The Project Gutenberg eBook, Ancient Civilizations of Mexico and Central America, by Herbert Joseph Spinden
Funerary Urn from a Zapotecan Tomb
The cylindrical urn is concealed behind the human figure. The dress of the human figure consists of a cape, apron, and a widespreading headdress. Over the face is worn a mask. Height, 15½ inches.
AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
Ancient Civilizations
of
Mexico and Central America
By HERBERT J. SPINDEN
FORMERLY ASSISTANT CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY
HANDBOOK SERIES No. 3
THIRD AND REVISED EDITION
NEW YORK
1928
Publication
of the
Anthropological Handbook Fund
PREFACE
This little book is intended as a general commentary and explanation of the more important phases of the ancient life and arts of the Indians of Mexico and Central America, and especially of their history. The substance of it is drawn from many sources, for the anthropologist must mould together and harmonize the gross results of several sciences. Archæology, ethnology, somatology, and linguistics all make their special contributions and we are only on the threshold of our subject. In the Mexican and Central American field we find the accumulated writings that result from four hundred years of European contact with the Indians and in addition a mass of native documents and monumental inscriptions expressed in several hieroglyphic systems.
The general method of this book will be to take up in order the recognized “horizons” of pre-Columbian history, beginning with the earliest of which we have knowledge. In relation to each horizon we will examine the records and discuss the principal developments in arts, beliefs, and social structures. The introductory chapter is designed to put before the reader such facts as may be necessary for a ready understanding of the discussions and explanations that will follow.
The Mexican Hall of the American Museum of Natural History furnishes illustrations of most of the facts given herewith. This Hall contains both originals and casts brought together by various expeditions of the Museum and of other scientific institutions. The principal patrons of science whose names should be mentioned in connection with the upbuilding of these collections are: Willard Brown, Austin Corbin, R. P. Doremus, Anson W. Hard, Archer M. Huntington, Morris K. Jesup, James H. Jones, Minor C. Keith, the Duke of Loubat, William Mack, Henry Marquand, Doctor William Pepper, A. D. Straus, I. McI. Strong, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Henry Villard, William C. Whitney. But thanks are also due to innumerable persons who have contributed single specimens and small collections as well as those who have placed information at the disposal of the scientific staff. The principal collectors have been: George Byron Gordon, Aleš Hrdlička, Carl Lumholtz, Francis C. Nicholas, Marshall H. Saville, Eduard Seler, Herbert J. Spinden, and John L. Stephens.
CONTENTS
PAGE [Preface] 5 [Introduction] 13 Geography and Natural Environment. History of European Contact. Languages. Ethnology. Physical Types. CHAPTER I [The Archaic Horizon] 45 Stratification of Remains. The Cemetery under the Lava. Invention of Agriculture. Archaic Figurines. Ancient Customs. Archaic Pottery. Stone Sculptures of the Archaic Period. Extensions of the Archaic Horizon. CHAPTER II [The Mayan Civilization] 73 Architecture. Massive Sculptural Art. Minor Arts. The Serpent in Mayan Art. The Human Figure. Design. Composition, and Perspective. The Mayan Pantheon. How Mayan History has been Recovered. Sequences in Art. Books of Chilam Balam. The Mayan Time Counts. Elements of the Day Count. The Conventional Year. The Calendar Round. Mayan Numbers. The Long Count. Dates of Dedication. Hieroglyphs. Codices. Correlation with Christian Chronology. The Mayan Eras. Astronomical Checks on the Correlation. Astronomical Observatories. The True Year. The Lunar Calendar. Venus Calendar. Summary of Mayan History. CHAPTER III [The Middle Civilizations] 153 The Olmeca or Rubber People. Zapotecan Culture. Mitla. Totonacan Culture. The Toltecs. Quetzalcoatl and the Toltec Era. San Juan Teotihuacan. Xochicalco. Tula. Cholula. The Frontier Cities of the Northwest. Santa Lucia Cozumalhualpa. The Chorotegan Culture. Isthmian Gold Work. CHAPTER IV [The Aztecs] 201 Mayas and Aztecs compared to Greeks and Romans. The Chichimecas. Aztecan History. Social Organization. The Tecpan or Temple Enclosure. The Calendar Stone. Stone of Tizoc. Contlicue. Mexican Writing. Aztecan Religion. Conceptions of the Universe. Ceremonies. Poetry and Music. Minor Aztecan Arts. The Tarascans. Southern Mexico. Aztecan Influence in Central America. [A Cross-Section of New World History] 249 [Bibliography] 255 [Index] 259
MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
Page. [Funerary Urn from a Zapotecan Tomb] Frontispiece [Map of Mexico and Central America showing the Principal Archaeological Sites with a Detail Insert of the Valley of Mexico] Facing 45 [Diagram of American Chronology] Facing 253
PLATES
[I. a, Village Scene in Arid Mexico; b, In the Humid Lowlands] 15 [II. a, Site of Pueblo Viejo, the First Capital of Guatemala; b, A Spanish Church at the Village of Camotan on the Road to Copan] 23 [III. a, View of the Island Town of Flores in Lake Peten; b, The Sacred Cenote at Chichen Itza] 28 [IV. a, A Guatemalan huipili; b, Pouches of the Valiente Indians] 40 [V. a, Zapotecan Girl from the State of Oaxaca; b, Lacondone Man from Southern Mexico] 42 [VI. a, Cuicuilco. A view showing cobblestone facing of mound and lava in contact with apron or causeway; b, Archaic Site under Lava Flow near Mexico City] 50 [VII. Large Archaic Figures found in Graves and offering Evidence of Ancient Customs and Arts and also showing a Quality of Caricature or possibly Portraiture] 54 [VIII. Two Stages in the Stone Sculptures of Costa Rica] 60 [IX. a, Stone Sculptures of the Archaic Period; b, Typical Site of the Archaic Period] 62 [X. Widely Distributed Female Figurines] 65 [XI. Distribution of the Archaic Culture] 69 [XII. Distribution of Agriculture in the New World] 70 [XIII. A General View of the Ceremonial Center of Copan] 72 [XIV. a, View of the Plaza at Copan from the Northwestern Corner; b, View Across the Artificial Acropolis at Copan] 74 [XV. a, Model of the Temple of the Cross, Palenque, designed to show the Construction; b, Detail of Frieze on the Temple of the Cross] 76 [XVI. A Temple of Hochob showing Elaborate Facade Decorations in Stucco] 80 [XVII. A Sealed Portal Vault in the House of the Governor at Uxmal] 82 [XVIII. a, Realistic Designs on Vases from Chamá, Guatemala; b, The Quetzal as represented on a Painted Cylindrical Vase from Copan] 85 [XIX. Stela 13, Piedras Negras] 96 [XX. a, Top of Stela 1 at Yaxchilan; b, Analogous Detail of Stela 4, Yaxchilan] 102 [XXI. Development in Style of Carving at Copan] 107 [XXII. Scheme of the Mayan Calendar as presented in the Codex Tro-Cortesianus] 116 [XXIII. Typical Mayan Inscription] 122 [XXIV. Page 24 Dresden Codex] 130 [XXV. a, Detail of the Dresden Codex showing Tzolkin used in Divination; b, Analysis of the above Tzolkin, according to Förstemann] 134 [XXVI. General View of Monte Alban from the North] 152 [XXVII. Detail of Monte Alban showing Wall Foundations and Small Cell-like Rooms] 155 [XXVIII. Zapotecan Art: Incense Burners, Funerary Vases of Portrait Type, Cruciform Tomb with Geometric Decoration] 158 [XXIX. a, Sculpture of Stone of the Early Zapotecan Period; b, Jade Tablets pierced for Suspension] 162 [XXX. Laughing Head of the Totonacs] 166 [XXXI. a, An Elaborately Carved Stone Collar; b, A Palmate Stone from the State of Vera Cruz] 168 [XXXII. The Temple of Xochicalco before Restoration] 174 [XXXIII. Two Views of the Principal Pyramid in the Citadel at Teotihuacan] 176 [XXXIV. a, Partial View of the Great Pyramid at Cholula; b, A View at La Quemada] 181 [XXXV. Stone Slab from an Ancient Sepulcher in the State of Guerrero] 186 [XXXVI. a, Finely Carved Ceremonial Slab found at Mercedes, Costa Rica; b, Stone Figure from Costa Rica; c, Ceremonial Slab decorated with Monkeys, Mercedes, Costa Rica] 192 [XXXVII. a, The Gold Work of the Ancient Mexicans; b, Ornament of Gold from Costa Rica] 196 [XXXVIII. A Page from the Tribute Roll of Moctezuma] 200 [XXXIX. A Page from the Codex Telleriano Remensis] 202 [XL. Serpent Head at Bottom of Balustrade, Great Pyramid, Mexico City] 206 [XLI. Sahagun’s Plan of the Tecpan in Mexico City] 212 [XLII. The Calendar Stone of the Aztecs] 214 [XLIII. The Shield Stone at Cuernavaca] 216 [XLIV. The Newly Discovered “National Stone” of Mexico] 220 [XLV. Sculpture representing Coatlicue, the Serpent-Skirted Goddess] 222 [XLVI. Page from the Tonalamatl Section of the Codex Borbonicus] 228 [XLVII. a, Picture of Tlaloc, the God of Rain, and of Ehecatl, the God of Winds, in the Codex Magliabecchiano; b, Mexican Genealogical Table on Amatl Paper] 230
TEXT FIGURES
[1. The Great Snowstorm of 1447 shown in the Pictographic Record of the Aztecs] 13 [2. A Mexican Picture of a Volcanic Eruption] 16 [3. Yucatan Deer caught in a Snare] 20 [4. The Moan Bird, or Yucatan Owl, personified as a Demigod] 20 [5. Spanish Ship in the Aubin Codex] 22 [6. Cortez arrives with Sword and Cross and Moctezuma brings him Gold] 25 [7. Aztecan Canoe. Lienzo de Tlaxcala] 26 [8. Design on Modern Huichol Ribbon] 37 [9. Woven Pouch of the Huichol Indians] 37 [10. Atzcapotzalco Destroyed] 47 [11. Diagram of Culture Strata at Atzcapotzalco] 48 [12. Teocentli or Mexican Fodder Grass] 51 [13. Archaic Figurines from Central Mexico] 55 [14. Archaic Figurines—Zapotlan, Jalisco; Tampico, Vera Cruz; and Cuesta Blanca, Salvador] 55 [15. Archaic Figurine from Salvador] 56 [16. Types of Eyes of Archaic Figurines] 57 [17. Textile Designs painted on Archaic Effigies] 58 [18. Typical Tripod Vessels of the Archaic Period, from Morelos, Mexico] 59 [19. Series showing the Modification of a Celt into a Stone Amulet] 61 [20. Groundplans of Yaxchilan Temples] 77 [21. Cross-section of Typical Mayan Temple in Northern Yucatan] 78 [22. Mask Panel over Doorway at Xkichmook, Yucatan] 84 [23. Design on Engraved Pot representing a Tiger seated in a Wreath of Water Lilies. Northern Yucatan] 86 [24. Painted Design on Cylindrical Bowl showing Serpent issuing from a Shell Salvador] 86 [25. Mayan Basket represented in Stone Sculpture] 88 [26. Typical Elaborated Serpents of the Mayas] 90 [27. Conventional Serpent of the Mayas used for Decorative Purposes] 91 [28. Upper Part of Serpent Head made into a Fret Ornament] 92 [29. Sculpture on Front of Lintel at Yaxchilan] 93 [30. Types of Human Heads on the Lintels of Yaxchilan] 94 [31. Sculpture on Upper Part of Stela 11, Seibal] 95 [32. The Ceremonial Bar] 98 [33. The Manikin Scepter] 99 [34. The Two-Headed Dragon] 100 [35. Gods in the Dresden Codex] 101 [36. The Front Head of the Two-Headed Dragon on Stelæ at Piedras Negras showing the Increase in Flamboyant Treatment] 105 [37. Grotesque Face on the Back of Stela B, Copan] 108 [38. Jaguar in Dresden Codex with a Water Lily attached to Forehead] 108 [39. Late Sculpture from Chichen Itza] 109 [40. The Twenty Day Signs] 112 [41. The Nineteen Month Signs of the Mayan Year] 115 [42. Bar and Dot Numerals of the Mayas] 119 [43. Face Numerals found in Mayan Inscriptions] 121 [44. The Normal Forms of the Period Glyphs] 121 [45. Face Forms of Period Glyphs] 121 [46. Hieroglyphs of the Four Directions] 127 [47. Hieroglyphs containing the Phonetic Element kin] 127 [48. Mayan Ceremony as represented in the Dresden Codex] 132 [49. Diagram of the Astronomical Base Line at Copan giving Readings at April 9 and September 2] 138 [50. Representations of the Moon] 142 [51. The Last Glyph of the Supplementary Series] 142 [52. Comparison of Mayan and Zapotecan Serpent Heads] 156 [53. Bar and Dot Numerals combined with Hieroglyphs on Zapotecan Monuments] 157 [54. Detail of Wall Construction at Mitla] 161 [55. Wall Paintings of Mitla] 163 [56. The Eyes of Totonacan Figurines] 165 [57. Jointed Doll of Clay from San Juan Teotihuacan] 178 [58. Pottery Plates from Cholula with Decorations in Several Colors] 180 [59. Vessel with “Cloisonné” Decoration in Heavy Pigments] 184 [60. The Turtle Motive as developed in Negative Painting with Wax at Totoate, Jalisco] 185 [61. Jaguar Head on Disk-Shaped Stone, Salvador] 187 [62. Front View and Profile View Serpent Heads in Chorotegan Art] 190 [63. Jaguar Design associated with Figurines that still retain Archaic Characters, Costa Rica] 191 [64. Jaguars from painted Nicoyan Vases] 191 [65. Highly Conventionalized Jaguar Motive] 193 [66. Simple Crocodile Figures in Red Lines on Dishes from Mercedes, Costa Rica] 194 [67. Panels containing Crocodiles painted in White Lines on Large Tripod Bowls from Mercedes, Costa Rica] 194 [68. Simplified Crocodile Heads in the Yellow Line Ware of Mercedes, Costa Rica] 194 [69. Conventional Crocodiles from Costa Rica and Panama] 197 [70. Pictographic Record of the Fighting near the Springs of Chapultepec] 207 [71. Details from the Stone of Tizoc] 219 [72. Detail showing the Construction of the Face of Coatlicue] 223 [73. Hieroglyphs of Precious Materials] 224 [74. Phonetic Elements derived from Pictures and used in Mexican Place Name Hieroglyphs] 224 [75. Aztecan Place Names] 225 [76. Aztecan Day Signs] 226 [77. Variant Forms of Aztecan Day Signs] 226 [78. Aztecan Numbers and Objects of Commerce] 227 [79. Analysis of Mexican Record] 231 [80. Chalchuihtlicue, Aztecan Goddess of Water] 232 [81. A Mexican Orchestra] 241 [82. Mexican Blanket with the Design that represents interlacing Sand and Water called “Spider Water”] 243 [83. The Year Symbol of Southern Mexico] 245 [84. Year Bearers in the Codex Porfirio Diaz ascribed to the Cuicatecan Tribe] 246 [85. A Page from the Codex Nuttall, recording the Conquest of a Town situated on an Island of the Sea] 247 [86. The God Macuilxochitl, Five Flower, as shown in a Mexican Codex and in Pottery from Southern Mexico] 248
INTRODUCTION
Geography and Natural Environment.
Unfortunately the terms “Mexico and Central America” are not mutually exclusive. Central America is a natural division comprised between the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and the Isthmus of Panama. Mexico is a political division that includes several states in Central America, namely, Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatan, and the territory of Quintana Roo. The ancient high cultures of Mexico hardly extended as far north as the Tropic of Cancer and the region beyond this is of slight interest to us. Positions south of Mexico will often be referred to the areas of the modern political units although these have no immediate relation to pre-Spanish conditions. These political units are: Guatemala, British Honduras, Honduras, Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.
Fig. 1. The Great Snowstorm of 1447 shown in the Pictographic Record of the Aztecs called Codex Telleriano Remensis.
Although lying within the tropics, the territory extending from the Isthmus of Panama to Central Mexico exhibits great extremes of climate and topography and hence of plant and animal life. The year is everywhere divided into a wet and a dry season but the relative duration of each depends upon land form and altitude. The coast of the Pacific is considerably drier than that of the Atlantic. Three climatic zones are generally recognized, namely, the Tierra Caliente (Hot Land), Tierra Templada (Temperate Land), and Tierra Fria (Cold Land), and in some regions each of these has an arid and a humid strip. The change from luxuriant forests to open thorny deserts is often very sudden. On the high plateau or Tierra Fria the natural warmth of the latitude is largely overcome by the altitude. In the Valley of Mexico snow falls only at rare intervals, yet chilling winds are common in the winter. Much of the plateau from Mexico south into Guatemala is open farming land well suited to the raising of maize and wheat where water is sufficient. The shoulders of the mountains bear forests of pine and oak while the highest peaks are crowned with perpetual snow.
A description of the mountains, rivers, and lakes will help towards an understanding of the problems that are before us. The broad plateau, crossed by irregular ranges of mountains, that occupies the states of New Mexico and Arizona continues far south into Mexico. On the western rim the Sierra Madre lifts a great pine-covered barrier, beyond which the land drops off quickly into the hot fringe of coastal plain bordering the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California. The highest mountains of the western Sierra Madre are El Nevado and Colima, the first a snowy peak 14,370 feet high and the second an active volcano 12,278 feet high. On the eastern rim of the central plateau the second Sierra Madre is less continuous but it culminates in the loftiest peak of all Mexico—the wonderful cone of Orizaba. This mountain rises from the tropical jungles well into the region of perpetual snow and attains an elevation of 18,314 feet above the sea. Its name in Aztecan is Citlaltepetl, which means Star Mountain. Two other famous peaks of Mexico are Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl, both names being pure Aztecan. The first means Smoking Mountain and the second White Woman. These volcanic crests rise into the snowy zone from the table-land which is itself about 8,000 feet above the sea.
[Plate I.]
(a) Village Scene in Arid Mexico. Cactus and other thorny shrubs are ever present. The houses of the natives are of adobe with thatched roofs.
(b) In the Humid Lowlands. The view shows part of the plaza at Quirigua with one of the monuments almost concealed in vegetation of a few months’ growth.
Fig. 2. The Smoke reaches the Stars, a Mexican Picture of a Volcanic Eruption in the Codex Telleriano Remensis.
In southern Mexico the plateau area enclosed between the principal sierras narrows perceptibly, because the shore line of the Pacific and the mountain range that parallels it swing more and more towards the east. At the Isthmus of Tehuantepec a low valley separates the highland area of Mexico from that of Central America. This second table-land is not so wide as the one we have just considered and is more deeply dissected by rivers. The mountains of Guatemala rise to a considerable altitude, the highest being Tacaná with 13,976 feet elevation. Active volcanoes are numerous and earthquakes frequent and often disastrous. The Volcan de Agua and the Volcan de Fuego (Volcano of Water and Volcano of Fire) look down upon Ciudad Vieja and Antigua Guatemala, the old Spanish capitals which each in turn destroyed. The cordillera still presents its most abrupt front to the Pacific and on the eastern side, in Guatemala and Honduras, there are high forest-bearing ridges between the river systems. The Cockscomb Mountains in British Honduras are a low outlying group. In southern Nicaragua the main chain is broken by a low broad valley that extends from ocean to ocean. In Costa Rica and Panama a single range stretches midway along the narrow strip of land, with peaks that rise above 11,000 feet.
The lowland strip on the Pacific side of our area is a narrow fringe. Like the central plateau it is for the most part arid, but irrigation makes it productive. The lowlands of the Atlantic side are generally wet and heavily forested. The greatest land mass of uniformly low elevation is the Peninsula of Yucatan. In eastern Honduras and Nicaragua there are extensive river valleys of low elevation.
The river systems of Mexico and Central America flow into the two bounding oceans or into lakes which have no outlets. Several closed basins occur on the Mexican table-land. The Rio Nazas and the Rio Nieves flow into salt marshes in the northern state of Coahuila. But the most important interior basin is the Valley of Mexico. In this mountain enclosed valley, whose general level is 7,500 feet above the sea, there are five lakes which in order from north to south are named Tzompanco, Xaltocan, Texcoco, Xochimilco, and Chalco. The last two contain fresh water, since they drain into Lake Texcoco, but the rest are more or less brackish. Lake Texcoco is by far the largest, although its area has been greatly reduced by natural and artificial causes since the coming of the Spaniards.
The largest river of Mexico is the Rio Lerma which takes the name Rio de Santiago during its deep and tortuous passage from Lake Chapala to the Pacific. Farther to the south is the Rio de las Balsas which likewise flows into the western ocean. The name means “River of the Rafts” and is given because of a peculiar floating apparatus made of gourds tied to a wooden framework that is used on this stream. Flowing into the Gulf of Mexico are several large streams, among which may be mentioned the Panuco, Papaloapan, Grijalva, and Usumacinta. The last is by far the greatest in volume of water, and with its maze of tributaries drains a large area of swamp and jungle in which are buried some of the most wonderful ruined cities of the New World.
In the northern part of Yucatan there are no rivers on the surface on account of the porous limestone. Instead there are great natural wells called cenotes where the roofs of subterranean rivers have fallen in. Many of the ancient cities were built near such natural wells.
Passing to the south the most important river of Guatemala is the Motagua, which has cut a fine valley through a region of lofty mountains. In Honduras there are several large rivers, including the Uloa, Patuca, and Segovia. The lake region of Nicaragua is drained by the San Juan River that flows into the Caribbean Sea. Nearly all the streams of Central America that flow into the Pacific are short and steep torrents. An important exception is the Lempa River that forms part of the interior boundary of Salvador.
Concerning lakes, mention has already been made of Chapala and Texcoco, the most important in Mexico. The former is about fifty miles in length. In the state of Michoacan there are a number of beautiful lakes intimately connected with the history and mythology of the Tarascan Indians. The most famous is called Patzcuaro. In southern Yucatan the shallow body of water known as Lake Peten also has a distinct historical interest. Several lakes in Guatemala are well known on account of the rare beauty of their situation. Lake Atitlan is surrounded by lofty mountains, and Lake Izabal, or Golfo Dulce, is famous for the luxuriance of the vegetation that screens its banks. Lakes Nicaragua and Managua are well known on account of their connection with the much-discussed canal projects. The Island of Ometepe in Lake Nicaragua bears an active volcano.
In regard to the geology it is only necessary to point out a few of the more important characters. The highlands which bear so many active and quiescent volcanoes naturally show great masses of eruptive rocks, some due to recent action and others much more ancient. Porous tufa is a common material for sculptures in many parts of Mexico and Central America. In other places there are great beds of softer and finer grained material also of volcanic origin. In these places, such as Copan in western Honduras and Mitla in southern Mexico, building in stone received its greatest development. The soft greenish stone of Copan seems to be a solidified mud flow permeated with volcanic ash rather than a true lava flow of melted rock. Limestones are also common and important in the economic development. In some regions there are beds of a hard, blue limestone going back to the Carboniferous epoch. This stone makes an excellent cement after burning. The Peninsula of Yucatan is a great plain of limestone of much more recent formation. Like our own Florida it was once a coral reef which was lifted above the sea by some natural agency. This limestone gets older and more solid as we approach the base of the peninsula but at best is rather porous and coarse-grained.
Fig. 3. Yucatan Deer caught in a Snare. From the Mayan Codex, Tro-Cortesianus.
The fauna and flora present great variation. In the moist lowlands the monkeys play in the tree tops and the jaguar lies in wait for its prey. Alligators and crocodiles infest the rivers and swamps. Two small species of deer and the ocellated turkey are important items in the meat supply of Yucatan, that includes also the iguana, the peccary, and various large rodents. The tapir and manatee are the largest animals of the lowlands but neither seems to have been of great significance to the natives. Bats are frequently represented in the ancient art and a bat demon appears in several myths.
Fig. 4. The Moan Bird, or Yucatan Owl, personified as a Demi-god. Dresden Codex.
Upon the highlands of Mexico the Toltecan deer is still hunted, together with the wild turkey that is the parent of our domestic birds. The turkey was, in fact, domesticated by the Mexican tribes. It probably occurred southward over the Guatemalan highlands, but is now extinct in this latter region. In the southern part of Central America the place of the turkey as an item of diet is taken by the curassow, a yellow-crested bird with black plumage. The coppery-tailed trogon, the famous quetzal, was sacred in ancient times and is now the emblem of Guatemala. This beautiful bird occurs only in the cloud cap forest zone on the high mountains of southern Mexico and Guatemala. Blue macaws, parrots, paroquets, and humming birds contributed their gay plumage to adorn headdresses and feather-covered cloaks. These and many other birds doubtless flitted about in the aviary of Moctezuma. The black vulture, the king vulture, and the harpy eagle are other conspicuous birds often figured in the ancient art. The coyote, ocelot, and puma are the principal beasts of prey on the highlands.
Among the characteristic trees of the lowlands may be mentioned the palm, which occurs in great variety, the amate and ceiba, both of which attain to large size, as well as mahogany, Spanish cedar (which is not a cedar at all but a close relative of the mahogany), campeche, or logwood, rosewood, sapodilla, and other trees of commerce. Upon the higher mountain slopes are forests of long-leaf pine and of oak. In the desert stretches the cactus is often tree-like and there are many shrubs that in the brief spring become masses of highly-colored blossoms.
Some of the principal crops of Mexico and Central America have been introduced from the Old World, including coffee, sugar cane, and bananas. Other crops such as maize, beans, chili peppers, cocoa, etc., are indigenous. Among the native fruits may be mentioned the aguacate, or alligator pear, the mamey, the anona, or custard apple, the guanabina, jocote, and nance.
History of European Contact.
The great area with which we are concerned has been in touch with Europe since the beginning of the sixteenth century. Columbus, on his last voyage in 1502, landed on the northern coast of Honduras and rounded the stormy cape called Gracias à Dios. Later he skirted the shore of Costa Rica and Panama and entered the body of water which was named in his honor Bahia del Almirante—Bay of the Admiral. He brought back sensational news of the gold in possession of the natives, which they had told him came from a district called Veragua. After a few years of stormy warfare the Spaniards established themselves firmly in this golden land. Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, who emerged from the bickering mob as the strongest leader, was the first white man to cross the Isthmus. This he did in 1513, grandiloquently laying claim to the Pacific Ocean and all the shores that it touched in the name of Spain. The crown appointed the greedy and black-hearted Pedrarias Davila governor of Darien and in 1517 he succeeded in having Balboa beheaded on a flimsy charge. Colonization and exploration went forward rapidly. In 1519 the old city of Panama, now in ruins, was founded. The rich region around the Nicaraguan lakes was discovered by Gil Gonzalez Davila and the city of Granada was founded in 1524. The exploration from the southern base came in contact with that from the north in Salvador shortly after this event.
Fig. 5. Spanish Ship in the Aubin Codex.
[Plate II.]
(a) Site of Pueblo Viejo, the First Capital of Guatemala.
(b) A Spanish Church at the Village of Camotan on the Road to Copan.
Let us now direct our attention to the conquest of Mexico. Perhaps the Portuguese were the first to sight the mainland of Yucatan in 1493. There is little to prove this except one or two charts or maps made in the first decade of the sixteenth century that show the peninsula in its proper location. In 1511 or 1512 a ship from Darien was wrecked and some of the sailors were cast upon the coast of Yucatan. Most of them were killed and sacrificed, but two survived. One of these survivors was Geronimo de Aguilar, who later was rescued by Cortez and became his guide and interpreter.
The first accredited voyage of discovery to Mexico was one under the command of Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba, which sailed from Cuba in February, 1517. He coasted the northern and eastern shores of Yucatan. When he attempted to obtain water he was worsted in a serious battle with the Maya Indians. His expedition finally returned to Cuba in a sad plight. The next year Juan de Grijalva set out to continue the exploration of the new land with the stone-built cities. He landed at Cozumel Island and took possession. He explored the eastern coast of Yucatan as well as the northern and western ones, discovered the mouth of the large river that bears his name, and proceeded as far as the Island of Sacrifices in the harbor of Vera Cruz.
The next year Hernando Cortez was sent out by Velasquez, the governor of Cuba, to conquer the new land. He landed at Cozumel Island and rescued Geronimo de Aguilar. Then he followed the coast to the mouth of the Grijalva River where he disembarked and fought the important battle of Cintla, the first engagement in the New World in which cavalry was used. After a signal victory Cortez continued his way to Vera Cruz. Here delay and dissension seemed about to break the luck of the invaders.
Although the Mexicans were somewhat inclined to regard the Spaniards as supernatural visitants and to associate their coming with the fabled return of Quetzalcoatl, the Plumed Serpent, still Moctezuma refused to grant an interview to Cortez. The Totonacan city of Cempoalan opened its gates and became allies of the invaders. Finally, at the instigation of their stout-hearted captain, the Spaniards destroyed their ships on the shore in order to steel their resolution through the impossibility of retreat. Then the little band of 450 white men with their retinue of natives marched towards the highlands. The route led past Jalapa and over the mountains to the fortified city of Tlaxcala. This city, after a skirmish, likewise enlisted in the Spanish cause, a course that came easy because Tlaxcala was a traditional enemy of Tenochtitlan, the ancient Mexico City, and had withstood the attacks of the Aztecs for many years. From here Cortez passed to the sacred city of Cholula where, suspecting treachery, he caused many of the inhabitants to be massacred.
Fig. 6. Cortez arrives with Sword and Cross and Moctezuma brings him Gold. Codex Vaticanus 3738.
In the Spanish histories one hears much concerning the omens, the prophecies, and the vain appeals to the gods that became more and more frequent and frantic as the invaders approached the capital. Arriving at Ixtapalapan they entered upon the great causeway leading out to the Venice-like city in the lake. Accepting the inevitable, Moctezuma and his nobles met the Spaniards and conducted them to the Palace of Axayacatl, which was prepared for their habitation. This took place in November, 1519. The fears of Moctezuma were soon fulfilled, for he was taken prisoner and held as a hostage of safety in his own capital.
Fig. 7. Aztecan Canoe. Lienzo de Tlaxcala.
Meanwhile Velasquez, convinced of the unfaithfulness of Cortez, dispatched Narvaez to capture the rebellious agent. But Narvaez was himself captured and his soldiers went to augment the army of the victor.
Alvarado had been left in command of the garrison at Tenochtitlan during the absence of Cortez. The time approached for the great feast of Tezcatlipoca and the Spaniards, fearing the results of this appeal to the principal Aztecan god, resolved to be the first to strike. The multitude assembled in the temple enclosure was massacred and after this deed the soldiers fought their way back to the stronghold in which they were quartered. The Aztecs were thoroughly aroused by this unwarranted cruelty as well as by the cupidity of the Spaniards. Cortez hastened back to take personal charge; but in spite of victories in the storming of the pyramids and in other hand-to-hand contests, the invaders were so weakened that their condition was truly alarming. Moctezuma died in captivity and the last restraint of the natives was removed.
The night of June 30, 1520, is famous as La Noche Triste—The Sad Night—for on this night the Spaniards attempted to steal out of the city that had become untenable. The natives were warned by a woman’s shriek and a desperate encounter took place on the narrow causeway loading to Tlacopan. The bridges were torn down and the Spanish soldiers in armor were hemmed in between the deep canals. At last, however, the firm land was reached. Here, instead of following up the victory, the natives permitted the Spaniards to re-form their ranks. A few days later Cortez was able to restore something of his lost prestige by the decisive victory at Otumba, after which he continued his retreat to the friendly Tlaxcala.
A year was spent in recuperation, in building boats for an attack from the lake, and in putting down the Aztecan outposts. In the meantime the natives were suffering from a dreadful visitation of smallpox, introduced by the Spaniards, and Cuitlahuac, the successor of Moctezuma, had died of this disease after a rule of eighty days. Finally Tenochtitlan was besieged again. The buildings were leveled to the ground as the Spaniards advanced.
[Plate III.]
(a) View of the Island Town of Flores in Lake Peten where the Last Capital of the Itzas was located.
(b) The Sacred Cenote at Chichen Itza into which Human Beings were thrown as Sacrifices, along with Objects of Jade and Gold.
The brave defense of Cuauhtemoc availed for naught against cannon and steel armor. On the 13th of August, 1521, the conquest of Tenochtitlan was achieved and the spirit of a warlike people forever broken.
The Valley of Mexico having been taken, numerous expeditions were sent out to subdue the more distant provinces and to establish colonies. Alvarado invaded the south and by 1524 he had captured Utatlan and other native strongholds on the highlands of Guatemala and had invaded Salvador. Cortez himself undertook a wonderful march from Vera Cruz to the Gulf of Honduras to punish an unruly subordinate. His course lay through the swamps and jungles of the Usumacinta Basin, thence across the savannahs of southern Yucatan to Lake Peten, and, finally, over the mountains to Lake Izabal and the Motagua River. Even today much of his route would be called impassable for an army. Puerto Cortez, on the northern coast of Honduras, was founded at the conclusion of this expedition. The exploitation of Yucatan and Tabasco was granted to Francisco Montejo, who began the conquest of this low-lying territory in 1527. The first campaigns were disastrous and heartbreaking. Several short-lived Salamancas were founded, one of them at Chichen Itza. But the odds were too great and by 1535 all the Spaniards had been killed or expelled. The son of Montejo renewed the struggle. In 1540 Campeche was founded and early in 1542 the city of Mérida was established upon the site of an earlier Mayan town.
Progress was also rapid in the north. Nuño de Guzman departed in 1529 on a mission to conquer Michoacan and the great northern province known as New Galicia. His rule was marred by many acts of cruelty. In 1538 Coronado, the successor of Guzman, led his army northward to the land of the Pueblo Indians and then out into the Great Plains. Before the first English settlement was made in North America the power of Spain was firmly established, not only throughout Central America and Mexico, but also in the southwestern part of the United States.
The spiritual conquest was no less remarkable than the territorial. The priests accompanied and even preceded the armies with the doctrine of the cross. The rough and ready characters that enliven the wonderful drama of this period had the vices of greed and cruelty, but nearly all were imbued with a pride of religion, if not with the true flame. The firmness and bigotry on the one hand and the open sympathy on the other with which the Catholic fathers met the practical problems before them resulted in vast achievements. Either by accident or design certain patron saints and efficacious shrines of special interest to the natives were not long in becoming known. The Virgin of Guadeloupe and the Black Christ of Esquipulas brought many converts to the foreign faith. Church building was carried on apace. The various religious orders became rich and powerful and exerted a strong influence upon civil administration.
The later history of this great region can be passed over briefly. Cortez was the first governor general of Mexico but he was soon shorn of his power as dictator at large. The First Audiencia was appointed in 1528 and is noteworthy simply by reason of its misrule. The Second Audiencia, beginning two years later, put through some excellent reform laws. The first Viceroy, the great and good Mendoza, arrived in 1535 and for fifteen years the land prospered under his rule, which was benign without being weak. He was succeeded by Luis de Velasco, who emancipated many of the enslaved Indians. The long line of viceroys continued until 1821, when Spain was forced to relinquish her provinces in America. Among the greatest of the viceroys was Bucareli, the forty-sixth in line, who ruled Mexico from 1771-1779 while the United States of America were just beginning to feel the pulse of life.
During the viceregal period in Mexico the region to the south was ruled by the captain general of Guatemala. The dominion was subdivided into five departments corresponding to the modern republics of Guatemala (which then included the Mexican state of Chiapas), Honduras, Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Panama was ruled from the South American province of New Granada.
Weakened by Napoleonic wars and rent by internal dissensions, Spain found herself in the first two decades of the nineteenth century unable to maintain her waning power in America. Bolivar and his brother patriots raised the standard of revolt in South America in 1810 and in the same year war for independence broke out in the north. Hidalgo, the parish priest of Dolores, rang the liberty bell of Mexican freedom on the 16th of September, 1810. This beloved patriot was captured the year following, and shot, but the revolution, once begun, was continued under Morelos and other leaders. After 1815 the cause seemed hopeless, but in 1820 there was a new uprising and General Iturbide, who was sent to put it down, turned his army against the government and established himself as emperor. Central America was also included in this Mexican empire. The rule of Iturbide soon became unpopular and in 1823 he abdicated his throne. The Mexican republic that was then instituted continued until the French intervention in 1861. During this time the most noteworthy events were the war with the United States in 1846-47 and the passing of the reform laws under Benito Juarez that freed Mexico from the oppressions of the church.
As a result of the French intervention Maximilian of Austria was made emperor. This unfortunate ruler, who did much to beautify Mexico City, was dethroned and shot in 1867. The republic was then re-established.
The other republics of Central America formed a federal union at the time the first Mexican empire came to an end in 1823. This union was preserved till 1839 and several later attempts were made to restore it. The five republics have had such tempestuous careers as a result of warfare, usurpation, and political brigandage that their material and social development has been stunted. Several are now, however, on the high road to stability.
Panama was until 1903 a part of Colombia. British Honduras had its origin in the concessions given to English logwood gatherers and to the fact that pirates found refuge behind the coral reefs that line the shores. The English claim to the Mosquito Coast rested upon a similar flimsy basis, and was finally abandoned.
Languages.
The twenty distinct stocks of related languages formerly recognized in Mexico and Central America have now been greatly reduced. Of those that remain, some occupied small areas and had little in the way of dialectic variation, while others stretched over wide territories and were divided into many mutually unintelligible tongues, which, in turn, were subdivided into well-defined dialects. Several stocks are now approaching extinction through the substitution of Spanish. A number of languages, however, are still spoken by hundreds of thousands of natives.
The language having the greatest geographical extension within the area under consideration is the Mexican, or Nahuan, now consolidated with the Piman, Shoshonean, etc., in a great stock called the Uto-Aztecan. In its extent this stock may be compared to the Indo-Iranian of the Old World which comprises most of the modern and ancient languages of Europe as well as those of a large part of Asia. Within the United States are the numerous Shoshonean tribes found as far north as Idaho, reaching into California on the one hand and into Texas on the other. In southern Arizona and northwestern Mexico come the Piman group. East of the Sierra Madre are the Tarahumare and the Tepehuane. These languages are mutually unintelligible, although morphologically related, and all are subdivided into dialects. The relationship is proved through laborious comparison and analysis of the words and grammar, in the same way as the philologist proves that Persian, Greek, Russian, English and Welsh are all cognate tongues. Farther to the south are still other divisions of the stock; including the Huichol and Cora of the mountainous region north of Guadalajara and the Mexican or Aztecan of the Valley of Mexico and adjacent country. The Mexican language is still spoken by a million or more natives and is divided into a number of dialects. Properly the Aztecs are a single tribe whose chief city was Tenochtitlan, the ancient Mexican City. They first appear on the page of history as the Mexitin, along with the closely related Chalca, Xochimilca, etc. The people of Central Mexico called their language Nahuatl, meaning “clear speech” and nicknamed their relatives to the south, Pipil, or “boys” because they spoke awkwardly. Mexican colonies were widespread before the coming of the Spaniards and during the Conquest the distribution of this nation was made still greater. The Mexicans, and especially the natives of Tlaxcala, accompanied the Spaniards on military expeditions against other tribes and as a consequence many place names in southern Mexico and Guatemala were translated into their language. There were, however, large groups of Indians of Mexican stock already located in southern Guatemala and in Salvador. Still farther south were the Niquirao of Nicaragua and a little-known group called the Sigua in Costa Rica.
The wide geographical distribution of Uto-Aztecan languages has an undeniable historical significance. The numerous tribes represent a very wide range in culture albeit nearly all are dwellers of arid or semi-arid regions. Some like the Paiute, are miserable “diggers” willing to eat anything that will support life; others like the Comanche are warlike raiders; more progressive tribes like the Hopi have adopted agriculture and developed interesting arts and customs; while the highest members of the group are among the most civilized nations of the New World. It seems clear that language can be used as a basis of classification over a much greater stretch of time than can other social habits summed up as “culture.” Particular phases of art, religion, and government develop and disappear, but the grouping of sounds used to express ideas remains as proof that peoples now far apart geographically, as well as in their habits and achievements, were once close together. The peculiar distribution of the Uto-Aztecan languages may indicate a general southward movement of the stock.
The second most important linguistic stock is the Mayan, now spoken by over half a million people. This stock has only one outlying member, namely, the Huasteca of northern Vera Cruz. The other twenty-one languages cover a continuous area in the Mexican states of Yucatan, Tabasco, and Chiapas, and in the republic of Guatemala. The most important language of the group is the Maya proper, which is spoken by the natives of Yucatan and by the Lacandone Indians of the Usumacinta Valley. The Tzental, Quiché, Cakchiquel, Chol, and Chorti are other prominent languages.
In the region of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec are the Zapotecan and Mixtecan stocks, which differ widely in sound and structure from the Mayan and Nahuan tongues that hem them in. West and east of the Valley of Mexico are, respectively, the Tarascan and Totonacan stocks, which show no great amount of subdivision. In Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica are several language groups that have never been carefully studied. It seems likely that some of these will be consolidated when words and grammatical structures are better known. The Chiapanecan languages were spoken in three localities on the Pacific side of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, while a fourth division occupied a small area far to the northwest on the banks of the Chiapas River. It is now believed that the Otomi group, as well as a number of minor languages, including the Mazatecan, belong in a single stock with the Chiapanecan. If this supposed connection should prove true a northern movement of the stock would be pretty surely indicated. Several members of the Subtiaban stock show the same south to north movement and here there is evidence that the migration took place some three centuries before the coming of the Spaniards. Parts of the Isthmian region were held by tribes having linguistic affiliation with South America and it is not unlikely that a considerable back flow from South America made itself felt along the Atlantic coast of Central America, if we may judge by ethnological features and by suggested linguistic connections.
The great Hokan stock has now been extended from California across northern Mexico to Texas, taking in the Seri and numerous other tribes of low culture. For the most part these tribes are extinct or at least have lost the ancient speech.
Ethnology.
To a less extent than the native languages the old-time customs still hold out against the tide of European influence. In regions not easily accessible on account of deserts, mountains, or tropical jungles, there are a number of Indian tribes that preserve in a large measure their ancient arts and ideas. But the study of these remnant peoples has not been very thorough.
Fig. 8. Design on Modern Huichol Ribbon.
Fig. 9. Woven Pouch of the Huichol Indians showing Two-Headed Austrian Eagle.
The Pima, Seri, Tarahumare, Tepehuane, and other tribes of the extreme north and northwest of Mexico have until recent times been comparatively unmodified by Spanish influences. Basketry, textiles, and pottery have been maintained by them as well as many religious ceremonies. Farther south among the Cora and Huichol there also are surviving arts. The woven fabrics of these Indians are very beautiful but introduced ideas are frequently seen. For instance, a very common motive in Huichol textile art is the two-headed Austrian eagle evidently taken from the coins of Charles V. Crowns similar to those worn by the two-headed eagle are often shown on the heads of rampant animals. But most of the motives are doubtless of native origin.
Among the Huichol and Tarahumare the curious peyote, or hikule worship may be studied. A small variety of cactus is eaten, which induces ecstasy or stupor accompanied by color visions and peculiar dreams. Elaborate ceremonies are associated with the eating and gathering of this plant. The religious cult of the peyote has swept over a large portion of the Great Plains Area of the United States and is known even to Indians in the neighborhood of the Great Lakes. There can be no doubt that the narcotic action of the peyote was known to the Aztecs, who made a ceremonial use of it under the name teonanacatl. An intoxicating drink called teswin is commonly made in northern Mexico from the heart of the mescal plant. It takes the place of the famous pulque, the ancient beverage of the Mexican highlands. Hunting dances in which are employed regalia and ceremonial objects of great interest occur among the Huichol and neighboring tribes. The so-called “god’s eyes” made of yarn strung spider-web fashion over crossed sticks are practically identical with the “squash blossoms” of the Pueblo Indians. There are also real temple structures, or “god houses,” which are very significant when we consider the former importance of the temple among the more highly civilized peoples to the south. In these and other respects the Huichol culture is about midway between the culture of the Southwestern Pueblo tribes and that which formerly existed in central Mexico.
Elsewhere in northern and central Mexico it is possible to find many suggestions of ancient Indian ways of living. In nearly all the outlying villages the old-time thatched huts are still used, while baskets, gourd vessels, wooden bowls, earthen pots, and other household objects hark back to native origins, although often modified by European contact. For instance, glazing is commonly seen on the modern pottery. Many travelers in Mexico bring away as souvenirs pieces of pottery from Guadalajara and Cuernavaca. These wares are made by Indians, but in decoration they have only slight traces of the ancient art of the Mexicans.
In dress there are noteworthy survivals. The serape made either on the narrow hand loom or on a crude form of the Spanish tread loom is a picturesque element in the national dress that is rapidly disappearing from view. Time was when the rich plantation owner wore a gayly colored blanket on fiesta days. The most famous centers for the manufacture and sale of blankets were the cities of Saltillo and San Miguel. The Saltillo pattern shows a medallion consisting of concentric diamonds in various colors upon an all-over design in stripes. The motives are minute geometric figures skilfully interlocked. The colors are rich and permanent and are combined in a very pleasing manner. Saltillo blankets must be classed among the finest textile products of the world. The best period was before 1850. San Miguel blankets show characteristically a rosette instead of a diamond in the center. Many beautiful blankets come from other localities in Mexico. The Chimayo blankets have the same part Indian, part Spanish origin and are made by the Spanish-speaking natives in the mountain valleys of New Mexico.
[Plate IV.]
(a) A Guatemalan huipili decorated with Highly Conventionalized Animals in Embroidery.
(b) Pouches of the Valiente Indians of the Chiriqui Lagoon, Panama.
In southern Mexico there are many towns of Indians where the women still wear the finely embroidered huipili. This old-time garment varies considerably in different towns but as a rule it is a simple sack-like gown cut square at the neck and with short sleeves. Sometimes it is shortened to a blouse, and is worn with a skirt; at other times a short huipili is worn over a longer one. An easily visited town where the natives still wear the old-time dress is Amatlan, within an hour’s walk of Cordova. The women of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec have a gorgeous costume of which the most remarkable feature is a wide ruff worn around the neck or on the back of the head. The Mayan women of Yucatan wear white huipili with needlework in color around the bottom. On the highlands of Guatemala the huipili is usually a blouse. The skirt sometimes consists of a strip of cloth wrapped several times around the body.
An interesting ceremony which survives in some parts of Mexico and Guatemala has as its principal feature a lofty pole with a swivel arrangement at the top to which long ropes are attached. These ropes are wound round the swivel and performers, who may be dressed like birds, attach themselves to the rope ends. During the process of unwinding the performers whirl dizzily around the pole descending lower and lower and swing in a wider and wider circle till they reach the ground.
The Lacandone Indians live in the marshy jungles that border the winding Usumacinta. They speak the same tongue as the Maya Indians of Yucatan but in the matter of culture they have acquired little from the Spaniards. They still weave simple garments and make pottery vessels. In hunting they use the bow and arrow, the latter usually tipped with a point of stone. In their religious practices they use incense burners which are comparable to those of the sixteenth century.
[Plate V.]
(a) Zapotecan Girl from the State of Oaxaca, wearing a Turban-Like Headdress made of Yarn.
(b) Lacandone Man from Southern Mexico. Wavy hair is sometimes seen among the few members of this Mayan tribe.
The Caribs occupy the greater part of the north coast of Guatemala and Honduras, running east from the port of Livingston on the Gulf of Amatique. These people, originally of South America and later of the West Indies as well, were deported by the English from the Island of St. Vincent in 1796. They have now established themselves in the new land where they raise the manioc or cassava root and press out the poisonous juice in a basketry tube as do their kindred in the Orinoco Valley. Long before the forcible immigration it is likely that the Caribs, who were cannibalistic in habit, had raided the shores of Central America in their seagoing canoes. A significant passage in the chronicles of the Mayas states that naked man-eating savages visited Yucatan long before the coming of the Spaniards.
The Mosquito Indians of the east coast of Nicaragua and Honduras have a very considerable negro admixture. They are fishermen of low culture. Farther inland are found the Sumo who flatten the heads of their children and who hold strange feasts in honor of the dead in which the dancers are masked so that none may be recognized. A string is stretched over the tree tops from the grave to the feasting place and over this string the ghost of the dead person is supposed to walk. When everyone has fallen in a drunken stupor from mishla the ghost of the dead man departs for the land of the dead. These Sumo Indians build large houses with open sides and are very skilful at fishing with bow and arrow and steering their canoes through white rapids. They practise polygamous marriages, weave cotton, and make interesting beadwork ornaments.
In the narrow Isthmian region there are tribes of Indians that resist manfully the inroads of civilization. Perhaps the best known of these are the San Blas Indians who inhabit the mountain fastnesses east of the Canal Zone. In northern Costa Rica the Guatuso and Talamanca tribes still maintain to a considerable degree their old native character.
Physical Types.
Minor physical differences in stature, head form, and facial expression mark off pretty clearly the tribes of this area from each other. The stature is lowest among the Mayas and Mazatecs, the average being about 5 feet 1 inch, while among the Tarascans, Tlaxcalas, and Zapotecs, it averages about 5 feet 3 inches. The other tribes of Central America and of central Mexico fall between these extremes. In northern Mexico the stature increases considerably, average measurements for the Yaqui being in excess of 5 feet 6 inches. To make up for their lack of height the southern Indians are sturdy and heavy muscled, with deep chests. Their hair is usually black and straight, but occasionally wavy. Light beards and mustaches are sometimes worn, especially by the Mayas. The eyes are so dark brown as to appear black to the casual observer. They are set rather wide apart and while usually horizontal they seem, in some instances, to have a slight Mongoloid tilt. Noses vary greatly but are often finely aquiline. The cephalic index (obtained by dividing the breadth of the head by its length and multiplying the result by 100) is rather high. The Mayas are strongly round-headed with an index of 85.0 while their linguistic relatives, the Tzendals, have a medium index of 76.8. The other tribes of southern Mexico fall between these extremes. No long-headed peoples are found in this area although in northern Mexico some tribes approach the long-headed type.
Map of Mexico and Central America showing the Principal Archæological Sites with a Detail Insert of the Valley of Mexico.
[High-resolution Map]
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Chapter I
THE ARCHAIC HORIZON
In 1910 an actual stratification of human products was found in the environs of Mexico City in which three principal culture horizons could be readily discerned. A collection made at the time, illustrating the objects characteristic of the three strata, is on exhibition in the American Museum of Natural History. In parts this stratification verified theories of culture succession already held by students working in this field. Since that time careful research in several localities has been carried on and many authentic specimens from the three layers have been brought together.
The stratigraphic series concerns sedentary life after the invention of agriculture. Presumably a nomadic horizon preceded that of the first farmers, but few traces of this have so far been reported from southern Mexico and Central America. The earliest known specimens of the lowest level are not rudimentary but are well stylized, and opinions vary as to the length of time necessary for a theoretical formative stage. It seems necessary to consider this old civilization as a stratigraphic unit admitting the probability that true beginnings await the archæologist’s spade.
The culture of the lowest stratum is here called archaic, a word meaning old, but not necessarily primitive. The word “horizon” carries an implication of chronological succession, but it would not be wise to insist that archaic remains everywhere represent a dead chronological level. Archaic art is oldest in its place of origin, the highlands of Mexico and Central America, and in or near this general region, it was first succeeded by higher types. On the margin of its distribution archaic art, or at least the most striking traits of archaic art, lasted into much more recent times, and in some places may even have survived till the coming of the Spaniards. Even when every allowance is made for independent expressions which may find nearly the same form, it seems that remarkable homogeneity and continuity can be demonstrated for products of the archaic civilization of the New World.
Most of the evidence of the old civilization consists of ceramic objects, but there is also some stonework including implements, ornaments, and crude statues. Common household pottery shows local variations, but as a rule the archaic wares can be recognized as such by qualities of paste, shape, and decoration. The motives are simply geometric or realistic and there is a lack of formalized designs. One process of decoration has wide distribution and seems to have been invented well along in the archaic period. This is the process of negative painting in which the lines of the decorative pattern, originally applied in wax or pitch, stand out in the natural surface color of the pot against an over-painted background. This “batik” pottery extends from central Mexico to northern Peru.
The most interesting and important objects of archaic art in clay are human figurines executed in peculiar styles. These not only reflect details of dress, etc., but also seem to stand for a set of religious ideas. Especially a type of figurine representing a nude female appears to be an agricultural fetish, symbolizing the fecundity of Mother-Earth.
Stratification of Remains.
Atzcapotzalco was once an important center of the Tepanecan tribe situated on the shores of lake Texcoco. It was an early rival of Tenochtitlan, the Aztecan capital, and was conquered and partly destroyed in 1439. The principal modern industry of Atzcapotzalco is brick-making, and several mounds and much of the surface of the plain have been removed for this purpose. In the mounds are found many pottery objects of the late Toltecan period, while on the surface of the ground are encountered fragments of the typical Aztecan pottery in use when the Spaniards arrived.
Fig. 10. Atzcapotzalco Destroyed. The temple burns at the Place of the Ant.
The stratification of the plain varies in different places so far as the thickness of the different strata is concerned, but the order is always the same. At one locality it is as shown in [Fig. 11]. First comes a layer of fine soil of volcanic ash origin, probably deposited by the wind. This is five or six feet in thickness, yellowish at the top, and much darker towards the bottom, with streaks and discolorations. The Aztecan pottery is found close to the surface, while Toltecan pottery occurs in the middle and lower sections. Underneath the soil layers lies a thick stratum of water-bearing gravel mixed with sand. This gravel stratum is possibly the old bed of a stream that formerly entered Lake Texcoco near this point. In some places it is fifteen or eighteen feet in thickness. Scattered throughout the gravel are heavy, waterworn fragments of pots as well as more or less complete figurines of the archaic type.
Fig. 11. Diagram of Culture Strata at Atzcapotzalco.
Temple mounds of Toltecan period. Surface finds of Aztecan period. Remains of Toltecan period. Deep stratum of water-bearing gravels containing remains of archaic period. Bed rock of hard clay.
At other sites, such as Colhuacan, the Toltecan layer is of greater thickness and the archaic layer of lesser thickness. The remains extend below the present level of the water and may indicate that considerable changes have taken place in the level of the lake. But we must remember that many of the ancient settlements were built over the water and that land was made in ancient times, as it is today in the gardens of Xochimilco, by deepening canals. Archaic remains are also common on the denuded tops of hills which may once have been covered by soil.
A stratification of archæological remains has recently been determined in Salvador.
The Cemetery under the Lava.
An ancient cemetery lying under lava has recently been explored in Copilco, a suburb of Mexico City. The lava swept down from Mount Ajusco in some cataclysm perhaps 3000 years ago, covering many square miles of territory to the depth of thirty or forty feet, and burying such villages as chanced to lie in its path. (See [Pl. VI]b). The discovery of human remains was made several hundred feet back from the original front of the lava flow in a quarry where lava rock was being removed to build roads. Tales of clay figurines found under the lava in this quarry had been current for years, but no serious investigation was made until human burials were met with in the earth under the great lava cap. Then a series of tunnels was dug and a considerable number of ancient burials were uncovered, but not moved from their original position. One now enters an electric-lighted graveyard and sees human bodies lying exactly as they have lain for untold centuries, with the funeral offerings beside them. This enormously important find gives us an historical level in mid-Archaic.
Another site, at Cuicuilco, on the opposite side of the lava flow, has received attention from archæologists. Here a great round mound rises in terraces faced with cobblestones. It is surrounded by the lava flow and some persons have assumed that the mound was already abandoned and in decay when the lava flow took place. Perhaps, however, the mound was built on a piece of land that the lava flow had spared. There are no contacts between the lava and the mound except at the ends of two projecting aprons or causeways. The pottery at this site is sufficiently different from that found at Copilco.
[Plate VI.]
(a) Cuicuilco. A view showing cobblestone facing of mound and lava in contact with apron or causeway.
(b) Archaic Site under Lava Flow near Mexico City. A local museum has been established at this site in electric-lighted tunnels.
Invention of Agriculture.
Before examining in greater detail the art of the Archaic Horizon let us consider its real significance. It is generally admitted that America was originally populated from Asia, but on a culture level no higher than the Neolithic. The simple arts of stone chipping, basketry, fire-making, etc., were probably brought over by the earliest immigrants, but there is abundant evidence that pottery-making, weaving, and agriculture were independently invented long after the original settlement. The cultivated plants in the New World are different from those of the Old World and there is a vast area in northwestern America and northeastern Asia, upon the only open line of communication, where agriculture and the higher arts have never been practised.
Fig. 12. Teocentli or Mexican Fodder Grass.
Now the invention of agriculture is an antecedent necessity for all the high cultures of the New World. It is equally clear that this invention must have taken place in a locality where some important food plant grew in a wild state. By far the most important food plant of the New World is maize. While this plant has changed greatly under domestication, botanists are inclined to find its nearest relative and possible progenitor in a wild grass growing on the highlands of Mexico and known by the Aztecan name teocentli, which means sacred maize. It is known that maize is at its best in a semi-arid tropical environment. It cannot be brought to withstand frost although the growing season can be cut down to meet the requirements of a short summer. Geographically its use extended from the St. Lawrence to the Rio de la Plata and from sea level to an elevation of fifteen thousand feet in tropical regions. The Mexican highlands occupy the central position in the area of its distribution and archæological evidence strongly points to this region as being the cradle of agriculture and the attendant arts. Besides maize, the most widely distributed food plants of the New World are beans and squashes. Certain other plants were cultivated in more restricted areas and may have had different places of origin. For instance, manioc was doubtless brought under cultivation in a humid lowland region, probably the Amazon Valley, and the same may be said of sweet potatoes. The common potato was found under domestication in Peru and there is no very good evidence that its use extended into Central America.
Irrigation would have been necessary before agriculture could have been developed to any great extent on the highlands of Mexico. Although irrigation is often looked upon as a remarkable sequel of the introduction of agriculture into an arid country, yet from the best historical evidence at our command we should rather regard it as a conception which accounts for the very origin of agriculture itself. The earliest records of cultivated plants are from Mesopotamia, Egypt, Mexico, and Peru where irrigation was practised. In these regions are also seen the earliest developments of the characteristic arts of sedentary peoples, namely, pottery and weaving, and the elaborate social and religious structures that result from a sure food supply and a reasonable amount of leisure.
If this theory is true we must admit that below the Archaic Horizon we should find traces of a horizon of non-agricultural peoples, living a nomadic life without pottery. Unfortunately, such peoples make fewer objects and scatter them more widely than do sedentary agriculturists.
No one on the basis of present knowledge can offer more than an opinion concerning the date of the invention of agriculture in the New World. The thick deposits left by the sedentary peoples argue great age and the wide area of homogeneous products argues slow change. In the most favored regions archaic art may have been succeeded by higher forms shortly before the time of Christ, and perhaps 5000 years is not too long a time to allow for the diversities of the domesticated plants of America.
Archaic Figurines.
[Plate VII.]
Large Archaic Figures found in Graves and offering Evidence of Ancient Customs and Arts and also showing a Quality of Caricature or possibly Portraiture. These are probably late products since they come from Tepic and Jalisco, where archaic art maintained itself long after its disappearance from central Mexico.
Fig. 13. Archaic Figurines from Central Mexico. The first three specimens are from under the lava at Copilco.
Fig. 14. Archaic Figurines—Zapotlan, Jalisco; Tampico, Vera Cruz; and Cuesta Blanca, Salvador.
Archaic art is characterized by figures of men and women modeled in clay and sometimes painted. The forms are peculiar and the technique well standardized. Most are modeled in a flat gingerbread fashion into a gross shape. Upon this gross shape special features are indicated by stuck-on ribbons and buttons of clay and by gougings and incisings with some pointed instrument. Modeling was done entirely by hand, moulds being as yet unknown. The figurines are usually from two to five inches in height and often represent nude women in sitting or standing positions with the hands upon the knees, hips, or breasts. The heads are characteristically of slight depth compared with their height, the limbs taper rapidly from a rather plump torso and hands and feet are mere knobs with incised details. When the figures are intended to stand erect, as is often the case, the feet show signs of having been pinched between the thumb and finger of the potter so that they have a forward and backward cusp and a broad base of support. Groovings are seen in connection with the hair, eyes, mouth, fingers, toes, and details of dress and ornament. Paint is often added to this surface to indicate tattooing, textile patterns, etc.
Fig. 15. Archaic Figurine from Salvador.
The eyes of the archaic images—and the mouths as well—are made according to several methods. First, there is the simple groove; second, a groove across an applied ball or button of clay; third, a round gouging made by the end of a blunt implement held vertically; fourth, a round gouging in an applied ball or button of clay; fifth, two gougings made with a round or chisel-edged implement held at an angle. The second form of eye, which resembles a grain of coffee, and the fifth form with the double gouging made from the center outward, are found from the northern limits of archaic art in Mexico as far south as Colombia and Venezuela.
Fig. 16. Types of Eyes of Archaic Figurines.
The technique of manufacture naturally changes somewhat with the increase in size. There is also reason to believe that the largest hollow figures come from the end of the Archaic Period in Mexico, and especially those that have been found in the state of Jalisco and the territory of Tepic. The eyelids are often rather carefully modeled and sometimes an eyeball is put in between the lids. These and perforated eyes seem to be the latest characters to be developed in the archaic art and it is significant that they are not found over such a wide area as the first five types of eyes given above.
Ancient Customs.
We may gather much of an ethnological nature from the study of these quaint figures. Articles of dress and adornment are shown as well as musical instruments, weapons, etc. Headdresses may consist of fillets, turbans, and objects perched on one side of the head. Noserings and earrings are abundantly represented and in considerable variety. We may be sure that weaving was rather highly developed because many garments such as shirts, skirts, and aprons are painted or incised with geometric designs. Body painting, or tattooing, appears to have been a common usage. Among weapons the atlatl, or spear-thrower, was already known and knobby clubs seem to have been popular. Men are shown beating on drums and turtle shells, while women nurse children and carry water. Since the large figures of clay are often found in tombs it is not impossible that they were intended to be portraits of the dead. Many have a startling quality of caricature.
Fig. 17. Textile Designs painted on Archaic Effigies.
Archaic art is a pretty certain index of the religion then in vogue. There is a notable absence of purposely grotesque or compounded figures representing divinities such as will be found in the later horizons. We miss entirely the characteristic Mexican gods such as Tlaloc and Ehecatl. Dogs are frequently modeled in clay and were apparently developed into a rather special domestic breed. Snakes are sometimes found as a plastic decoration on pottery but there are few signs of serpent worship. We can find no evidence that human sacrifice was practiced. The presence of human figurines in graves has already been mentioned and the suggestion made that some of them may have been intended as portraits of the dead. Nude female figurines in sitting or standing position have an unbroken distribution from Mexico into South America and it is not unlikely that the primitive agriculturists associated them with fertility and used them as amulets to secure good crops. The male figurines may have been votive offerings for success at arms.
Archaic Pottery.
The ordinary pottery of the Archaic Period from Mexico and Central America is heavy and simple in shape. The globular bowl with a constricted neck is a common form as well as wide-mouthed bowls with or without tripod supports. Lugs and handles are very common. When plain, tripods are large, hollow and rounded, with a perforation on the under side, but they are often modified into faces and feet. Many vessels are decorated by the addition of modeled faces enabling us to make a direct connection with the figures in clay already described.
Fig. 18. Typical Tripod Vessels of the Archaic Period, from Morelos, Mexico.
[Plate VIII. Two Stages in the Stone Sculptures of Costa Rica. Note that in the first series (a) the human body is adapted to the surface of a boulder with the arms, legs, and face in low relief and with eyes, nose, and mouth all protruding, while in the second series (b) the limbs are rounded and partly freed from the body. Both are of archaic type but probably not of great age.]
(a)
(b)
In fact the decoration of pottery of this early period is predominantly in relief. Paint is sparingly used and then only in the simplest geometric fashion. There is a general lack of conventionalized motives presenting animals and other natural forms in highly modified ways. In later ages the painted decoration is much concerned with the serpent, but except for a few winding serpents in relief, this motive is not seen on the pottery of the Archaic Period.
Fig. 19. Series showing the Modification of a Celt into a Stone Amulet. State of Guerrero, Mexico, probably late Archaic.
Stone Sculptures of the Archaic Period.
The earliest stone sculptures are recognized first by resemblance to the ceramic art just described and second by a quality which they possess of being archaic in an absolute sense. The greater difficulty of working stone as compared with clay and the longer time required in the process makes stone art less subject to caprice than ceramic art. Perhaps the most primitive examples of stone sculpture are boulders rudely carved in a semblance of the human form with features either sunken or in relief. The arms and legs are ordinarily flexed so that the elbows meet over the knees. The eyes and mouths in the most carefully finished pieces protrude, but the face has little or no modeling. Many celts are modified into figures by grooves, and faces are frequently represented on roughly conical or disk-shaped stones.
[Plate IX.]
(a) Stone Sculptures of the Archaic Period. This resembles the pottery as regards style: the eyes protrude and the limbs are carved in low relief against the body.
(b) Typical Site of the Archaic Period. The use of pyramids may have begun towards the end of this period.
We know very little from actual excavations concerning houses of the Archaic Period. It is likely that they were small and impermanent, possibly resembling the modern huts. The pyramidal mound as a foundation for the temple may have been developed towards the end of the Archaic Period. It would be interesting to determine whether adobe moulded into bricks was known at this time, as it was at a later time in the same region, or whether walls were built up out of fresh mud possibly reinforced by slabs of stone.
Extensions of the Archaic Horizon.
The curious objects of ceramic art that we have found deeply buried under the débris of higher civilizations in the Valley of Mexico can be traced far and wide. They are encountered, for the most part, in arid and open country, and since we have every reason to believe that the earliest agriculture was developed under irrigation, it is but natural to find the use of agriculture spreading first into other arid regions. And if there was an association between the fertility of Mother-Earth and little fetishes representing women then these fetishes would spread as part of the agricultural complex.
It now seems possible that the cult of the female figurine reached our Southwestern states on the earliest level of agricultural life. In sites belonging to Basket-Maker III—the archæological level of the first Pueblo pottery—little female fetishes are found and, indeed, are symptomatic of this early culture. They are cruder than anything as yet found in Mexico, but not necessarily older. With them occurs a primitive maize doubtless introduced from the south.
In the Isthmian region, on the other side of the Mexican and Central American cradle of New World agricultural civilization, there are small figurines quite similar to the archaic figurines of Mexico and Salvador as regards pose and bodily proportions. These are mostly on the level of the first Mayan civilization even in cases where the coffee-grain eye is used. Around the Nicaraguan lakes the figurines of nude females were cast in moulds, a device entirely unknown on the Archaic Horizon in Mexico. In the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica the figurines are skilfully modeled with painted designs in black on a dark brilliant red, which may represent tattooing. In the Chiriqui Province of Panama the figurines belong in a ceramic group characterized by the use of highly conventionalized alligators or crocodiles. It has already been stated that designs of the Archaic Horizon in Mexico are either geometric or naïvely realistic. There is another matter that deserves attention: some of these southern types of the female fetish occur in distinctly humid lands and this, by itself, is a strong argument against great antiquity.
The Isthmian female fetish must have been implanted on the Archaic Horizon even though the present examples are mostly from post-archaic times. Perhaps future archæological investigation will reveal early stations of a purely archaic type in desert parts of Costa Rica and Panama. Till then a controlling fact is that Mayan religious art avoids all references to sex and cannot, therefore, possibly be held responsible for the culture trait of the female fetish. But this fetish does agree with a pre-Mayan concept, as we have seen.
[Plate X. Widely Distributed Female Figurines:]
(a) Nicaragua.
(b) Panama.
(c) Venezuela.
(d) Island of Marajo, Brazil.
The ancient gold work of Costa Rica and Panama also reflects the technique of archaic art, although most of it, to judge by the religious significance of many of the subjects and designs, was made long after the Archaic Period. Just as the pottery figurines were built up by the addition of ribbons and buttons of clay to a generalized form so the patterns for gold castings were made by adding details in rolled wax or resin to a simple underlying form of the same material.
In Colombia and Venezuela archaic art is common in arid and mountainous territory. Local developments confuse the issue of time. Various cultural successions took place here, the Quimbaya, Sinu, and Tairona Indians having developed civilizations with possible Mayan affiliations in some features. The archaic figurines of Colombia are decorated with designs made by the process of negative painting through the medium of wax. This process is pretty generally distributed from central Mexico to northern Peru. The indications are that it was invented long before the rise of the Mayas, and once invented remained popular.
As regards Venezuela the figurines of men and women from the Eastern Andes are often strikingly similar to those of Mexico, especially in such matters as eyes made by double gougings. As a rule, these figurines are painted. Around Lake Valencia they are made without paint, but in combination with pottery designs showing the beginnings of conventionalization. Here there is added the circumstance that wild Carib tribes, coming down the Orinoco, drove the earlier inhabitants out over the West Indies. This flight must have taken place centuries before the coming of the Spaniards.
The archæology of the lower Amazon is best known from the remains found on the Island of Marajo where female figurines exhibit close similarity in pose to specimens from Venezuela and Mexico. This culture of Marajo seems to have been disrupted before the coming of Europeans. But it may be significant that crude fetishes representing women are used at the present time by tribes on the margins of the old Amazonian culture area. The earliest level at Ancon, Peru, yields ware recalling northern products. Nude females, apparently of somewhat later time, however, are in standing rather than sitting pose. It seems, then, that the trail of dissemination of agriculture and the ancillary arts can be followed across the northern part of South America and southward along the Andes to Peru. The greatest similarities must be sought in the oldest objects and some leeway granted in the case of marginal survivals.
It is proper to speak of agriculture, pottery-making, and weaving as the great civilizing complex. Few inventions could break down the ordinary boundaries of language and environment, as these had done. Yet, after the discovery of America, the horse, introduced by the Spaniards, spread rapidly through native tribes, modifying their lives greatly. It is capable of demonstration that with the horse went two types of saddle—the pack saddle and the riding saddle. Similarly in the first rapid spread of agriculture went pots and woven garments.
Two maps of the New World are given herewith: the first showing the extent of the Archaic Horizon and the second the final distribution of pottery among the American Indians and the final distribution of agriculture. The agricultural area is subdivided according to, first, the arid land type where irrigation is generally practised; second, the humid land type; and third, the temperate land type. The first type of agriculture appears to be the earliest and the range coincides, for the most part, with the range of the archaic pottery art.
Summary.
In concluding this section let us sum up the general facts of ancient American history as these appear in relation to the archæological evidences of the Archaic Horizon.
I. Pre-Archaic Horizon
The peopling of the New World from Asia by tribes on the nomadic plane of culture.
II. The Archaic Horizon
Invention and primary dissemination of agriculture, together with pottery-making and loom-weaving. Homogeneous culture with undeveloped religion and unsymbolic art adjusted to arid tropics.
III. Post-Archaic Horizon
Specialized cultures in North, Central, and South America dependent upon agriculture. Strong local developments in esthetic arts, religious ideas, and social institutions. Agriculture extended to humid tropical and temperate regions.
[Plate XI.]
Distribution of the Archaic Culture. The areas in solid black show the distribution of figurines of the archaic type; the areas in dots show the probable extension of pottery on the Archaic Horizon; the dotted lines give the ultimate extension of pottery.
[Plate XII.]
Distribution of Agriculture in the New World. The dotted line gives the limits of pottery; solid black, agriculture in arid regions of considerable altitude, mostly with irrigation; dotted areas, agriculture under humid lowland conditions; lined area, agriculture under temperate conditions.
We will now make an effort to analyze still further the historical levels in the Post-Archaic Horizon.
[Plate XIII.]
A General View of the Ceremonial Center of Copan. After a model and drawing by Maudslay. The artificial acropolis with temples on pyramids and with sunken courts is in the foreground and beyond is seen the Great Plaza in which monuments are set up. The Copan River has cut into the side of the acropolis and made a natural cross-section.
Chapter II
THE MAYAN CIVILIZATION
The wonderful culture of the Mayan Indians to which we will now turn our attention was developed in the humid lowlands of Central America and especially in the Yucatan Peninsula. Artists are everywhere of the opinion that the sculptures and other products of the Mayas deserve to rank among the highest art products of the world, and astronomers are amazed at the progress made by this people in the measuring of time by the observed movements of the heavenly bodies. Moreover, they invented a remarkable system of hieroglyphic writing by which they were able to record facts and events and they built great cities of stone that attest a degree of wealth and splendor beyond anything seen elsewhere in the New World.
The Mayan culture was made possible by the agricultural conquest of the rich lowlands where the exuberance of nature can only be held in check by organized effort. On the highlands the preparation of the land is comparatively easy, owing to scanty natural vegetation and a control vested in irrigation. On the lowlands, however, great trees have to be felled and fast-growing bushes kept down by untiring energy. But when nature is truly tamed she returns recompense many fold to the daring farmer. Moreover, there is reason to believe that the removal of the forest cover over large areas affects favorably the conditions of life which under a canopy of leaves are hard indeed.
[Plate XIV. Photographs by Peabody Museum Expedition.]
(a) View of the Plaza at Copan from the Northwestern Corner. This view shows the monuments in position and the steps which may have served as seats.
(b) View Across the Artificial Acropolis at Copan. A sunken court is shown and the bases of two temple structures of the Sixth Century.
The principal crops of the Mayas were probably much the same as on the highlands, with maize as the great staple. Varieties favorable to a humid environment had doubtless been developed from the highland stock by selective breeding as agriculture worked its way down into the lowlands. Archaic art appears along the edges of the Mayan Area in the state of Vera Cruz, Mexico, and in the Uloa Valley, Honduras. In both these regions are also found clay figurines that mark the transition in style between the archaic and the Mayan, as well as finished examples of the latter. There can be no doubt, then, that the archaic art of Mexico marks an earlier horizon than the Mayan. Whether or not it was once laid entirely across the Mayan Area cannot be decided on present data but it seems unlikely. We have already seen that this first art was distributed primarily across arid and open territory.
With their calendarial system already in working order the Mayas appear on the threshold of history 600 years before the Christian Era, according to a correlation with European chronology that will be explained later. The first great cities were Tikal in northern Guatemala and Copan in western Honduras, both of which had a long and glorious existence. Many others sprang into prominence at a somewhat later date; for example, Palenque, Yaxchilan or Menché, Piedras Negras, Seibal, Naranjo, and Quirigua. The most brilliant period was from 300 to 600 A. D., after which all these cities appear to have been abandoned to the forest that soon closed over them. The population moved to northern Yucatan, where it no longer reacted strongly upon the other nations of Central America and where it enjoyed a second period of brilliancy several hundred years later.
[Plate XV.]
(a) Model of the Temple of the Cross, Palenque, designed to show the Construction. The building has three entrances separated by piers. The middle partition is thickened to support the weight of the roof comb which is a trellis for stucco decoration. The sanctuary is a miniature temple in the inner chamber. The walls are built of slabs of limestone set in lime cement.
(b) Detail of Frieze on the Temple of the Cross. The upper band is the sky with stars and planets. A reptilian monster occupies the main panel with human figures as supplementary decorations upon his legs. The Temple of the Cross represents the highest achievement of the First Empire architects, Fifth Century after Christ.
Fig. 20. Groundplans of Yaxchilan Temples:
(a) Structure 42.
(b) Structure 23.
Architecture.
The idea of a civic center is admirably illustrated in Mayan cities, particularly those of the first brilliant period. The principal structures are built around courts or plazas and there is usually an artificial acropolis which is a great terraced mound serving as a common base or platform from which the individual pyramidal bases of several temples rise. At some sites this acropolis is a natural hill which has been trimmed down or added to, but at other sites it is entirely artificial. At Copan there is an especially fine example of artificial platform mound rising from one end of the Great Plaza and affording space for several temples, as well as for sunken courts with stepped sides that may have been theatres. The river washing against one side of this great mound has removed perhaps a third of it and made a vertical section that shows the method of construction. It is apparent that the mound was enlarged and old walls and floors buried.
Fig. 21. Cross-section of Typical Mayan Temple in Northern Yucatan: a, upper cornice; b, medial cornice; c, upper zone; d, lower zone; e, wooden lintels; f, exterior doorway; g, interior doorway; h, offset at spring of vault; i, cap stone.
Mayan buildings are of two principal kinds. One is a temple pure and simple and the other has been called a palace. The temple is a rectangular structure crowning a rather high pyramid that rises in several steps or terraces. As a rule the temple has a single front with one or more doorways and is approached by a broad stairway. The pyramid is ordinarily a solid mass of rubble and earth faced with cement or cut stone and rarely contains compartments. Some temples have but a single chamber while others have two or more chambers, the central or innermost one being specially developed into a sanctuary. The so-called palaces are clusters of rooms on low and often irregular platforms. These palaces may have been habitations of the priests and nobility. The common people doubtless lived in palm-thatched huts similar to those used today in the same region.
The typical Mayan construction is a faced concrete. The limestone, which abounds in nearly all parts of the Mayan Area, was burned into lime. This was then slaked to make mortar and applied to a mass of broken limestone. The facing stones were smoothed on the outside and left rough hewn and pointed on the inside. It is likely that these facing stones were held in place between forms and the lime, mortar, and rubble filled in between. The resulting wall was essentially monolithic. The rooms of Mayan buildings are characteristically vaulted but the roof is not a true arch with a keystone. The vault, like the walls, is a solid mass of concrete that grips the cut stone veneer and that must have been held in place by a false work form while it was hardening. The so-called corbelled arch of overstepping stones was doubtless known to the Mayan builders but was little used. Taking the single rectangular room as the unit of construction the width was limited to the span of the vault, which seldom exceeded twelve feet, while the length was indeterminate.
[Plate XVI.]
A Temple at Hochob showing Elaborate Façade Decorations in Stucco. Probably ninth century. The design over the door represents a grotesque front view face of which the eyes can still be plainly made out. At either side of the door the design represents a serpent head in profile. Photograph by Maler.
The first variation from the temple with one rectangular room was the two-roomed structure with one chamber directly behind the other. In this case there were two vaulted compartments separated from each other by a common supporting wall pierced by one or more doorways. The inner room was naturally more dimly lighted than the other one and as a result was modified into a sanctuary, or holy of holies, enhanced by sculptures and paintings, while the outer room developed gradually into a portico. The outer wall was cut by doorways till only pier-like sections remained, and finally these piers were replaced by square or round columns. The development of the Mayan temple may be traced through a thousand years of change and adjustment.
Much attention was paid by Mayan builders to the question of stability which was accomplished directly by keeping the center of gravity of the principal masses within the supporting walls rather than by the use of binding stones. The cross-section of a two-roomed temple of late date will illustrate how this was done. There are three principal masses, one over the front wall, one over the medial partition, and one over the back wall. The roof where these sections join is of no great thickness. The central mass is symmetrical and, if the mortar has the proper cohesiveness, very stable. For the front and back masses the projection of the upper or frieze zone tends to counterbalance the overhang of half the vault. In the earlier temples the upper zone of the façade often slopes backward so that the balance is not so perfect.
[Plate XVII.]
A Sealed Portal Vault in the House of the Governor at Uxmal, a Building of the Second Empire, probably Thirteenth Century. The veneer character of the cut stone comes out clearly. Peabody Museum photograph.
So far we have given brief space to the question of elevations. Taken vertically there are three parts to the Mayan building: first, the substructure or pyramidal base; second, the structure proper; third, the superstructure. In the case of temples the structure proper is one story in height. Two and three stories are rather common in palaces, but the upper stories are in most cases built directly over a solid core and not over the rooms of the lower story. The upper stories, therefore, recede, so that the building presents a terraced or pyramidal profile. One building at Tikal is five stories in height, in three receding planes, the three uppermost stories being one above the other. In a tower at Palenque we have an example of four stories but this is unusual.
On top of the building proper, especially if it is a temple, we frequently find a superstructure. This is a sort of crest, or roof wall, usually pierced by windows. When this wall rises from the center line of the roof it is called a roof comb or roof crest, and when it rises from the front wall it is called a flying façade. The highest temples in the Mayan Area are those of Tikal that attain a total height of about 175 feet, counting pyramid and superstructure.
Massive Sculptural Art.
The decoration of Mayan buildings may be considered under three heads: first, interior decoration; second, façade decoration; third, supplementary monuments. In many temples at Yaxchilan, Tikal, etc., are found splendidly sculptured lintels of stone or wood. At Copan we see wall sculptures that adorn the entrance to the sanctuary and at Palenque finely sculptured tablets let into the rear wall of the sanctuary. Elsewhere are occasional examples of mural paintings, sculptured door jambs, decorated interior steps, etc.
The façade decorations of the earlier Mayan structures are freer and more realistic than those of the later buildings. In many cases they consist of figures of men, serpents, etc., modeled in stucco or built up out of several nicely fitted blocks of stone. Grotesque faces also occur. In the later styles, decoration consists largely of “mask panels,” which are grotesque front view faces arranged to fill rectangular panels, but there is an increasing amount of purely geometric ornament. The masked panels represent in most instances a highly elaborated serpent’s face which sometimes carries the special markings of one of the greater gods. These panels, considered historically, pass through some interesting developments. Angular representations of serpent heads in profile are sometimes used at the sides of doorways.
Fig. 22. Mask Panel over Doorway at Xkichmook. Yucatan.
The supplementary monuments are stelæ and altars. These are monolithic sculptures that are often set up in definite relation to a building either on the terraces or at the foot of the stairway. The stelæ are great plinths or slabs of stone carved on one or more sides with the figures of priests and warriors loaded down with religious symbols. The altars are small stones usually placed in front of the stelæ. Many stelæ and altars are set up in plazas and have no definite architectural quality.
[Plate XVIII.]
(a) Realistic Designs on Vases from Chamá, Guatemala, representing the Best Mayan Period in Pottery.
(b) The Quetzal as represented on a Painted Cylindrical Vase from Copan. Bands of hieroglyphs are commonly found on Mayan Pottery.
Fig. 23. Design on Engraved Pot representing a Tiger seated in a Wreath of Water Lilies. Northern Yucatan.
Fig. 24. Painted Design on Cylindrical Bowl showing Serpent issuing from a Shell. Salvador.
Minor Arts.
While the richly ornamented temples and the great monoliths attract first attention as works of art, the humbler products of the potter, the weaver, and the lapidary also attained to grace and dignity.
The Mayas were expert potters and employed a variety of technical processes in the decoration of their wares, such as painting, modeling, engraving, and stamping. We can only take time to examine a few examples of the best works, leaving the commoner products practically undescribed. Suffice it to say, that tripod dishes were much used, as well as bowls, bottle-necked vessels, and cylindrical vases, and that the common decorative use of hieroglyphs serves to mark off Mayan pottery from that of other Central American peoples. The realistic designs are drawn in accordance with the highest principles of decorative art. Serpents, monkeys, jaguars, various birds, as well as priests and supernatural beings, are used as subjects for pottery embellishment. Geometric decoration is also much used.
The polychrome pottery is rare and exceptionally beautiful, with designs relating to religious subjects. The background color of these cylindrical vases is usually orange or yellow, the designs are outlined in black, and the details filled in with delicate washes of red, brown, white, etc. The surface bears a high polish made by rubbing. [Plate XVIII] reproduces the design units on two vases from Chamá, Guatemala. The first example pictures a seated man with a widespreading headdress made of two conventional serpent heads from the ends of which issue the plumes of the quetzal. The hieroglyphs are Mayan day signs—Ben and Imix on the left and Kan and Caban on the right. The second example presents a god before an altar. This god has the face of an old man and his body is attached to a spiral shell. This divinity was probably associated with the end of the year.
Fig. 25. Mayan Basket represented in Stone Sculpture.
In the next illustration an engraved design on a bowl from northern Yucatan is given. A jaguar attired in the dress of man is seated in a wreath of water lilies. After the vessel had been formed, but before it had been fired, this design was made by cutting away the background and incising finer details on the original surfaces. Other designs in relief were obtained by direct modeling or by stamping. The stamps were moulds or negatives made from bas-relief patterns.
The textile arts of the ancient Mayas can be recovered in part from a study of the monuments since the designs on many garments are reproduced in delicate relief. The designs are mostly all-over geometric patterns, but borders reproducing the typical “celestial band,” a line of astronomical symbols, are also seen. The techniques of brocade and lace were understood by the ancient weavers. In the minor textile art of basketry the products must also have ranked high; a typical basket pictured on a lintel is given in [Fig. 25].
Jade and other semi-precious stones were carved by the Mayas into beautiful and fantastic shapes. There was a considerable use of mosaic veneer on masks and other ceremonial objects. Metal was unknown during the first centuries of Mayan florescence, later it was rare and could not be used for tools, but the working of gold and copper in the manufacture of ornaments was on a high plane.
Having now passed in brief review the objective side of Mayan remains, let us turn our attention to the subjective.