Uxmal. — Extent of ground occupied by the Ruins. — Teocallis. —
Burial places at the foot of the Pyramid of the Dwarf. —
Evening Service at the chapel of the hacienda. — Casa del
Gobemador. — Sacrificial customs. — Preservation of the wooden
lintels. — The Nunnery or Casa de las Monjas. — Religious
customs of the Indians. — Emblem of the Serpent. — Sculptures. —
Conjectures respecting the possibility of Moorish, Spanish,
or Oriental influence upon architectural design. — Methods of
construction. — Note upon a fall of rain supposed to be caused
by the fires of the Indians.
It is considered that the ruins of Uxmal are, in extent and
construction, the most important in Yucatan, and therefore, excepting
in certain particulars, those at Palenque, the most remarkable in
Central America and Mexico.
The ground occupied by them is in length about six hundred yards.
The width is slightly more than five hundred yards. Consequently the
area within which Uxmal is contained, may be approximately estimated
as being sixty acres. It therefore exceeds by twenty acres the space
covered by the mounds of Palenque. The buildings are irregularly
placed. The Casa del Gobernador (House of the Governor) with its
adjacent pyramids form the principal group towards the south. The
Casa de las Monjas (House of the Nuns) is situated towards the north.
These are the two great structures upon which the other temples and
mounds seem chiefly to depend. There are two smaller edifices called
respectively, the Casa de las Palomas (House of the Pigeons) and the
Casa de las Tortugas (House of the Turtles). There is also a detached
pyramid with a ruined temple upon its summit, which has been given the
name of the House of the Old Woman. Looking at these ruins as a group,
they appear to have consisted of quadrangular residences with pyramidal
mounds attached to them, raised for the purpose of obtaining lofty
sites for the altars of the Indian gods.
One of the most important of these is that known as the Pyramid of
the Dwarf. I examined it with particular attention for the purpose
of studying the character of a series of small stone vaults or cells
placed round its base, which were similar in size and design to those
that I had seen on the lower slopes of the Kue near the coast above
Campeachy. Many of these cells were sufficiently perfect to enable
their dimensions and shape to be verified. It seemed evident that they
must have been made for sepulchral purposes. If this conclusion is
correct it is probable that they were the burial places for the ashes
of the caciques who ruled over this part of Yucatan.
Upon an investigation of the outer parts of the pyramid, it is to be
observed that it was not only carefully constructed, but its plan must
have been accurately drawn and the relative mathematical measurements
calculated with reference to the space that was required for the
temple. The magnitude of the base could not be determined, on account
of the quantities of fallen stones and other débris. In 1841, Mr.
Stephens considered that it was two hundred and thirty-five feet long
by one hundred and fifty-five feet wide. The perpendicular height to
the platform was estimated to be eighty-eight feet.
[Illustration: PYRAMID AND TEMPLE OF THE DWARF.]
The steps leading up to the summit are broad, and must have formed an
imposing approach, but in consequence of the angle of the slope they
are necessarily steep, and are placed so close together that there
is barely sufficient width for the foot to rest. At the base of the
pyramid there is an open court, which I observed to be similar in shape
to one adjoining the base of an altar built by the Quichés at Utatlan,
but it was larger in extent. The court leads to the entrance of the
Casa de las Monjas.
This building may be considered to be the result of the greatest powers
of sculpture and ornamentation that the Indians possessed, and judging
from the condition of many of its chambers, it is probably one of the
latest of their works. It is nearly quadrangular, and encloses an area
of over six thousand square yards.
My first day at Uxmal was employed in making a rough survey of the land
occupied by the ruins.
Upon my return to the hacienda, I found that an evening service, called
“el Rosario,” was being held in the chapel. A large number of Indians
were assembled. These Yucatecos had attached to the fingers of the
church images, many of their own small idols, made of metal. It was
consequently impossible to know (as the priests in the Cordilleras
said of their Indian parishioners), whether they were worshipping the
saints, or following in secret their ancient idolatries.
The next morning I established myself in the “House of the Governor,”
and selected for our occupation the largest of the outer series of
apartments, opening upon the eastern courts. The size of these was
necessarily regulated by the angle of the converging slopes of the
walls, for the builders were limited in their plans in consequence
of their incomplete acquaintance with the formation of arches. In
one of the rooms there were some cross poles made of zapote wood, to
which Anastasio fastened my hammock. The architectural proportions
of the exterior are unusual. The length is about three hundred and
twenty-two feet, but the breadth is only thirty-nine feet, and the
low, narrow structure, is only twenty-five feet high. The effect,
however, of the long and elaborately carved façade, is particularly
pleasing both to the eye and the mind. In all respects, the Casa del
Gobernador is rightly given the distinction of being the grandest of
the stone structures that were built by Indians. The platform upon
which this great edifice stands, is forty feet above the level of the
ground. Sixteen feet below this is a large open court, which is about
one hundred and eighty yards long, and over eighty-two yards wide,
containing a level surface of nearly fifteen thousand square yards—or
more than three acres. There is a third outer terrace, raised a few
feet above the plain.
The Casa de las Monjas is also placed upon three terraces, but they are
of smaller dimensions, and the height of the base of the building
above the natural ground, is not more than seventeen feet. The terraces
were surrounded by strongly built walls. Wide stone steps gave access
to each platform. When looking at these flat spaces, pyramids and
temples, it is practicable to form reasonable conjectures regarding the
nature of the religious ceremonies that may have taken place within, or
before them.
[Illustration: CASA DEL GOBERNADOR.]
[Illustration: AN ANGLE OF THE CASA DE LAS MONJAS.]
Bishop Landa, in his work on Yucatan, which he wrote in that country
soon after the conquest, gives an account of the feasts and sacrifices
performed in the temples. His description was based upon information
which he received from the descendants of caciques, who had governed a
powerful tribe dwelling east of Uxmal. After mentioning the nature of
the offerings made to the idols during certain festivals, he observes
that, besides sacrificing animals, the priests would sometimes on
occasions of tribulation or public necessity, command that human
victims should be sacrificed. There is this statement given of what
then happened.
“Every one took their part in offering contributions, in order that
slaves should be bought, and some of the more devotional would offer
their little children. Great care was taken of them that they should
not run away or commit any fault, and whilst they were conducted from
village to village with dancing, the priests fasted. Upon the arrival
of the day, they all came into the patio (court) of the temple, and if
the victim had to be sacrificed by wounds from arrows he was stripped
naked, his body was anointed with blue, and a cap like a mitre was
placed on his head.” He was then, after certain dances made by the
people in honour of the god, killed by flights of arrows.
It will be remembered that a similar custom was followed by the
Pawnees in North America who, upon certain occasions, chiefly in
connection with offering a propitiation to the Manito who had power
over the harvest, also killed the victim by a flight of arrows.[89] The
coincidence of this practice is very strange.
Landa, after relating the manner in which these Indians in Yucatan
conducted the ceremony of inflicting death by arrows, proceeds to
state what was done if the priests, for some special reasons, directed
that the victim should be offered to the gods in accordance with their
more appalling rites. “If it had been decided to take out the heart,
he was taken to the patio with much pomp, and was accompanied by many
people, and after being daubed over with blue, and his mitre placed on
his head, he was carried to the round step which was the place where
these sacrifices were made, and after the priest (sacerdote) and his
officials had anointed this stone with blue colour, and had cast out
the devil by purifying the temple; the unfortunate man that was to be
sacrificed was then seized, thrown suddenly backwards upon the stone,
and held there by the legs and arms kept apart from the middle. Then
came the sacrificer with a stone razor, and struck with much dexterity
and cruelty, a gash between the ribs of the left side below the
teat; he then thrust in his hand and took hold of the heart like a
furious tiger and snatched it out still palpitating, and put it upon a
dish which he gave to the priest, who took it quickly and anointed the
faces of the idols with the fresh blood.”[90]
[Illustration: CASA DE LAS MONJAS, UXMAL.]
[Illustration: AN ANGLE OF THE CASA DE LAS MONJAS.]
This statement of the sacrificial customs in Yucatan is in accordance
with the Report made by Palacio[91] concerning the sacrifices of the
captives taken in war by the Pipiles, a tribe who were believed to be
of Mexican origin and were then dwelling near the Pacific coast of
Guatemala. It may also be surmised that the ceremonies performed by the
priests of the Quichés upon the altars at Utatlan were of a similar
nature. It thus seems evident that the barbarous practices that are
supposed to have been introduced by the Aztecs into Mexico, during some
period subsequent to the twelfth century, were becoming prevalent in
Central America.
It is possible that the custom of offering human sacrifices, together
with subsequent acts of cannibalism, may have become grafted upon
the religious observances of an earlier and less cruel race. It is,
however, to be noticed that the plan of the pyramid of the Dwarf with
its altar, and the open court at the foot of the steps leading down
from the temple, conform with the particular purposes of the ceremonies
connected with the sacrifices to the idols. Bernal Diaz, when
describing the manner in which the Spanish captives were sacrificed and
eaten during the siege of Mexico, mentions facts which agree with the
statements made by the caciques in Yucatan, concerning the events that
occasionally happened in their sacred places.
“Sometimes,” observes Landa, “the sacrifice took place on the stone
upon the highest step of the temple, and then the body was thrown down
the steps and rolled below. The officials then seized it and flayed off
the skin excepting the feet and hands, and the priest, having taken off
his garments until he was naked, covered himself with it, and danced
with the others. This was considered to be a matter of much solemnity.
It was the custom to bury those who were sacrificed in the court of the
temple, or, if not, they were eaten by the chiefs and those who were
able to obtain portions; the hands, feet and head were for the priest
and officials. Those who were thus sacrificed were held as saints
(tenian por santos). If they were slaves captured in war their owner
took the bones and kept them to show them in the dances as emblems of
victory.”
The aboriginal inhabitants of Yucatan were, like those dwelling in the
neighbouring land of Guatemala, devoted to the worship of idols, and
travelled great distances to take part in the ceremonies which were
performed at the shrines of their principal gods. The Island of Cozumel
was one of the sacred sites which was held in great veneration when
the fleet of Grijalva arrived there in 1518. It was observed by the
Spaniards that there and elsewhere, the pyramidal structures or altars
were maintained in good order, and had regular priests attached to
them for the purpose of executing the various duties connected with the
superstitious usages. It was afterwards ascertained that several of the
larger sacred temples in the interior had at that time been abandoned,
although many of them looked as if they had not been long built. With
respect to Uxmal, it was considered that the ruins were comparatively
modern and belonged to a period but little anterior to the Spanish
conquest.
The well preserved state of portions of the buildings is, at the
present time, nearly four centuries after the arrival of the
Spaniards, especially noticeable. I observed that the wooden lintel
over the door of my room in the Casa del Gobernador was in perfect
condition. The edges or corners were still sharp and unworn. It was
also evident that, although the great weight of the masonry above must
have exerted a heavy pressure upon the centre of the lintel, there
were no signs of the slightest deflection. The strength of the wood
seemed to be unimpaired. The preservation of many of the lintels over
the doorways of the rooms in the Casa de las Monjas was, in several
instances, equally sound. Many of the stone carvings on the exterior
were also apparently uninjured by their exposure to the weather. But,
before proceeding with this subject, it is expedient to take into
consideration some of the characteristics of this building.
It is not known why it was called the Casa de las Monjas (House of the
Nuns). Possibly the Spaniards may have been surprised by its similarity
in plan with their own nunneries, but it is also not improbable that
there may have been some tradition received from the Indians which
caused the adoption of this name. It has been stated by Clavigero, and
other historians, that there were certain especial customs attending
the worship of the god Quetzalcoatl. Women served for terms of years
within his temples. They were dedicated to the performance of religious
service from an early age, lodged in a convent and instructed in
religion. They were also educated and employed in a manner suitable
to their station and sex. It was said that certain vows were made and
various religious duties were performed.
[Illustration: Entrance to the Casa de las Monjas.]
The main entrance to the nunnery is through a gateway placed in the
centre of the southern part of the quadrangle. Upon each side of this
entrance there are four chambers, and it is to be noticed, as an
evidence of the conventual character of the building, that these are
the only rooms that have direct access to the outer world. All the
others are within and look into the court. They had a blank wall at the
back, which excluded all communication with the exterior. The principal
front looks towards the pyramids adjoining the Casa del Gobernador.
The architectural proportions of the archway are symmetrical. The
height and span, like all other parts of these Indian structures, are
practically determined by the angle of inclination of the converging
sides. In this case the arch is about seventeen feet high and nearly
eleven feet wide. After passing through it, a wide court is entered. It
is surrounded on four sides by long ranges of low stone buildings. The
base, or lower part of them, is built of plain square slabs of masonry.
The upper parts are covered with fanciful designs, sculptured with
great skill.
The whole of these buildings are exclusively arranged for the purpose
of providing the greatest possible number of chambers or monastic
cells. I did not count them, but it has been stated that there are
altogether eighty-eight. It is perhaps important to note, with
reference to this unusual number of rooms, that they are too numerous
to admit of the theory that they were intended for the accommodation
of the priests serving the adjacent temples, for according to the
statements of Clavigero, the number of priests always corresponded with
the number of the Teocallis. It is therefore presumable that these
cells had some other purpose. The priests may have been lodged in the
Casa del Gobernador. That building contains twenty-four chambers, the
majority of which are of the same size and plan as these in the Casa de
las Monjas. It is useless to attempt to conjecture the precise purposes
of these buildings, for there has been no exact information obtained
upon the subject, but everything points to the conclusion that the
whole of the structures at Uxmal were connected with the worship of the
gods, and had no relation to the ordinary lives of the Indians.
It is probable that places like Uxmal and Palenque with their temples
and monasteries, were set apart for religious purposes, and the
Indians assembled there from the adjacent country with the object of
being present at the ceremonies, in the same manner as they are now
accustomed to perform their pilgrimages when the patron saints of the
churches have their festivals. When taking into consideration the
question of the period when it may be conjectured that the temples at
Uxmal were abandoned, it is necessary to direct attention to the design
or emblem which is placed upon one of the walls of the interior of the
Casa de las Monjas.
Upon an examination of the accompanying illustration, it will be
observed that the figure represented is that of a huge serpent or
rattlesnake. A serpent was also the emblem or Totem of one of the
tribes of the Mound Builders in Ohio, and there appear to be singular
resemblances between the reptile carved in stone at Uxmal and that
which is rudely made of earth and stones, and placed on high ground
overlooking a valley in North America. Both reptiles have peculiarly
large mouths, opened wide, ready to devour and swallow their prey
or their enemies. It is perhaps not unreasonable to infer that the
tribe who migrated from the north, conquered the unwarlike natives
of Yucatan, raised the great pyramids, and built the temples in that
region, were subsequently conquered by a more powerful tribe of the
same race, also migrating from higher latitudes. The former tribe were
forced to desert their buildings, and avoided slavery or extermination
by escaping into the interior. The serpent stands out in bold relief.
The whole of the façades of the nunnery are elaborately sculptured, and
the mechanical abilities of the builders are well brought into notice.
[Illustration: SERPENT EMBLEM, CASA DE LAS MONJAS.]
As all investigations or theories respecting these architects and their
works, depend greatly upon the conclusions that may be drawn from the
evidence regarding the period when Uxmal was built, I directed my
attention to certain points bearing upon this subject. Conjectures
upon the origin and civilisation of the Indians must be influenced by
what can be ascertained with respect to the probable dates when these
religious buildings were constructed.
It is to be seen in the Casa de las Monjas that there was a lavish use
of ornamentation in stone. There is, throughout, a wealth of sculpture
which is astonishing when it is remembered that the sculptors, as far
as we know, had no proper implements to work with. Stone chisels and
obsidian scrapers appear to be inadequate for the purpose.
It can be understood that if the Indian masons and stone cutters had
wished to show their ability, they might have adorned their buildings
with barbarous figures or rude idols, such as were carved by the
natives of Easter Island out of soft volcanic stone. But at Uxmal they
revelled in their powers. The walls of the Nunnery and the Casa del
Gobernador are covered with designs deeply cut and perfectly joined.
Thus it is proved that the sculptors had not only much capacity as
workmen, but they must have been able to chisel hard limestone with
ease and facility of execution. In the interior of the Nunnery many
of the designs are most artistic. Nothing can be more graceful than
the block of buildings on the eastern side of the quadrangle. The
lattice work, in its appearance and general effect, seems to have an
indefinable accordance with the wood and stone carvings that are to
be seen in the ancient quarters of Cairo, and the interior of the
earliest Arabian mosques. Upon the opposite side of the quadrangle,
the ornamentation upon the walls is of a different character and in
some respects resembles the designs of Hindoo or Buddhist architecture.
This confusion of styles is puzzling to the eye and embarrassing to the
judgment.
At Palenque the long corridors, the courts, and the use of coloured
stucco ornamentation appeared to have some vague relation to a mixed
style of Moorish and Spanish architecture. If a corsair, with a crew
of Moors and a cargo of Spanish captives, had been driven by the trade
wind across the Atlantic, and the strangers, after landing upon the
new continent, had married the daughters of the caciques; it would be
intelligible that the descendants of the mixed races might have
constructed monasteries, temples and pyramids of this strange and
complex design. Such was my impression when pacing the corridors at
Palenque.
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE CASA DE LAS MONJAS AND ITS ADJOINING
PYRAMID AND TEMPLE, UXMAL.]
At Uxmal there were no coloured stuccoes and no corridors. The bold and
fantastic style of the sculptures had a character more Eastern, and it
might be permissible to imagine that wandering fakirs from Hindostan,
or Buddhist pilgrims from Java, Burmah or Cambodia, had reached the
Pacific coasts, and had implanted their incomplete acquaintance with
the forms of Hindoo or Buddhist temples upon the barbaric ideas of the
Indians, and that in this manner were produced the fanciful types of
construction or symbolism that are present at Uxmal.
These are only conjectures, but it cannot be supposed that this
knowledge of architecture and of sculpture arose as suddenly as it
disappeared, and sprang into existence as the outcome of the natural
capacity of the Indian mind. The problem is interesting and attractive.
It is one that is exceedingly difficult to solve.
There are certain differences in the methods of construction of
Palenque and Uxmal which have to be analyzed. The walls at Palenque
are composed of compact masses of stones and mortar covered with thick
layers of cement. At Uxmal no coatings of cement are used and the walls
are faced with well-worked masonry. At Palenque there are great numbers
of human figures either formed of thick stucco, or graven upon slabs
of stone. At Uxmal there are no human figures, no delineations of
caciques, priests, or captive victims. The principle of ornamentation
is different.
Judging from the condition and appearance of the buildings it is clear
that Uxmal must be more modern than Palenque, and this is particularly
noticeable upon an examination of the Casa del Gobernador and the
Casa de las Monjas. The influences of the tropical climate (Uxmal is
half a degree south of the twenty-first parallel) are such as would
be expected to act injuriously upon exposed limestone sculptures, for
between May and November the rains are heavy and continuous. But the
façades of these structures seem to have been very little affected by
the weather.
In forming opinions respecting the antiquity of ruins, it is perhaps
injudicious to give much weight to considerations based upon appearance
or state of dilapidation, but in the instance of Uxmal there are
circumstances which make it impossible to admit that it belongs to
a period more than very few centuries earlier than the arrival of
the Spaniards. Thus the preservation of the wooden lintels over the
doorways in the Casa de las Monjas must be taken into consideration,
when any attempts are made to estimate the age of that building. They
have had to bear considerable pressure, for there are heavy masses of
concrete and masonry to be supported.
With regard to this subject, it is necessary to draw attention to the
size and construction of one of the principal rooms which I measured,
and it will be understood how the architects were limited or restricted
in their actions, and to what extent the employment of wood was found
to be requisite.
It was a narrow chamber twenty feet four inches long, twelve feet
wide, and about twenty-three feet high. The height of the entrance was
eight feet, the width six feet seven inches. The interior walls were
perpendicular up to nine feet three inches from the ground, and then
curved inwards until they approached within one foot of each other.
They were capped by broad flat stone slabs. The curvature of the walls
was correctly formed, and a considerable gain in space was thereby
obtained. It was evident that the Indians were advancing towards a
knowledge of the round arch and keystone. This form of rounding the
inner roof was not however adopted in all the rooms of the nunnery.
Many of them still retained the straight lines of converging walls, as
at Palenque. The manner in which the advance in construction had been
reached was simple and yet ingenious.
I measured a room in another part of the quadrangle which had different
dimensions, and was more in accordance with the earlier system of
building. It was twenty-two feet long and ten feet five inches wide.
The height of the perpendicular portion of the walls was eight feet
three inches, and the length of the upper slope to the cap-stone was
eight feet nine inches. The total height of the room about sixteen
feet. The doorway was a little over seven feet high and the width
was five feet eight inches. The dimensions of the chambers round the
quadrangle varied, but the instances I have given represent their
average sizes. There were two lintels over each doorway, for the width
of each piece of timber was not sufficient to occupy the full depth of
the wall. In the first-mentioned chamber they were each nine feet five
inches long, one foot wide and eight inches deep, and had a bearing
upon each wall of one foot five inches. In this and other openings the
inner lintel rested in its place a little lower than the outer one.
The object of this singular method of placing these supports was not
apparent. The lintels were externally in perfect condition, and were
without any signs of decay.
The main mass of the Uxmal walls is composed of rubble limestones, made
into a strong compact substance, by the plentiful use of good binding
mortar. Each facing stone was made into a triangular shape, and the
point or apex seems to have been pushed or fitted into its place, and
there firmly secured by mortar. This method of applying the masonry
was adopted not only with the plain smooth blocks of square stone used
for facing the lower portions of the buildings, but also with all the
sculptured portions of the walls. The blocks fit closely together
in their places so accurately and with such careful finish that the
joints or edges can scarcely be distinguished. It is thus made evident
that the stone-masons who built Uxmal must have been men capable of
performing their work with skill. The architect must have possessed a
competent knowledge of the preparation of a plan or design, and the
masons, in separately executing their part of the sculpture, must
have been able to follow the design with an exactness that is almost
mathematical.
There have been many theories respecting the methods that may have been
practised by the Indians in executing their carvings upon stone,
but no knowledge has been obtained which throws sufficient light upon
the subject.[92] No attention has however been directed to the artisan
qualities of the workmen who shaped and fitted the lintels, which
however prove that the workers in wood were as skilful as the masons.
The lintels were made of wood harder than mahogany. I examined many
of them with the utmost care, and could not detect the slightest mark
or dent. It is doubtful whether a good carpenters plane could have
given them a smoother surface. The zapote trees out of which they
were formed, must have been fashioned into broad baulks of timber, and
afterwards squared and divided into the required lengths. The face of
the timber was levelled and smoothed, and the corners or angles were
sharply defined. All this work had to be done, as far as is known, with
stone implements.
[Illustration: QUADRANGLE, CASA DE LAS MONJAS.]
Upon taking a final glance at these ruins it seems reasonable to form
the conclusion that Uxmal was built exclusively for the purposes of
religion. The pyramids and their teocallis or temples were devoted as
shrines for the gods, and monasteries were attached to them. The human
sacrifices and the ceremonies that were customary in time of war took
place in the open courts attached to the high altars of the chief idols.
• • • • •
Upon the last day of my stay at Uxmal, the morning was fine
and the sky was clear. In the forenoon I observed that there
were dense volumes of light-coloured smoke covering the fields
towards the east. As the day advanced the air became hot and
oppressive, and the sky was obscured. Upon inquiring the cause
of this smoke I was told that the Indians were burning their
weeds and stalks in accordance with their custom at that time
of the year.
In the afternoon, whilst I was engaged in sketching the
south-east angle of the Casa del Gobernador, heavy drops of
rain began suddenly to fall. As it was the dry season, this
change of weather was unexpected. The rain drops soon ceased,
but after an interval there were some slight showers which
continued for about two hours. At the farmhouse I was told
that such weather was unusual, and that the rain must have
been caused by the smoke and heat rising from the fires. If
this opinion was correct the change may have been caused by
the heated air rising into a cooler region above, and thus
producing an atmospherical disturbance.
This fact of rain being produced or caused by human agency
supports the opinion that the efforts of the rain-makers
amongst the North American Indians were in accordance with some
vague knowledge, and were not altogether absurd, and that the
action of the Californian rain-maker, whose attempts to obtain
rain were successful, was based upon an experience which was
practical.