "perfect to the height of six or eight feet, vertica

e thirty-fifth parallel. We can not do be

ueblo Ruin

in form and equal in size, each being about eight hundred feet in circumference. They were built of stone, but the walls have crumbled and become chiefly heaps of rubbish. The pottery found here, like that at "El Moro," is "painted with bright colors, in checks, bands, and wavy stripes; many fragments show a beautiful polish. A few pieces were discovered larger in

ground." This old town became a ruin in ancient times. After remaining long in a ruined condition it was again rebuilt, and again deserted after a considerable period of occupation. It is still easy to distinguish the differences in construction between the two periods. "The standing walls rest upon ruins of greater antiquity;" and while the primitive masonry is about six feet thick, that of the later period is only from a foot to a foot and a half thick. Small blocks of sandstone were used for the latter. Heaps of débris cover a considerable space, in which, among other things, are relics of potter

1-Mode

of débris. It appears to be very old. As near as could be ascertained, the great rectangular Pueblo building was three hundred and sixty feet in extent on one side, and one hundred and twenty on the other. In some places the walls are ten feet thick, "with small rooms inserted in them." Stone axes, painted pottery, and other articles are found in the débris: "The indented pottery, said to be so very anci

Ruins in the Val

rked with the foundations of adobe houses." Figure 22 represents a Pueblo ruin in the Valley of the Gila. "In Ca?on Chelly, near San Francisco Mountain, and upon Rio Verde, there are ruins of more permanent structures of stone, which in their day must have excelled the famed Pueblos of New Mexico." There was a

N CITIES

tells the story of this conquest and of his disappointment is still in existence. The Cevolans defended themselves with arrows and spears, and hurled stones upon his army from the tops of their buildings. But resistance was of no avail; Cevola was conquered by Coronado, and immediately deserted by all its inhabitants who escaped death. The conquering buccaneer, however, did

s one of these buildings restored, according to Lieutenant Simpson. Figure 24 is a ground plan of this structure. The outer faces of the walls were constructed with thin and regular blocks of sandstone; the inner surfaces were made of cobblestone laid in mortar, and the outer walls were three feet thick. They were four or five stories high, and the only entrances to them were "window openings" in the second story. Above the ca?on inclosing the valley containing these ruins, at a distance of thirteen miles, are the remains of another "city" of precisely the same kind. Its walls are at present between twenty and thirty feet high, th

eblo Buildi

nd Plan of Pu

territory, and more will be brought to light, for the whole region has n

AL ME

he country have not been very completely explored and described, the attention of explorers having been drawn more to the south. Some of

nd chambers. The opening serves as an entrance to several galleries, which are six feet high and paved with cement, their sides and ceilings seeming to have been covered with some very durable preparation which made them smooth and glistening. Captain Dupaix found the main gallery sixty yards, or one hundred and eighty feet long, terminating at two chambers which are separated only by two massive square pillars carefully fashioned o

s an area of forty-five acres. It was terraced and built with four stages. When measured by Humboldt it was 1400 feet square at the base, and 160 feet high. At present it is a ruin, and, to superficial observers, seems little more than a huge artificial moun

les still farther, but terminating within. He mentions also the ruins of elaborately decorated edifices which had stood on elevated terraces. At one place he excavated a terraced mound, and discovered burnt brick; and he describes two ancient bridges of the Tlascalans, both built of hewn stone laid in cement, o

e laid in mortar. The pyramid was an exact square at the base, each side being 82 feet in length, and the height about 60 feet. The stones were admirably cut and polished, and the structure was remarkably symmetrical. Six stages could be discerned by Humboldt, and his account of it says, "A seventh appears to be concealed by the vegetation which covers the sides of the pyramid." A great flight of steps leads to the level s

aboriginal people. Some have assumed, without much warrant, that they came to Mexico from the North. Mr. Squier shows, with much probability, that they came from the southern part of the country, where communities are still found speaking the Aztec language. When they rose to supremacy they adopted, so far as their condition allowed, the supe

RUINS AT

f the more southern states of Mexico. Here ruins of many ancient cities have been discovered, cities which must have been deserted and left to decay in ages previous to the be

nothing of the ruins. The captured town, called Copan, afterward gave its name to the remains of this nameless ancient city, which were first discovered in 1576, and described by the Spanish licentiate Palacios. This was little more than forty years after the native town was captured; but, although Palacios tried, "in all possible ways," to get from the older and more intelligent natives some account of the origin and history of the ruined city, they could tell him nothing about it.

ns in Central America, one must know something of

s at systematic investigation. There are vast tracts untrodden by human feet, or traversed only by Indians who have a superstitious reverence for the moss-covered and crumbling m

s into Honduras. The ruins known as Copan and Palenque are in this forest, not far from its southern edge. Its vast depths have never been much explored. There are ruins in it which

In their time the whole was cultivated and filled with inhabitants. Here was a populous and important part of the Colhuan kingdom of "Xibalba," which, after a long existence, w

bloodshed of a civil war. This was the civil war which destroyed Mayapan, and broke up the Maya kingdom of Yucatan. In 1695, Don Martin Ursua, a Spanish official, built a road from Yucatan to Lake Peten, captured the town, and destroyed it. He reported that the builders

OF THE SOU

rounds," as well as room for the buildings. The edifices were built of hewn stone laid in a mortar of lime and sand, the masonry being admirable, and the ornamentation, in most cases, very abundant. The pyramid-foundations of earth were faced with hewn stone, and provided with great stone stairways. These, we may suppose, were the most

e of the largest ever seen." There is, however, nothing to show us certainly the actual size of any of these ancient cities. It is manifest that some of them were v

Arch of L

al Mr. Stephens says "the walls were coated with a very fine plaster of Paris, equal to the best seen on walls in this country." Speaking of the construction of this edifice, he says, "throughout, the laying and polishing of the stones are as perfect as under the rules of the best modern masonry." All the ruins explored have masonry of the same character. The floors, especially of the courts and corridors, were made sometimes of flat stones a

ommon For

ins inscriptions are abundant, being found on walls, tablets, and pillars. The general effect of the exterior decoration is thus described by Mr. Stephens in the account of his first view of the ruins at Palenque: "We saw before us a large building richly ornamented with stuccoed figures on pilasters, curious and elegant; trees growing close to it, and their branches entering the

inches high is described; "it is made of baked clay, very hard, and the surface is smooth as if coated with enamel." At Palenque are remains of a well-built aqueduct; and near the ruins, especially in Yucatan, are frequently found the remains of many finely constructed aguadas or artificial lakes. The bottoms of the

ing, and architectural decoration. Some of their works can not be excelled by the best of our constructors and decorators. They were highly

epared by Captain Del Rio in 1787, and published in 1822. Captain Dupaix's folios, in French, with the drawings of Caste?ada, contain the first really important memoir on these ruins. It was prepared in 1807, detained in Mexico during the Mexican Revolution, and finally published at Paris in 1834-5. The volumes of Brasseur de Bourbourg are valuable. They relate chiefly to matters not always understood, and seldom discussed with care, by those w