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ARCHAEOLOGY OF CENTRAL
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See also:ARCHAEOLOGY OF CENTRAL See also:AMERICA Discoveries and investigations carried on during the 19th See also:century have thrown much See also:light on the splendid past of Central America. The still extant ruins of See also:great buildings, unlike any-thing which is known in the old See also:world, testify to the high culture attained in pre-Columbian days by several native peoples differing greatly from one another in speech and racial See also:affinities. As a See also:science the archaeology of Central America has scarcely yet emerged from its See also:infancy. Entire branches are still wholly uninvestigated. Amongst the numerous problems which await See also:solution must still be reckoned the decipherment of the See also:inscriptions, which hitherto has not progressed beyond the See also:discovery of See also:calendar systems and the relative datings involved in such systems. For a See also:complete survey of this See also:ancient See also:civilization, so far as it has been investigated, it is necessary to include with Central America, properly so called, a considerable portion of the Mexican territories See also:south and See also:east of the See also:isthmus of See also:Tehuantepec. The peoples inhabiting See also:Yucatan, See also:Campeche, See also:Guatemala, See also:Chiapas and See also:Oaxaca See also:present at the first view striking ethnical See also:differences. On a linguistic basis, however, they may be See also:united into several large See also:groups. Thus, Yucatan and the greater See also:part of Guatamala are inhabited by the Mayas, with whom may be included the still See also:savage Lacantun or Lacandones. Related to these linguistically are the Tzendals in Chiapas and the Quiches and Cackchiquels in Guatemala, as well as the less important tribes of the Mam, Pokoman, Pokonchi, Tzotzil, Tzutuhil and Ixil. Between these there are patches of See also:country in which dialects of the Mexican are spoken. In Oaxaca there is an extraordinary mixture of See also:languages, some of which, like that of the Huave of Tehuantepec, are of quite unknown affinities; the bulk of the See also:population, however, is composed of Mixtecs and Zapotecs with which the Mixe and Zoque on the east are connected. Mexican dialects also occur in isolated parts of Oaxaca.
Mayan Culture.—The civilization of the Mayas may well have been reared upon one more ancient, but the See also:life of that culture of which the ruins are now visible certainly lasted no more than 500 years. The date of its extinction is unknown, but in certain places, notably Mayapan and Chichenitza, the highest development seems to be synchronous with the See also:appearance of See also:foreign, viz. Mexican or Nahua elements (see below). This quite distinctive See also:local See also:character suggests that the cities in question played a certain preponderating role, a See also:hypothesis with which the scanty documentary See also:evidence is in agreement. On the other See also:hand the Mayan culture evinces an evident tendency to assimilate heterogeneous elements, obliterating racial distinctions and imposing its own dominant character over a wide See also:area. Oaxaca, the country of the Mixtecs and Zapotecs, became, as was natural from its See also:geographical position midway between Yucatan and See also:Mexico, the See also:meeting-ground where two archaeological traditions which are sharply contrasted in their See also:original homes united.
Central See also:American See also:architecture is characterized by a See also:fine feeling for construction, and the See also:execution is at once bold and aesthetically effective. Amongst the various ruins, some of which represent the remains of entire cities, while others are no more than groups of buildings or single buildings, certain types persistently recur. The commonest of such types are pyramids and galleries. The pyramids are occasionally built of See also:brick, but most usually of hewn See also: Some pyramids are built in steps. Usually the See also:platform on the top of a See also:pyramid is occupied by buildings, the typical See also:distribution of which is into two parts, viz. See also:vestibule and See also:sanctuary. In connexion with the pyramid there are various subsidiary structures, such as altars, pillars, and sacrificial stones, to meet the requirements of See also:ritual and See also:worship, besides habitations for officials and " See also:tennis-courts " for the famous See also:ball-See also:game like that played by the Mexicans. The tennis-courts always run See also:north and south, and all the buildings, almost without exception, have a definite See also:orientation to particular points of the See also:compass. Frequently the pyramids Architecture. constitute one of the four sides of a quadrangular enclosure, within which are contained other pyramids, altars or other buildings of various dimensions. The normal type of See also:gallery is an oblong See also:building, of which the front facing inwards to the enclosure is pierced by doors. These See also:divide it into a See also:series of rooms, behind which again there may be a second series. Occasionally the rooms are distributed See also:round a central apartment, but this is ordinarily done only when a second See also:storey has to be placed above them. The gallery-buildings may rise to as much as three storeys, the height, See also:size and shape of the rooms being determined by the exigencies of vaulting. The principle of the true See also:arch is unknown, so that the vaults are often of the corbelled See also:kind, the slabs of the See also:side-walls being made to overlap in See also:succession until there remains only so narrow a space as may be spanned by a single See also:flat stone. At Mitla, where the material used in the construction of the buildings was timbbr instead of stone, the larger rooms were furnished with stone pillars on which the beams could See also:rest. The same principle recurs in certain ruins at Chichenitza. The tops and sides of the doors are often decorated with carved reliefs and hieroglyphs, and the entrances are sometimes supported by See also:plain or carved columns and pilasters, of which See also:style the See also:serpent columns of Chichenitza afford the most striking example. On its See also:external front one of these galleries may have a See also:cornice and See also:half-pillars. Above this is a plain See also:surface of See also:wall, then a See also:rich See also:frieze which generally exhibits the most elaborate ornamentation in the whole building. The subjects are geometrical designs in See also:mosaic, serpents' heads and human masks. The corners of the wall terminate in three-See also:quarter pillars, above which the angles of the frieze frequently show See also:grotesque heads with noses exaggerated into trunks. The roof Qf the gallery is flat and occasionally gabled. See also:Principal Sites.—Such are the See also:general characteristics of Central American buildings, but it must be understood that almost every site exhibits peculiarities of its own, and the number of the ruined settlements even as at present known is very large. The most considerable are enumerated below. Yucatan.—Of the very numerous ruins which are distributed over Yucatan and the islands of the east See also:coast the See also:majority still await exploration. A few words of See also:special See also:notice may be devoted to one or two sites in the centre of the See also:peninsula which have already become famous. At Uxmal the buildings consist of five considerable groups, viz.—the Casa del Adivino, which is a step-pyramid 240 ft. See also:long by 16o ft. wide and 8o ft. high, crowned by a See also:temple 75 ft. long by 12 ft. wide; the Casa de Monjas, a striking erection of four oblong buildings on an extensive See also:terrace; the Casa de Tortugas, Casa del Gobernador, and Casa de Palomas, the last of which is a See also:group of six galleries surrounding a See also:court. At Izamal there is a very imposing group of ruins, as yet quite insufficiently explored. At Chichenitza, a See also:city of first-See also:rate importance, situated 22 M. See also:west of See also:Valladolid, the ruins consist of eight principal groups, the See also:chief of which are as follows. The Casa de Monjas, a three-storeyed building, attributable to several distinct periods; the Caracol, a round structure with See also:dome in See also:imitation of a See also:snail-See also:shell, showing evident traces of Mexican See also:influence; El See also:Castillo, a large temple See also:standing on a See also:base 200 ft. long and 75 ft. high, approached by staircases on all four sides, and furnished with serpent-pillars of a kind unknown anywhere else except at Uxmal and See also:Tula near Mexico; an unnamed temple-pyramid, which is remarkable for a group of caryatid figures; a tennis-court; and finally the See also:Tiger Temple, which contains marvellous coloured reliefs representing figures of warriors and See also:place-hieroglyphs, all executed in a distinctively Mexican style. Yet another evidence of Mexican influence at Chichenitza is to be noted in five figures of the so-called Chac-mol type, that is to say, See also:horizontal figures in which the arms are extended to the See also:navel which is indicated by a See also:cup-like depression. This Chac-mol type is characteristic of such sites as Tlascala and Cempoallan. Other important sites in Yucatan are Chacmaltun, with fine wall-paintings; Tantah, with remarkable pillared facades; the ruins of Labna, Chunhuhub, and the caves of Loltun; and Xlabpak de See also:Santa See also:Rosa, where there is a three-storeyed temple See also:palace. Two sculptured reliefs are of great See also:interest; they represent a See also:person holding a See also:staff on which is a figure of the See also:god Ah-bolon-tzacab. Guatemala.—The Guatemalan ruins are distributed over a wide area. The most numerous and extensive are on the Usumacinta See also:river. The most important sites in that See also:district are Piedras Negras, and Yaxchilan or Menche Tinamit, where there are temples covered with sculptured reliefs and hieroglyphic inscriptions, and stelae and slabs carved with human figures placed in niches. In the Peten district, Tikal is famous for its splendid sculptures representing Kukulkan and other divinities. Near the See also:modern city of Guatemala are the vast ruins of Guatemala-Mixco. Chacujal, which See also:Cortes visited on his expedition of 1524–1525 is very possibly to be identified' with the modern See also:Pueblo Viejo on the river Tinaja. Chacula and Quen-Santo between the headwaters of the Rio de Chiapas and the Rio Lacantun are two sites of a strongly marked local character. Series of three pyramids are See also:peculiar to these two settlements, as also are pyramids with human figures on their platforms. Stelae discovered at Quen Santo have a calendar character, which proves that Mayan science had penetrated into what was probably the See also:home of an old Lacantun culture. Santa See also:Lucia Cozumalhuapa, on the Pacific slope of the Cordilleras, is a very peculiar site. The ruins are those of a See also:settlement which had already been deserted before See also:Alvarado's expedition of 1522. The sculptures of gods, goddesses and other figures, executed on enormous blocks of stone, show a distinctively Mexican character, with which, however, various Mayan features are blended. They may perhaps be attributed to some offshoot of the Nahua stock, probably the Pipil See also:Indians, which See also:developed on lines of its own in this remote corner. Near the frontier of- See also:Honduras are the remarkable ruins of Quirigua, which See also:rival See also:Copan in importance and have suffered less from the ravages of the See also:climate. The ruins of temples and palaces contain gigantic stone stelae of very fine workmanship, on which are sculptured human and See also:animal figures representing hieroglyphs of the calendar See also:dates. Honduras.—Copan, one of the most important seats of Mayan civilization, lies See also:close to the See also:borders of Guatemala. The ruins comprise great buildings, temples, pyramids, &c. and contain sculptures of the highest interest. Especially noteworthy are altars in the See also:form of a turtle and stelae covered with hieroglyphs. The hieroglyphs are of the kind usually found in such ruins, the meaning of which is so far clear that it is known that the commencement of an inscription records certain dates in the complicated calendar See also:system of the Mayas. A See also:collation of these dates demonstrates that the most ancient on See also:record are separated from the most See also:recent by an See also:interval of only a few centuries. From this it may be concluded that the Mayan civilization, whether or not it was preceded by anything older, flourished for only a comparatively See also:short See also:period, the beginning of which cannot be placed many centuries before A.D. 1000. According to Squier (Honduras, See also:London, 1870, p. 75) the other principal ruins of Honduras are to be found in plains of the See also:department of See also:Comayagua, near Yarumela, near Lajamini, and in the ruined See also:town of Cururu. They are " large, pyramidal, terraced structures, often faced with stones, conical mounds of See also:earth and walls of stone." Further ruins, such as those of Calamulla, Jamalteca, Maniana, Guasistagua, Chapuluca and Chapulistagua, are found in the department of Comayagua in the side valleys and adjoining tablelands. The most interesting and most extensive are the ruins of Tenampua (Pueblo Viejo), about 20 M. south-east of Comayagua. Here ramparts, See also:defence See also:works, terraced stone mounds and numerous large pyramids are to be found. Squier found further ruins in the west of Honduras, which have also been described in part by See also:Stephens, and were probably first mentioned in 1576 by Diego See also:Garcia de Palacio (Carta dirigida al Pei de Espana, published by Squier, New See also:York, 1860). At Rio Ulloa are remains which testify to the existence of a large population in past days. Possibly they may be identified with a site of the name of Naco mentioned by See also:Las Casas and by Bernal See also:Diaz (Histoire veridique de la conqueete de la Nouvelle Espagne, translated by D. Fourdanet, 2nd ed., See also:Paris, 1877, ch. 178, p. 69o). Chiapas (Mexico).—The principal site is See also:Palenque, the ruins of which were amongst the earliest of all to attract See also:attention. The style of architecture, with the gigantic vaults and singular See also:comb-shaped gables, distinguishes Palenque from Copan and Quirigua, which it surpasses also in the unequalled magnificence of its sculptures. Five out of the remarkably See also:uniform series of buildings may be specially mentioned. They are the Great Palace, a complex structure of galleries and courts commanded by a three-storeyed See also:tower, the Temples of the See also:Cross, which are galleries constructed on terraces and containing the well-known reliefs, the Temple of Inscriptions, the See also:Sun. Temple and the Temple of the See also:Relief. The sculptured figures of Palenque are See also:familiar from many reproductions. The most characteristic groups represent a deity standing between worshippers who hold a staff surmounted by the See also:water-god Ah-bolon-tzacab, the " god of the nine medicines." The inscriptions on the famous Cross and in the Sun Temple contain calendar-da tings which are remarkable as showing a particular See also:combination of See also:numbers and hieroglyphs, which does not occur elsewhere. A whole series of sites is included within the geographical limits of Chiapas, which from the archaeologist's standpoint must be considered as belonging properly to Guatemala. The country has been quite insufficiently explored.
Oaxaca (Mexico).—The bulk of the population of the See also:province of Oaxaca is composed of a distinct racial group, best represented by the Zapotecs, who have been for an unknown length of See also:time the intermediaries between the Nahua civilization of Mexico on the west and the Mayan on the east. The influence of the two See also:separate currents may be detected in the See also:bastard calendar system no less than in the still undeciphered inscriptions. The principal ruins are those of Mitla, the See also:burial city of the priests and See also:kings of the ancient Zapotecs, which See also:bear a quite distinct character, though presenting certain analogies with the Mexican. One of the chief structures is a step-pyramid, rising in three steps to a height of 130 ft., another is a pyramid of brick. Besides these there are courts, surrounded by palaces which represented necropolises, the dwellings of the priests, of the chief See also:priest, and of the See also: The ruins in the See also:colony New See also:Boston, mentioned by See also:Froebel (Central America, p. 167), are of this kind. F. de P. Castells (see American Antiquarian, See also:Chicago, 1904, vol. See also:xxvi. pp. 32-37) describes the ruins, in the north of the colony, of " Ixim chech," supposed to be the See also:Indian form of the See also:English name " Indian See also: Cozcatlan), that is, " See also:Land of See also:precious stones, of treasures, of abundance." A further descrip,tion of the land is given by Palacio (l.c.) in 1576. Although there are numerous See also:relics of Mayan civilization buried in the earth; few ruins are to be seen on the surface. Karl Sapper has described three large ruins: Cuzcatlan near the See also:capital, Tehuacan near S. See also:Vicente, and Zacualpa on the Lake of Guija in the extreme north-west of the country. The ruins show a distinct See also:affinity in style to those of the Mayan buildings in Guatemala, but they are less fine and artistically perfect. Probably the central and western districts of See also:San Salvador were originally peopled by the same See also:race of Mayas, and these tracts of country were later settled by the Mexican-speaking Pipiles.
A characteristic feature of the extensive ruins of Zacualpa is that the pyramids and ramparts have perpendicular steps which are higher than they are broad, and this peculiarity may be attributed to the influence of the See also:Maya tribes, who are related to the Mams of Guatemala.
Decipherment of the Mayan Hieroglyphs.—The See also: Next, it was found that the See also:order in which these See also:numeral-signs are placed is See also:regular, and that there are never more than five in a group. It was established that the first sign in such a group is that for the numeral 1 (See also:Kin), the next that for 20 '( Uinal), the third for 18 X 20 (See also:Tun), the See also:fourth for
X 20 X 20 (Katun), and the fifth for 18 X 20 X 20 X 20, that is to say, a See also:cycle.
Had the available material for study been confined to the manuscripts, little more progress would have been made beyond establishing subsidiary details in the actual calendar. But when a similar analysis was applied to the numerous monuments discovered and figured by Maudslay and others, some important results of a general bearing were obtained. It was found that many of the hieroglyphs of various forms upon the stones were also of numeral value, and, what was of great importance, that they all referred back to a single starting-point. This starting-point or zero is no doubt the mythological date at which, according to Mayan cosmology, the world was created. It is placed at nine or ten cycles before the time when Copan and Quirigua were erected and the picture manuscripts made. And it is by reference to it in the inscriptions that such students as Seler, See also:Goodman and others have been enabled, as already stated, to obtain a record of the relative See also:chronology of the most famous monuments, to confine the period of their erection within the space of a few centuries, and approximately to See also:fix even their See also:absolute antiquity. Though much yet remains to be done, these are substantial results which have already been won from the study of the hieroglyphs.
London, 1889, &c.), a See also:pioneer work containing the admirably presented results of scientific exploration. Maier, in See also:Memoirs of the See also:Peabody Museum, vol. ii. 1, 2 (See also:Cambridge, U.S.A., 1901 and .1903); See also:Holmes, Archaeological Studies among the Ancient Mexicans (See also: Seler, See also:Die See also:alien Ansiedelungen von Chacula (See also:Berlin, 1901), Wandmalereien von Mitla (Berlin, 1895), Ges. Abhandlungen, vol. i. (Berlin, 1902) and vol. ii. (1904), Fiihrer von Mitla (Berlin, 1906). E. Forstemann has contributed many valuable essays to Globus and the Zeitschrift See also:fur Ethnologie (Berlin) ; especially important are his commentaries to the Dresden Codex (Dresden, 1901), to the Codex Tro-Cortesianus Madrilensis (See also:Danzig, 1902), and to the Codex Peresianus (Danzig, 1903). See also " The Archaic Maya Inscriptions," by F. T. Goodman (in Biologia Centrali-Americana, See also:section Archaeology, viii., 1897), and Report of an Archaeological Tour in Mexico in 1881, by A. F. See also:Bandelier (Boston, 1884). Valuable See also:bibliographies have been made by Bandelier (Notes on the Bibliography of Yucatan and Central America, See also:Worcester, U. S. A., 1881) and by K. Habler (" Die Maya Literatur and der Maya Apparat zu Dresden," in the Zentralblatt fur Bibliothekwesen, xii., 1895). The Mayan picture See also:MSS. have been published in facsimile as follows: the Dresden Codex by Forstemann (See also:Leipzig, 1880, and Dresden, 1892), and the Codex Tro by Brasseur de Bourbourg—Manuscrit Troano, etude sur le systeme graphique et la langue See also:des Mayas (Paris, 1869–1870), the Codex Cortesianus by See also:Leon de See also:Rosny (Paris, 1883) and by F. de Dios de la Rada y Delgado and F. L. de See also:Ayala y del See also:Hierro (See also:Madrid, 1893), the Codex Peresianus by See also:Duruy and Brasseur de Bourbourg (Paris, 1864) and by L. de Rosny (Paris, 1887). The following relate especially to the ruins in Salvador:—La Universidad, by D. Gonzalez, vol. iii. See also:ser. 3, No. 6, p. 283 (San Salvador, 1892–1893) ; Le Salvador pre-Colombien, etudes archeologiques, by F. de Montcasus de Ballore (Paris, 1891), 25 plates; Karl Sapper in Arch. fur Ethnologic, 9, p. 3 if. (1896). (W. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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