In Mexico, as I have already set forth, the calendar system is bound up in

the scheme of social organization and it is impossible to separate them. I

cannot but think that it must be the same with the Zuñis but that, as in

ancient Mexico, only the priesthood were acquainted with the existence of

a systematic calendar, and kept it a profound secret from the multitude,

although the entire communal life and activities of the people were guided

accordingly by their rulers, who had arranged a suitable time for all

things, at proper seasons.

Having obtained through Mr. Cushing invaluable material for the making of

a composite image of the ancient American civilization let us now proceed

to Yucatan, bearing in mind the native mode of thought and master-passion

for systematization.

A careful perusal of Cogolludo and Landa’s work affords such interesting

glimpses into the past history of the inhabitants of the Yucatan

peninsula, that they merit presentation in a separate publication. Suffice

it for the present to refer more fully to a few leading facts which will

be found to illustrate the development of the ancient civilization in the

preceding pages.

The native opinion already cited was that a great chief or lord, named

Kukulcan, reigned at Chichen-Itza, Yucatan, whilst this was occupied by

the Itza tribe, which was driven from it in about 270 A.D. by the

Tutul-xius who were entitled “holy men.” Their name justifies Brasseur de

Bourbourg’s inference that the conquerors may have been a Nahuatl tribe

whose name was that of the much-prized blue-bird, Xiuh-tototl.

At the same time the fact that the Maya word for supreme lord and Master

(also applied to the divinity) is _Ciu-mil_ seems to indicate that there

may be a deeper origin and that the Xiuh-tototl may have only been a rebus

employed by the Mexicans to convey the sound of a Maya title, possibly

“Kukul-Ciu,” if the above title “holy men” is to be regarded as a

translation of Tutul-xiu.

“Kukulcan had no wife or children and was venerated in Yucatan as a god

because he was a great republican, as was shown by the order he instituted

in Yucatan after the death of the native rulers. He went to Mexico whence

he returned. He was there named Quetzalcoatl and was venerated by the

Mexicans as one of their gods.” When he had entered into treaty with the

native chiefs inhabiting the country, they agreed to join him in founding

and peopling a city which was named Mayapan, but was also known by the

natives as Ichpa, meaning “inside of the circles.”(53) “They proceeded,

indeed, to build a circular walled enclosure with two entrances only. In

its centre, the principal temple was erected and it was circular, with

four doors opening to the cardinal points, like one which had been built

by Kukulcan at Chichen-Itza. The walled circle also contained other sacred

edifices and houses intended to be inhabited by the lords only, who

divided up the entire land amongst themselves. Towns were assigned to each

according to the antiquity of his lineage and personal distinction.

Kukulcan lived in this town for some years with these lords and leaving

them in amity and peace returned to Mexico by the same way as on his

visit, lingering on the way in order to build a quadriform temple on an

island off the coast.”

I know of no more instructive account of aboriginal history than this

simple native record preserved by Landa, which so clearly reveals amongst

other details that the Mexican culture-hero was an actual personage, a

Maya high-priest who had been a ruler at Chichen-Itza. In this connection

it is interesting to collate another chapter of Landa’s work in which he

reports what the oldest Indians narrated to him about Chichen-Itza, of

which I give the following somewhat abbreviated translation: Three

brothers came there in olden times from the west and having assembled

together a large number of people, ruled them for some years with much

justice and peace.(54) They paid great honor to their god and built many

beautiful edifices.... They lived without wives in purity and virtue and

as long as they did this they were esteemed and obeyed by all. In course

of time one of them possibly died, but is said by the Indians to have gone

out of the country. Whatever may have been the cause of his absence the

remaining rulers immediately began to show partiality and to institute

such licentious and abominable customs that they were finally execrated by

the people who rebelled and killed them, and then disbanded and abandoned

the capital, “although this was most beautiful and was surrounded by

fertile provinces.”(55)

The principal edifice at Chichen-Itza was a pyramid temple which had four

stairways facing the cardinal points. It contained a circular temple which

was named after the builder Kukulcan and had four doorways opening to the

four quarters of heaven.

If I have dwelt again upon Kukulcan=Quetzalcoatl, it is because, between

the writers who interpret the records concerning him as a sun or star-myth

and those who identify him as the abstract deity whose name he bore as a

title only, or as St. Thomas or a mythical Norseman, ancient America is

being deprived of its most remarkable historical personage.

Collated with the Maya traditional records, the Mexican accounts agree and

supply missing evidence. Whilst the Mayas state that their ruler and

legislator went to Mexico and even record his Mexican name, Montezuma

informs Cortés that “his ancestors had been conducted to Mexico by a

ruler, Quetzalcoatl, whose vassals they were and who having established

them in a colony returned to his native land. Later on he returned and

wished them to leave with him but they chose to remain, having married

women of the country, raised families and built towns. Nor would they

institute him again as their lord, so he went away again toward the east,

whence he had come.” It seems nearly proven that Kukulcan was one of the

three rulers who came to Yucatan from the east. The Mexican tradition that

he was driven into exile by his enemies, the followers of Tezcatlipoca,

the lord of the Below, appears to be corroborated by the Maya record that,

after his restraining presence had been removed, they committed such

excesses that the indignant population arose and murdered their two rulers

at Chichen-Itza. Quetzalcoatl’s continued efforts to assemble scattered

tribes, to organize them peacefully under central governments, to found

capitals and erect in the centre of these quadriform pyramids and circular

temples, prove how completely he was possessed by the idea of spreading

the well-known scheme of civilization. His very name in Maya signified

“the divine Four” and this more profound signification was hidden under

the image of the “feathered serpent” employed as a rebus to express the

title of the supreme Being and the high-priest, his earthly

representative.

The Mexican records state that the culture-hero’s white robes were covered

with red crosses, and that he set up cross-emblems. Evidence showing how

completely this builder and founder of cities carried out the idea of the

Four Quarters, in the temples he erected in Mexico, is preserved by the

record that for prayer, penitence and fasting, he prepared four rooms

which he occupied in rotation. These were respectively decorated in blue,

green, red and yellow, by means of precious stones, feather-work and gold.

As these were the colors assigned to the Four Quarters their symbolism and

meaning are obvious, and it may be inferred that the same method of

decorating the sides of buildings or doorways, with these four colors, may

have been carried out in square sacred edifices oriented to the cardinal

points.

It is curious to detect the quadruplicate idea in the title Holcan given

to certain war-chiefs. This name signifies, literally, “the head of four,”

but could be expressed by the rebus of a “serpent’s head,” which would

obviously have been employed in pictography to express the title and rank.

The existence of the title “Four-head,” or “the head of four,” obviously

relates to the rulership of the Four Quarters, united in one person; and

in this connection the Tiahuanaco swastika (fig. 48), terminating in four

pumas’ heads, seems to gain in significance as the expressive symbol of a

central ruler. The recorded custom to cover the body of the Mexican ruler

with the raiment of the “four principal gods,” proves the prevalence of

analogous symbolism.

From the following data we gain an interesting view of the events which

transpired in former times in the Yucatan peninsula. Resuming Landa’s

account we see that, after Kuculcan had departed for Mexico, the lords of

Mayapan decided to confer supreme rulership upon the Cocomes, this being

the most ancient and the wealthiest lineage and its chief being

distinguished for bravery. They then decided that the inner circle should

hold only the temples and houses for the lords and high-priest. In

connection with this it is well to insert here how Landa states, in

another passage, that there were “twelve priests or lords at Mayapan,”

which with the high-priest constituted the sacred 13. “Outside the wall

they built houses where each lord kept some servitors and where his people

or vassals could resort when they came on business to the town. Each of

these houses had its steward, entitled Caluac, who bore a staff of office

and he kept an account with the towns and with their local rulers. The

Caluac always went to his lord’s house, saw what he required and obtained

from the vassals all he needed in the way of provisions, clothing, etc.”

(_op. cit._, pp. 34-44).

The chronicle goes on to relate how the lords of the inner circle devoted

their time to the affairs of government, the regulation of the calendar

and the study of writing, medicine, and the sciences.(56)

It seems significant that, throughout Central America, two ruined cities

of about equal size are usually found in comparatively close proximity to

each other, and seemingly pertaining to the same culture. Thus we have

Quirigua, in the valley of the Motagua river, and Copan its sister-city,

situated at a distance of about twenty-five miles, but nearly 1,800 feet

above it, in the wooded hills. Between Palenque and Menché (Lorillard

City) there are about fifty miles, whilst Tikal and Ixkun are forty miles

apart. In Yucatan, as we have learned from Bishop Landa’s “Relacion,”

there were Mayapan and Zilan, and as the latter name also signified

“embroidery” it looks as though it had been a noted centre of female

industry.

Then, after a lapse of years, “a large number of tribes, with their lords,

came to Yucatan from the south.” Bishop Landa conjectures that, although

his informants did not know this for certain, “these tribes must have come

from Chiapas, many words and the conjugation of some verbs being the same

in Yucatan as in Chiapas where there existed great signs showing that

ancient capitals had been devastated and abandoned,” possibly by

earthquakes, famine, disease or warfare. It has been surmised that the

venerable Bishop alluded, in this sentence, to the ruins of Palenque in

Chiapas.

Although not mentioned by Cogolludo or Lizana it is accepted that the

new-comers were the Tutul-xius. According to an ancient Maya chronicle,

“at a date corresponding to 401 A.D., the four Tutul-xius had fled from

the house of Nonoual, to the west of Zuiva and came from the land of

Tulapan. Four eras passed before they reached the peninsula of Yucatan

named Chac-noui-tan under their chieftain, Holon-Chan-Tepeuh,” a name

which is equally intelligible in Maya, Tzendal and Nahuatl and means

Head-Serpent and “lord of the mountain,” according to Brasseur de

Bourbourg, who states that the latter was a sovereign title amongst the

Quichés.

Landa relates that, after wandering about Yucatan for forty years

(possibly in search of the stable centre) these tribes settled near

Mayapan, subjected themselves to its laws and lived in peaceful friendship

with the Cocomes. The new-comers brought with them the atlatl or

spear-thrower which is minutely described but is evidently regarded as a

weapon of the chase.(57) The chronicle goes on to narrate that the Cocom

governor, having become ambitious for riches, entered into a treaty with

Mexican warriors who were garrisoned at Tabasco and Xicalango by the

Mexican ruler and induced them to come to Mayapan and to aid him in

oppressing the native lords. The latter and the Tutul-xius rebelled

against this action and, having observed the Mexicans and become experts

in the art of using their bow and arrow, lance, hatchet, shield and other

defensive armor, they “ceased to admire and fear the Mexicans and began to

make little of them, and in this condition they remained for some years.”

A lapse of years passed and another Cocom chief formed a fresh league with

the Tabasco people. More Mexican warriors came to Mayapan and supported

him in tyrannizing and making slaves of the lower class. Then the Tutulxiu

lords assembled and decided to murder the Cocom ruler. Having done so they

also killed all his sons with the exception of one who was absent; burnt

their houses and seized their plantations of cocoa and other fruits,

saying that these compensated for what had been stolen from them. The

differences which subsequently arose between the Cocome and the Xius

people resulted in the final destruction and abandonment of Mayapan after

an occupation of more than five hundred years, both tribes returning to

their countries.

“The lords who destroyed Mayapan (about 120 years before the Conquest)

carried away with them their books of science.... The son of the Cocom

lord, who being absent had escaped death, returned and gathered his

relations and vassals together and founded a capital.... Many towns were

built by them in the hills and many families descended from these Cocomes.

These lords of Mayapan did not revenge themselves upon the Mexican

warriors but generously exonerated them from blame because they were

strangers and had been persuaded to come into the land by its former

ruler. They allowed them to remain unmolested in the country and to found

a city on condition that they kept to themselves and married in their own

tribe only. These Mexicans decided to settle in Yucatan and peopled the

province of Can-ul which was assigned to them and they continued to live

there until the second invasion of the Spaniards.”

At Chichen-Itza, situated at about twenty-three leagues from the ancient

site of Mayapan, there exists substantial evidence of the existence of

these Aztec warriors, with indications that they pertained to the Mexican

warrior-caste of the ocelots or tigers. It is a recognized fact that the

remarkable bas-reliefs, which still cover the walls of the “temple of the

tigers” at Chichen-Itza, are strikingly Aztec in every detail. The exact

counterparts of the Atlatls, they hold, are visible on the so-called

“Stone of Tizoc” in the city of Mexico. Sculptured on the wall opposite

the entrance of the temple there are about thirty-six war-chiefs grouped

in three parallel rows of twelve each, the majority of whom are apparently

rendering some form of homage to a seated personage surrounded by rays,

while others are having an encounter with a monstrous serpent. On the side

walls and slanting roofs more warriors are figured, many accompanied by a

rebus or hieroglyph which evidently records, in Mexican style, individual

names. The total number of sculptured warriors seems to have been about

one hundred. If each of these represented, as may be supposed, a “count of

men,” it is evident that a large force of Aztec soldiers must have lived

in Yucatan at one time.

Other interesting monuments at Chichen-Itza deserve a passing mention. Mr.

Teobert Maler (Yukatekische Forschungen, Globus, 1895, p. 284) relates

that there are two pyramid-temples in the terraces of which the remains of

great stone tables have been found. He states that one of these tables was

originally supported by two rows of seven sculptured caryatids and by a

central row of plain columns with flat, square tops. Traces of paint

showed that the figures had been painted, that a yellow-brown color had

predominated, but that all ornaments or accessories were either blue or

green. The caryatids exhibited a variety of costume and of size and each

showed a marked individuality. The second table standing in a larger

temple, was originally painted red and supported by twenty-four caryatid

figures which resemble each other closely, show no individuality and which

seem to have been disposed in two rows of twelve each. Mr. Maler infers

from this that, being more highly conventionalized, they were of a later

date than the previous examples. If it were not for the circumstance that

both tables had the same number of supports their numeral 24 might pass

unobserved. As it is, I shall recur to it on mentioning other monuments

with figures yielding the same number and disposed, in one case, as 6×4.

In connection with these stone tables I recall the fact that, in the Maya

language, they were called Mayac-tun.

Mr. W. H. Holmes (_op. cit._, p. 134) tells us that in one case the

continuous table had been formed by a series of limestone tablets

averaging three feet square and five or six inches thick, each slab having

been supported by two of the dwarfish figures which stand with both hands

aloft, giving a broad surface of support. He ascertained that “these slabs

were wonderfully resonant and when struck lightly with a hammer or stone,

give out tones closely resembling those of a deeply resonant bell, and the

echoes awakened in the silent forest are exceedingly impressive.” Mr.

Holmes’ account of these resonant stone tables is of particular value to

me because it throws an interesting light upon the following Maya words: I

have already stated that the native name for table is Mayac, and that a

stone table is Mayac-tun. The word _tun_, however, not only signifies

stone, but also sound and noise. From this it would seem that stone tables

such as Mr. Holmes describes were made expressly for the purpose of

emitting sound and employed like the huehuetl or wooden drums of the

ancient Mexicans to summon the people to the temple and to guide the

sacred dances.

The existence of the word tun-kul, which is either “stone-bowl” or

“sound-bowl,” seems likewise to indicate that hollow stone vessels were

used at one time as gongs. At the present day the Mayas name the small

wooden drum of the Mexicans a “tunkul,” whereas its Nahuatl name is

“te-ponaxtli,” the prefix of which, curiously enough, seems also to be

connected with tetl=stone. A curious light is shed upon the possible use

of some of the many stone vessels found in Mexico and Yucatan by the above

linguistic evidence.

In conclusion I quote Mr. Maler’s authority for two points concerning

Chichen-Itza which are not generally known. First, that its name should be

pronounced “Tsitsen-itsa,” and, second, that he saw there no less than

five recumbent statues, holding circular vessels. Each of these figures

exhibits the same form of breast-plate as the Le Plongeon example now at

the National Museum of Mexico (pl. IV, fig. 1). Mr. Maler states that it

seems to have been the tribal mark of the Cocomes, the whilom rulers at

Chichen-Itza; but it is interesting to note the general resemblance of

this ornament to the blue plaque worn by the Mexican “Blue Lord,” the Lord

of the Year and of Fire, “Xiuhtecuhtli,” who is also usually represented

with a Xiuh-tototl or “blue-bird” on the front of his head-dress.

These facts seem to indicate that the characteristic breast-plate, instead

of being a mark of the Cocomes, may have been that of the Tutul-Xius, and

that this title has some connection with that of Xiuh-tecuhtli, the

Mexican “Lord of Fire.” It has been already set forth in the preceding

pages that the sacred fire was kindled in the stone vase held by the

recumbent figures, a fact indicating that the identical form of cult was

practised in Mexico and at Chichen-Itza. This identity is satisfactorily

accounted for and explained if we accept the simple native records of the

invitation extended to Mexican warriors by a Maya chieftain and their

subsequent permanent residence in Yucatan.

The limitations of my subject do not allow me to do more than mention two

other important ruined cities of Yucatan, Izamal and Uxmal. I will however

note that, judging from the illustrations I have seen, Uxmal seems to be

the “Serpent-city” of America, par excellence, its buildings exhibiting

the most elaborate and profuse employment of the serpent for symbolical

decoration. One inference from this might be that the serpent was the

totemic animal of the ancient builders of this city. The foregoing rapid

review of the native chronicles of Yucatan shows that even the foundation

of Mayapan was comparatively recent; that the peninsula had, in turn,

harbored powerful tribes who had drifted thence from the southwest and

Mexican warriors whose aid had been sought by consecutive rulers of

Chichen-Itza. We see that Yucatan was the meeting ground for Maya- and

Nahuatl-speaking people and that the tendency was to leave the peninsula

in search of a more favorable soil and climate as soon as opportunity was

afforded.

Since the cradle of the Maya civilization is evidently not to be looked

for in Yucatan, let us follow the clue afforded by the native traditions,

transport ourselves to some of the most important ruined cities of Central

America and endeavor to wrest from their monuments some knowledge of the

social organization of their ancient inhabitants. In order to institute

this search under the most favorable circumstances, I ventured to apply

for guidance to Mr. A. P. Maudslay who has made a more thorough, prolonged

and extensive study and exploration of these ruined cities than any other

person. Upon my request to formulate his opinion as to the respective

antiquity and chief characteristics of the most noted sites, this

distinguished explorer has most kindly authorized me to publish the

following note.

“But for a brief note in Nature (28th April, 1892), I have never

classified the ruins or attempted to give proofs of differences in age of

the monuments, but roughly you may safely class them as follows: I am

inclined to look on the Motagua river group as the oldest. The Yucatan

group is certainly the youngest. Of course there are many other smaller

differences between the groups and much overlapping. Whichever group may

be the oldest the art is there already advanced and the decoration has

taken forms which must have occupied many kinds of workers to

conventionalize from natural objects.”

1. On Motagua River, Quirigua, Copan. Large monolithic stelæ and altars

with figures and inscriptions carved on all four sides in rather high

relief, some groups pictographic. No weapons of war portrayed in the

sculpture.

2. On Usumacinto River, Menché, Tinamit, Palenque, Ixkun. Stelæ are

usually flat slabs carved with figures and inscriptions in low relief on

one side only. External ornament of the buildings usually moulded in

stucco. War-like weapons but very scarce.

3. Tikal. Intermediate between Nos. 2 and 4, but somewhat different and

distinct from either.

4. Yucatan. Chichen-Itza, Uxmal, etc. Stelæ very few in number and poorly

carved. Inscriptions carved in stone are very scarce. Inscriptions were

probably _painted_ on the walls of the temples. External ornament of

buildings formed by a mosaic of cut stones somewhat resembling Zapotec or

Aztec style. Every man portrayed as a warrior [on the bas-reliefs].

By means of the magnificent set of casts which Mr. A. P. Maudslay has

generously presented to the South Kensington Museum, London, and with the

aid of his monumental and splendidly illustrated work on the Archaeology

of Central America, which has been appearing as a part of the Biologia

Centrali-Americana, edited by Messrs. Godman and Salvin, I have been able

to verify the following facts which will be found to throw light on the

purpose and meaning of some of the ancient monuments.

Before examining the great, elaborately carved stelæ which are

characteristic of Quirigua and Copan, let us search the native chronicles

for some clue explanatory of the purpose for which they were erected.

Bishop Landa has transmitted to us some details about the destroyed

metropolis of Mayapan given to him by Yucatec informants who stated that

“in the central square of that city there still were 7 or 8 stones, about

ten feet high, rounded on one side and well sculptured, which exhibit

several rows of the native characters, but were so worn that they had

become illegible. It is supposed, however, that they are the record of the

foundation and destruction of that capital. Similar, but higher monuments,

are at Zilan, a town on the coast. Interrogated as to the meaning of these

monoliths the natives answered: It had been or was customary to erect

similar stones at intervals of 20 years which was the number by which they

counted their eras.” Bishop Landa subsequently remarks that “this

statement is not consistent,” for, according to this “there should be many

more such stones in existence, and none exist in any other pueblo but

Mayapan and Zilan.”(58)

Disagreeing with the venerable Bishop, I find in the above statements the

most valuable indications of the former existence of two centres of

culture in Yucatan. There is a curious affinity between the name Zilan

(pronounced Dzilan) and Chilan given as “the title of a priestly office

which consisted of a juridistic astrology and divination,” by Landa. There

may even be a connection between zilan and zian=origin, commencement;

zihnal=original and primitive, which may be worthy of consideration in

association with the well-known statement, quoted by Dr. Brinton, that

“the most venerable traditions of the Maya race claimed for them a

migration from Tollan in Zu-iva—thence we all came forth together, there

was the common parent of our race; thence came we from amongst the Yagui

men, whose god is Yolcuatl Quetzalcoatl.” Dr. Brinton adds that “this

Tollan is certainly none other than the abode of Quetzalcoatl named in an

Aztec manuscript as ‘Zivena Uitzcatl.’ ” Vague as any conjecture must

necessarily be, I cannot but deem it of utmost importance that systematic

excavations be made, some day, at Zilan, for the purpose of bringing to

light the stelæ referred to by the native informants of Bishop Landa.

According to Brasseur de Bourbourg “Zilan, situated at about 20-½ leagues

from Merida belonged to the Cheles people.(59) It is the seaport of Izamal

and contains the ruins of one of the greatest pyramids or artificial

mounds (omul) in Yucatan,” a fact which corroborates the view that it was

an ancient important capital. The northern coast of Yucatan is extremely

remarkable for it is divided from the Gulf of Mexico by a continuous strip

of land between which and the mainland there is a narrow channel of water.

There are two openings only in this zone of land which afford a passage

into the navigable channel. One of these openings is situated almost

opposite to Zilan and is known as the Boca de Zilan. At a short distance

to the east there is a second such “boca” opposite to the mouth of the Rio

Lagartos, which is a large estuary and the only river on the northern

coast of Yucatan.(60)

Let us now transport ourselves, mentally, south of the peninsula to

Honduras and, leaving the coast, ascend the Motagua valley to the ruins of

Quirigua and Copan,(61) which have impressed Mr. Maudslay as being of

great antiquity. Before examining such of these monuments as seem to yield

the testimony we are seeking, let us again recall Landa’s record that the

Mayas erected stelæ as memorials of each 20-year period. To this statement

should be added, at full length, Cogolludo’s record that “the Mayas

employed eras of 20 years and lesser periods of 4 years.(62) The first of

these four years was assigned to the east and was named Cuch-haab; the

second, Hiix, to the west; the third, Cavac, to the south and the fourth

Muluc, to the north, and this served as a ‘Dominical letter.’ When five of

these four-year periods had passed, which form twenty years, they called

it a Katun and placed one sculptured stone over another sculptured stone

and fixed them with lime and sand [mortar] to the walls of their temples

and houses of the priests.”(63)

The term katun is closely linked to the said employment of memorial

stones, for tun is the Maya for stone and ka seems to stand for kal or

kaal=20. The word hun-kaal=20, means literally, “one complete count,” or

“a count which is closed,” since the verb kaal means to close, shut, or

fasten something. According to the above a katun literally means “the 20

(year) stone;” but we know that, by extension, it designated the era

itself as well as war and battle. Thus we find the verb katun-tal=to

fight.

Cogolludo continues: “In a town named Tixuala-tun, which signifies ‘the

place where they place one stone above another,’ they say that they kept

their archive, containing records of all events.... In current speech

katun signified era and when a person wished to say he was sixty years of

age, he used the expression to have three eras of years or three stones.

For seventy they said three and a half stones or four less one-half stone.

From this it may be seen that they were not too barbarous, for it is said

that [by this system] they were able to keep such exact records that they

not only certified an event but also the month and day on which it took

place.”

By referring to Maya and Spanish dictionaries we gain supplementary

valuable information about native memorial stones. We find the name

amaytun given as that of “a square stone on which the ancient Indians used

to carve the 20 years of the period ahau-katun, because the four remaining

years which completed the epoch, were placed underneath, so as to form a

sort of pedestal which was called, for this reason, lath oc katun or chek

oc katun. By extension, painted representations [of the epoch] were also

named amaytun.” The dictionary further informs us that amayté was the name

for the first twenty years of the ahau katun, which were carved on the

square stone and we see that amayté also means “something square or with

corners” and is formed of amay=corner.

Equipped with the foregoing knowledge of the sort of memorial it was

customary for the Mayas to erect, let us now see whether the ruins of

Copan furnish any monuments which would answer to the description and

purpose of “amay-tés” and “ka-tuns.” Referring the reader to parts I-III

of Mr. A. P. Maudslay’s work already cited, I draw special attention to

the following stelæ and altars which are so admirably figured therein.

Stela F, which stands at the east side of the Great Plaza at Copan and

faces west, is in a particularly bad state of preservation. It exhibits a

standing figure on one side whose head is surmounted by an indescribable

combination of a mask, a seated figure and much elaborate feather-work. A

noteworthy feature, which recurs on other stelæ in Copan and Quirigua, is

an appendage which appears like an artificial beard attached to the chin

of the personage. At the sides of the stela serpents’ heads alternate with

diminutive grotesque figures. On the back, or east side of the stela, two

cords are represented which appear to have been brought over from the

front and which are tied together so as to form five open loops, in each

of which, as in a frame, there is a group consisting of four calculiform

glyphs. The cord, which is knotted together at the base of the stela,

appears to pass around it. It is impossible not to recognize that this

representation of twenty glyphs, as divided into five groups of four,

exactly agrees with Cogolludo’s records that the Mayas employed 20-year

and 4-year eras and that when five of the 4-year periods had passed they

called it a ka-tun, and made a carved memorial of it. As Landa tells us

that they erected stelæ to commemorate the 20-year period, the inference

to which the Copan Stela F leads us is that it is a katun and that the

twenty glyphs carved on it are year-signs. Examination, however, shows

that, whereas the Maya Calendar had but four year-signs which would

naturally be bound to repeat themselves in each group of four years, no

two glyphs on the Stela F are alike. It is obvious, therefore, that the

glyphs are not the four calendar year-signs and reflection shows, indeed,

that it would have been quite superfluous to carve these repeatedly on a

stela. As each year-sign was identified with a cardinal point and an

element and was permanently associated with a particular color, the mere

employment of the latter would suffice to convey this association of

ideas. What is more, the relative positions of the four glyphs composing

each group would also indicate the four year-signs and thus the sculptor

of the stela would have been at liberty to record by the shape of his

glyphs any fact he chose to connect with each year of the era. A curious

linguistic fact must also be taken into consideration: The Maya name for

the four year-signs was Ah-cuch-haab and the title for a chief or ruler of

a town was Ah-cuch-cab. The mere presence on the stela, of the figure of

the ruler, would suffice to convey the certainty that the count of the

four year-signs was understood to be present. On Stelæ F and M, each of

which displays twenty glyphs and one sculptured personage, the latter is

particularly characterized by being associated with head-dresses and

emblems consisting of elaborate conventionalized plumed serpents’ heads.

The inference naturally is that the serpent symbolism, which recurs in

some form or other on every stela effigy, expresses or conveys that the

rank and title of the personage were that of a Kukul-can, the high-priest

ruler who impersonated the “Divine Four,” or of some lord=Ahau, who was

also “ruler of the four regions.”

It must be recognized that a stone stela, on which is sculptured the image

of a lord and a count of 20, answers exactly to the memorial stone named

Ahau-ka-tun, literally, lord, 20 stone, and it is easy to see how the

period or era of twenty-four years should come to be called by the name of

the stone which commemorated it, and each era to be differentiated by

being designated by the personal name of the ruler who held office during

its course. The result would be practically the same as the allusion to a

particular reign in a nation’s history, with the seeming difference that

all ancient American rulers and their subordinates held fixed terms of

office, coinciding with the various periods of the calendar.

The inscriptions on the foregoing stelæ are made of glyphs of a uniform

character. Other stelæ at Copan display the interesting set of 6+1=7 signs

which recur on so many Central American monuments and strikingly coincide

in number with the all-pervading division into six parts plus the middle

and synopsis of all. Of this “septenary set of signs,” six are uniform in

size and character whilst the first is more elaborate and important in

every respect and, as I shall set forth by a series of illustrations in

another publication, actually does symbolize the union of the Above and

Below. It is to Mr. Maudslay that we owe the recognition of the existence

of this septenary set of glyphs, which he announced as follows to the

Royal Geographical Society in 1886:

“A number of Central American inscriptions are headed by what I shall call

an initial scroll (the style of which is permanent throughout many

variations) and begin with the same formula, usually extending through six

squares of hieroglyphic writing, the sixth square, or sometimes the latter

half of the sixth square, being a human face, usually in profile, enclosed

in a frame or cartouche” (Proceedings, p. 583).

The septenary group occurs on Stelæ A, B, C, E, I, P. It is curious to

find that the initial sign is sometimes, as on two sides of Stela P,

followed not by 6 glyphs only, but by 4×6=24 glyphs. On the east side of

Stela P, it is succeeded by 22 glyphs and a carved design which seems to

indicate the beginning or end of the count. On Stela I the initial is also

followed by 4×6=24 glyphs, and on Stela A by 12 double (=24) glyphs on

side 1, whilst side 2 displays 13 and side 3, 2×13=26. On Stela B two

sides exhibit 13 glyphs each and the back 2+ the initial. On two sides of

Stela C the initial is followed by 2×7=14 glyphs. It cannot be denied that

the foregoing stelæ collectively yield counts of 4×5, 7, 13, 20 and 24,

which undoubtedly coincide with the well-known numerical organization and

prove that this dominated the people who erected them.

The certainty that the ancient inhabitants of Copan associated the idea of

a central ruler with quadruple power is afforded by a remarkable

bas-relief which Mr. Maudslay has kindly allowed me to reproduce here

(fig. 55), from a drawing made by Miss Annie Hunter.(64)

This carved slab, the size of which is 5’ by 4’ 6", was found in four

pieces in the western court of the main structure of Copan and according

to Mr. Maudslay’s opinion, “formed part of the exterior ornament of temple

11 or the slope on which it stood.” It undoubtedly claims a minute

examination, as it strikingly illustrates how the native ideas, I have

been setting forth in the preceding pages, were originally suggested by

the observation of Polaris. Seated cross-legged, and resting on the centre

of the foliated swastika, is the figure of a personage whose titles are

clearly discernible.

[Illustration.]

Figure 55.

He is designated as a ruler, not only by his attitude of repose, but by

the fact that he wears a breast ornament in the form of a face or head (of

the sun) and holds in his hand (_i. e._ governs) a vase or bowl (see p.

72). Those show him to be the chief or head of all and the Cum-ahau, or

lord of the sacred vase or bowl (see p. 93). As the latter contains what

appears to be a variant of the glyph ik and the word ik signifies breath,

air and wind, by extension life, we realize that he is designated as the

lord of breath and life. The glyph which covers his face bears a native

cross-symbol and this, as well as the cruciform figure, the centre of

which he occupies, conveys the idea of quadruplicate power. The double and

bent arms of the cross-symbol strikingly resemble the conventionalized

puffs of breath or air which are so frequently depicted in Mexican

Codices, as issuing from the mouths of speakers. Almost identical

representations of curved puffs are figured as issuing from open serpents’

jaws in a bas-relief at Palenque, of which more anon.

Mr. Maudslay has pointed out that on stelæ from Copan and Quirigua a

profusion of analogous curved signs occurs also in connection with

serpents’ heads. A special feature of the curved puffs of breath on the

Copan “swastika,” as it has been named, are small seed-like balls which

are distributed in detached groups of threes along their inner and outer

edges, and are usually accompanied by what resembles the small calyx of a

flower, making four small objects in all. These balls, which also recur in

the Palenque symbol, forcibly recall a passage of the Zuñi creation myth

recounted by Mr. Cushing.

It relates that, at a certain stage of the creation, “the most perfect of

all priests and fathers named Yanáuluha ... brought up from the

underworld, the water of the inner ocean and the seeds of life production”

... Subsequently, on a feathered staff he carried, “appeared 4 round

things, seeds of moving beings, mere eggs they were; two blue like the sky

and two red like the flesh of the earth-mother.”...

I cannot but think that these words from a purely native source explain

the Copan sculpture more correctly than any inference that could be made,

and authorize the explanation that the central figure represents the “four

times lord,” or “lord of the four winds,” titles which were applied in

Mexico to Quetzalcoatl and Xiuhtecuhtli. At the same time the bas-relief

teaches us that “the four winds” had a deeper meaning than has been

realized, for it represents life-giving breath carrying with it the seeds

of the four vital elements, emanating from the central lord of life,

spreading to the four quarters and dividing itself so as to disseminate

vitality throughout the universe. The title Kukulcan=the Divine Four, also

serpent, proves to be even more expressive of this conception of a central

divinity than the Mexican Divine Twin, or serpent. I am therefore inclined

to consider that it originated with a Maya-speaking people, to whom, more

graphically than to any one else, this bas-relief would have served, as a

joint image of the star-god, the heart of heaven, named Hura-kan; of the

terrestrial lord Ah-cuch-cab, the heart or life of the State; of the

State, with its hun-kaal or one count of twenty subdivisions of people and

its quadruple head and body and, finally, of the native cosmology.

The Copan swastika enables us to come to another interesting conclusion.

It is a refined representation of the set of thoughts suggested by

Polaris, the idea of a stable centre being graphically rendered. Movement

in four directions is also symbolized. As, in the latitude of Copan, Ursa

Minor is the only circumpolar constellation which could have been observed

in four opposite positions, it is obvious that Ursa Minor with Polaris

must have constituted the Maya Celestial Heart or Life=cuxabal. The

following points remain to be discussed in connection with the Copan

swastika.

1. To be complete and in keeping with native modes of representation it

must have originally been painted with the symbolical colors of the Four

Quarters.

2. It is on a wooden club from Brazil or Guiana that, strange to say, I

find a cross symbol with bifurcated branches, which most closely resembles

the Copan type. Directing the readers to the illustration of this club as

fig. 8, pl. XV, in Dr. Stolpe’s work already cited, I would ask them to

examine also his fig. 7, with a design expressing dual and quadruple

divisions; fig. 9_b_, with circles containing cross lines; 9_a_, with what

resembles somewhat a Maltese cross but also conveys duality; fig. 11_b_

with a cross in a scalloped circle and a curious disc between four signs,

with a band of alternate black and white squares and its reverse 11_a_,

with triangles, to which I shall revert; and figs. 10_c_ and _d_, each

with a mound from which a tree is growing. Though tempted to refer to many

other symbols I shall limit myself to pointing out that his fig. 1, pl.

XIV, exhibits a group of five circles in a circle which strikingly recall

the Mexican examples and the Maya ho=5. As each of the foregoing symbols

is intelligible and belongs to a group of ideas which I have shown to have

been general throughout America, but to have necessarily originated in the

northern hemisphere, it seems pretty clear that they must have gradually

found their way to Brazil and Guiana from the north by means of coast

navigation and traffic.

3. Concerning the bowl in the hand of the figure occupying the middle of

the swastika a few remarks should be added to those already given on pp.

72 and 93.

Formed of clay the bowl was an expressive symbol of the earth. Placed in

elevated positions on the terraces of the temples, and filled by the first

annual showers which fell upon the parched earth, the bowl of celestial

water naturally became invested with peculiar sanctity, and was gradually

regarded as containing particular life-giving qualities. One use to which

bowls full of water were put, in ancient Mexico, seems to explain further

the ideas associated with them. It is well known that bowls of water were

used at night for divination purposes, just as were black obsidian

mirrors. This seems to prove that the latter were a subsequent invention

which was adopted because it permanently afforded a surface for purposes

of reflection.

In the native Maya chronicles the reflection of a star upon the trembling

and moving surface of the water, is given as the image of the Creator and

Former, the Heart of Heaven, and it was believed that the divine essence

of life was thus conveyed to earth by light shining on and into the

waters. It is well known that it was customary for the priests of the

Great Temple of Mexico to bathe at midnight after fasting, in a sacred

pool so deep that the water appeared to be black. This

artificially-produced peculiarity would have rendered its surface

particularly useful for the observation and registration of the movements

of stars by their reflections.

Thomas Gage quaintly tells us, moreover, that at the consecration of a

certain idol “made of all kinds of seeds that grow in the country ... a

certain vessell of water was blessed with many words and ceremonies, and

that water was preserved very religiously at the foot of the Altar for to

consecrate the King when he was crowned and also to blesse any Captain

Generall, when he should be elected for the Warres, with only giving him a

draught of that water” (_op. cit._, p. 53). It is well known that infants

also underwent a form of baptism.

The preceding and other evidence, which is scarcely required, enables us

to realize the full significance which the symbol of a bowl surmounted by

the glyph ik=life, breath, soul, was intended to express and convey.

The collection of rain-water in vessels, exposed so as to receive the

reflection of the one immovable star-god, was doubtlessly employed as a

test of the stability of the Middle of the Earth by many generations of

priest-astronomers. The sanctity attached to this water, as having

absorbed the divine essence of light and the attribution of life-giving

properties to it, was but the natural sequence of such star-observation.

As the title “the lord of the vase or bowl”=Cum-ahau, indicates, the

supreme priest of Heaven alone seems to have attended to all rites

concerning the sacred bowl and the distribution of its celestial

life-giving contents. The symbolical decoration of many native bowls will

be found to corroborate this view of their employment and of the virtue

attributed to their contents.

By this time I trust that my readers will realize with me that, at Copan,

the native set of ideas had long taken deep root and flourished. We have

seen that the identical numerical divisions of time and tribes and the

same symbolism prevailed as have been traced in Peru, Guatemala, Mexico,

Yucatan, Zuñi, etc. The following monuments will still further establish

this kinship of thought. Copan contains two stone slabs which answer to

the description of an amay-tun, inasmuch as they are square and appear to

be memorial stones. Let us see whether some clue to their purpose can be

obtained from the carvings upon them.

On each of the four sides of altar K four personages are carved, all

seeming to be of equal rank. Of these 4×4=16 chieftains, eight wear a

breast ornament in the form of a double serpent, whilst the remaining

eight wear a somewhat plainer kind. On the west side the two central

figures face each other and two diminutive glyphs are carved in the space

between them. The most striking feature about the representation of these

personages is, that each of them is seated, cross-legged, on a different

composite glyph; some of these exhibit animal forms. This is a fact of

utmost importance, for it definitely connects distinct personalities,

obviously chieftains with composite glyphs, some composite parts of which

are obviously totemic. On the upper surface of this monolith there are

6×6=36 single glyphs, which yield 9 groups of 4. If these 9×4 be added to

the 4×4 glyphs on which the chieftains are respectively seated, we obtain

13 groups of 4, equivalent to 52. It is superfluous to repeat that there

are fifty-two years in the Mexican cycle and that just as this square

altar has 16 figures carved around it, the great monolithic Stone of Tizoc

in the City of Mexico has 16 groups. In the latter case each group is

accompanied by the name of a tribe and its capital. It looks very much as

though the glyphs on which the chieftains on Altar K are seated also

express tribal names.

A careful study of the other square monolith at Copan, known as the

Alligator altar, will enable us to form a better estimate of the probable

meaning of glyphs, employed as seats by chieftains. The Alligator altar

takes its name from the sculptured animal which is stretched over its

upper surface. Human figures are represented as connected with the

different parts of the animal’s body, in a way which forcibly recalls Mr.

Cushing’s explanation of how the various members of a tribe were

associated with a part only of their totemic animal and bore the name of

this part as their title of honor, according to a strict order of

precedence.

According to Mr. Maudslay’s description: “Upon the upper surface of the

monument are two apparently human figures seated upon the arms of the

alligator. Both figures are much weather worn; each has what appears to be

a glyph in its hand, which is outstretched toward the alligator’s head.

Between the alligator’s arms and legs four human figures are seated in

similar positions, two on each side of the body. These figures have large

mask head-dresses and carry offerings in their hands. There are two

figures on the north side of the monument, one on either side of the tail

of the alligator; each is seated on a glyph. The figures are human, but in

place of a human head each figure is surmounted by a glyph. Each figure

holds a glyph with the numeral ten attached to it in its outstretched

hand.”

Since the above partial description of the altar was written, Mr. Maudslay

has found that one of the above glyphs is “Mol” and the other “Zip,” and

has identified the glyph used as a head for each figure as the day-sign

Cabal. This fact is of particular interest as the meaning of this sign

seems to be connected with Caban=the Below, and the two figures with Cabal

heads are sculptured at each side of the alligator’s tail which is the

part of least honor, not only according to Zuñi etiquette, but also

according to Mexican ideas, the word for tail being employed,

metaphorically, for vassals.

To this description I would add that a careful study of the cast of this

monument in the South Kensington Museum, and of the illustrations in Mr.

Maudslay’s work reveals that, of the four figures on the west side, one

only has a human head, whilst two have human bodies with animal heads and

one a semi-human face and the body of a bird. Of the four figures on the

east side, the first represents a man seated on a glyph, the second a

human body with an animal head and the third and fourth semi-animal, bird

and human figures. Amongst the recognizable animal forms represented, we

distinguish an ocelot, an unmistakable alligator’s head and the head of a

monster with huge jaw and serrated teeth which strongly resembles the

Mexican sign Cipactli, a nondescript “marine monster.” One detail is

worthy of special notice: the left hand of one of the figures on the east

side terminates in a serpent’s head, in a fashion recalling that of the

Santa Lucia bas-reliefs.

The following résumé will make the distribution of the figures and glyphs

on the altar quite clear. Top: outstretched alligator body, whose legs and

claws are sculptured over the corners of the altar. On each shoulder 1

figure with glyph=2. On each knee 2 figures=4, making a total of 6 figures

on the top. On east and west sides respectively, 4 figures; on north side

2 figures, on the south side 4 figures on composite glyphs=14. The total

number of figures on top and sides is 20, each of which is intimately

associated with a glyph. Under the snout of the alligator, on the south

side, there are 2×4=8 glyphs.

When carefully analyzed we ultimately find that the surface of the altar

exhibits in the first case two chieftains of equal rank, but respectively

seated on the right and left forelegs of the tribal totem. To my idea this

demonstrates that the dual rulership, such as existed elsewhere, prevailed

at Copan, and that two lords of the alligator tribe were entitled the

right and left forelegs or “arms” of the animal totem. It should be noted

here that the Maya name for alligator is chiuan or ain. The dictionaries

contain also the following names for the same or allied species:

Sea-lizard, alligator (?), ixbaan; lizard in general=ix-mech, or mech,

ix-be-bech, ixzeluoh and ix-tulub. Obviously occupying positions of less

honor there are 2×2=4 chiefs of equal rank but seated, respectively, on

the right and left hind legs of the totem. These again are evidently

equivalent to the four sub-rulers of Mexico and Yucatan, the Maya Bacabs

or Chacs.

Lastly, the twenty different figures, connected with particular glyphs,

are equivalent to the division of the tribe into as many portions, minus

the head. The eight glyphs associated with this added to the twelve

glyph-figures, complete the numeric organization into twenty. From this

monument, the sides of which were probably painted, originally, in four

colors, it would seem that the alligator clan, ruled by two chiefs and

four lesser rulers, was organized into twelve divisions of people and

eight classes of another kind. A circular tablet at Quirigua, which I

shall describe further on, exhibits a subdivision into 2×6=12+5+3=20.

It is not necessary to emphasize how remarkably the Copan altar conforms

to the Zuñi method of clan-organization. It suffices for my present

purpose merely to establish the community of thought which existed

throughout, but which found its highest artistic expression and

development in Central America.

There are several other smaller carved monoliths, one of which usually

lies in front of a stela. For this reason they have been popularly named

“altars,” just as the stelæ have been called “idols.” The majority of

these “altars” contradict this appellation by their utterly unsuitable

shapes and profuse carvings on their upper, often irregular, rounded

surfaces. Some of these monoliths consist of a monstrous head, the shape

of which is almost lost under an indescribable mass of ornamentation. In

some cases, however, they recall the semblance of the large glyphs on

which chieftains are represented as seated on the carved sides of the

square monoliths just described. So strongly do some of these resemble

certain forms, that I venture to express my belief that, on ceremonial

occasions, these carved heads may have served as the seats or stools of

honor for chieftains of the rank of those portrayed on the bas-reliefs.

The Maya word tem, the plural form for which is tetem, seems to be

applicable to such totemistic carved stones. It is translated as stone

altar, seat or bench (_cf._ Nahuatl word te-tl=stone). Other minor

monoliths are carved with glyphs. “Altar G,” illustrated in Mr. Maudslay’s

work, exhibits four glyphs only—an interesting number, replete with

significance to the native mind.

The number 24 occurs on Altar R on which the glyphs are disposed as

2×4=8+2×8=24. The number 24 recurs on the top of Altar U, where the glyphs

are disposed in 3 rows of 8 each. At the same time the back of this altar

exhibits 5×10=50 and its sides 2×2=4 glyphs, which may possibly constitute

separate records. In the majority of foregoing cases the glyphs are single

and comparatively simple. On Altar S, however, we have double and

quadruple glyphs, the latter obviously being a highly developed cursive

method of recording facts, rendered possible by the minute classification

of all things in the State into definite divisions with fixed

relationships to each other.

Having lingered so long in Copan we can but glance at Quirigua and note

its most remarkable features. This ruined city lies on Motagua river,

1,800 feet below and at about a distance of twenty-five to thirty miles

from Copan. It is now subjected to almost annual inundations from the

river and its situation in marshy surroundings renders it extremely

unhealthy. It may have been partly on this account that the neighboring

capital of Copan was founded in an elevated and salubrious position.

An interesting fact has been pointed out to me by Mr. Maudslay, namely,

that the ground plan of both groups of ruins is almost exactly the same,

Copan being only somewhat the larger of the two. This identity proves that

the same distinct scheme of orientation was carried out in both places and

that importance was undoubtedly attached to the relative positions of the

pyramid-temples, courts and buildings.(65) A proof that two distinct

castes of rulers existed and were respectively associated with the

northern and southern regions of the capital is furnished by a

circumstance communicated to me by Mr. Maudslay. In Copan, as well as at

Quirigua, some of the individuals sculptured on the stelæ are beardless,

whilst others have beards which seem to be sometimes artificial. These

stelæ usually stood at the sides of the great courts, and at the bases of

the pyramid-temples. Mr. Maudslay has observed that in both places, all of

the bearded effigies are situated to the north of the beardless ones. The

first, for instance, occupy the northern and the second the southern side

of a court; their respective positions being clearly intentional since it

recurs in both cases. This circumstance furnishes additional proof that,

in these capitals as elsewhere, the same great primary division into the

Above and Below prevailed and shows that the representative rulers of

these two castes respectively wore beards or none.

The beard, as an insignia of rank, occurs in several Mexican MSS. and

careful observation shows that it is most frequently represented as worn

by a high-priest, usually painted black and sometimes wearing the skin of

an ocelot. It is found associated with advanced age and with red, the

color of the north, a fact which coincides with the position assigned to

bearded effigies at Copan and Quirigua. In Mexican Codices the culture

hero, Quetzalcoatl, is figured with a beard, and tradition records that

this was his distinctive feature. Images of Quetzalcoatl=the air-god,

represent him with a beard, and the calendar-sign Ehecatl=wind, is

composed of an elongated mouth and chin to which a beard is attached.

Several of the monuments at Quirigua are the largest of the kind which

have been found on the American continent. Stelæ E and F are twenty-two

and twenty-five feet high respectively, and both exhibit two human

effigies standing back to back. In point of fact, with a few exceptions,

amongst which are female effigies, the majority of stelæ at Quirigua are

double, namely, A, C, D, E, F, K, in Mr. Maudslay’s work, part XI. I

cannot but regard this as a proof that in a peaceful, flourishing and

long-established state, the dual form of government maintained itself

successfully for an extended period of time. On Stela E is one of the most

remarkable ancient American portrait-statues that has yet been discovered.

It portrays a man with noble and strongly marked features, an aquiline

nose and a narrow chin beard, like a goatee.

The Maya dictionaries supply us with the clue to the meaning attached to

the beard in pictorial art. The word for beard is meex and for “bearded

man,” ah-meex, or ah-meexnal, if the beard was long. On the other hand,

ah-mek-tancal is the Maya name for “governor and ruler of people or of a

town,” and ah-mektanpixan means high priest. The first two syllables of

these titles, being identical with the word for a “bearded man,” seem to

explain the reason for the association of rank with a beard, and _vice

versa_. Added to preceding data it aids in forming the conclusion that the

bearded personages on the stelæ were “high-priests or rulers of people and

of towns,” that the beard or goatee was the mark of supreme rank and that

artificial ones were sometimes worn.

The beardless effigies, on the other hand, obviously represent individuals

belonging to a different caste; and the fact that stelæ exist at Copan and

Quirigua on which two figures are carved, back to back, proves that the

assignment of the effigies of the two types to separate sides of the

courts was preceded by a time when a closer unity prevailed between the

dual rulers. The existence of stelæ with female figures proves that here,

as well as in Mexico and Peru, there had been a period when “the Below and

the cult of the Earth-mother were presided over by a woman.”

On each side of the great Stela F is carved the initial followed by 6×6=36

glyphs, which fact seems to indicate that six glyphs pertained to each of

the six regions and recorded facts relating thereunto. On the sides of

Stela F, each initial is followed by 34 glyphs only, the count being

shorter than that of Stela E by 2×2=4. One side of Stela C exhibits the

initial followed by 2×13 glyphs grouped in parallel lines, then a

horizontal band with 4 glyphs; the other side the initial followed by

4×6=24 and a group of 4 glyphs. Stela D is particularly remarkable on

account of the six squares of pictorial glyphs which follow the “Initial”

which, in this case, exhibits the head and body of a jaguar in its centre.

I refer to Mr. Maudslay’s interesting conclusion that these pictorial

glyphs preceded, in date, the more cursive method of representing the

initial series. In consequence of this jaguar initial, Stela A becomes

particularly noticeable, because one of the personages upon it has a

beard, whilst the other is masked as an ocelot or jaguar.

A vivid sense of the actuality of the bond that existed between the

ancient dwellers at Copan and Quirigua, their totemic animals and symbolic

coloring, is obtained on reading Mr. Maudslay’s following description of

the excavation of mound 4 at Copan (Report Proceedings Geographical

Society, 1886, p. 578).... “The excavation was then continued ... when

more traces of [human] bones were found mixed with red powder and sand....

Continuing the excavation ... a skeleton of a jaguar was found lying under

a layer of charcoal ... the teeth and part of the skeleton had been

painted red. At about 100 yards to the south of this mound I shortly

afterwards opened another ... mound ... and found a few small fragments of

human bones, two small stone axes and portions of another jaguar’s

skeleton and some dog’s teeth, showing that the interment of animals was

not a matter of chance.”

If we add this to the accumulation of evidence I have presented, showing

that in Mexico and Yucatan the ocelot was associated with the north, the

color red, the underworld, the nocturnal cult and with bearded priests, we

must admit that there is hope that, some day, we may be as familiar with

the life and customs of the ancient Americans as we are now with those of

the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans.

Strange animal effigies in stone have been found at Quirigua: one (B)

somewhat resembles a dragon and exhibits complex glyphs; another (G) has

been named an armadillo and has 2×8=16 glyphs carved on its lower and

2×20=40 on its upper sides.

A circular slab deserves special mention: in its centre is a seated

figure. Forming a band around the edge, to the right of the figure are 6

glyphs and 6 others are to his left=12 in all. Above him to his left are 5

and to his left are 3 glyphs. This peculiar distribution of 20 glyphs is

of peculiar interest.

The crowning glory of Quirigua, however, is the gigantic block of stone,

completely covered with intricate carvings and glyphs, which is known as

the “Great Turtle,” and of which splendid casts, made from Mr. Maudslay’s

moulds, are now exhibited in the South Kensington Museum, London, and in

the American Museum of Natural History, New York. Of the many features of

this remarkable monument, which can be studied in Mr. Maudslay’s

forthcoming part XI of the Biologia Centrali-Americana, the seated figure,

occupying a prominent place and obviously representing the central ruler,

deserves special mention. In his right hand he holds a peculiar sceptre

similar to that held by the personage on Stela E. His left hand is

concealed under a carved face, a detail which recalls the Santa Lucia

bas-reliefs.

Palenque and its group of sister cities now claim our notice. Of the

latter Men-ché particularly arrests our attention on account of its name,

the second part of which means tree and by extension, tribe. The word

_men_ is of particular interest, for it is not only the name of a dog in

the Maya Calendar but signifies precisely the same as the Mexican word

toltecatl, namely, master-builder, artificer or artisan, an adept in

manufacture. The habitual form of employing the word would be ah-men,

meaning he who is a master builder, etc.; while men-ah or men-yah

signifies work or production of manual labor. The first part of the

Nahuatl word aman-teca, signifying artisan, artificer, seems to be a

corrupt rendering of the Maya ah-men. That Men-ché, which is also known as

Lorillard City, was a centre of the highest development of

native-sculpture and art seems proven by the truly admirable and

exquisitely fine workmanship of the bas-reliefs obtained there by Mr.

Maudslay, and now exhibited at the British Museum. In execution and finish

they undoubtedly surpass any specimens of ancient American art I have ever

seen.

A search for the possible derivation of the word men leads to mehen, the

name for “sons or nephews in the male line,” mehen-ob, the descendants,

mehen-tzilaan=genealogy and parentage (a word which sheds some light on

the meaning of the ancient capital Tzilan in Yucatan). Mehen is also

employed as meaning something little, small or minute.

From the above data it may be inferred that Men-ché may have originally

signified “the tree or tribe of the sons or nephews in the male line,” and

that these people may have so identified themselves with the arts of

building and working in precious metals and stone, etc., that their title

was used as a designation for these industries. It is certainly remarkable

that, situated at an easy distance on the same river Usumacinto, there is

the great ruined city of Palenque(66) (pronounced by the natives

Pa-lem-ke) which seems also to have originally terminated in ché=tree or

tribe and to be derived from palil, pal or palal=vassal, servant, subject,

also small child. Let us see how far the monuments of Palenque justify and

support this translation of its name.

Referring the reader to Mr. Maudslay’s Biologia, and to Mr. Holmes’

Archæological Studies, Pt. II, and other well-known works on the ruins of

Palenque, I shall confine myself to a cursory examination of the four

principal isolated pyramid-temples, known, respectively, as the temples of

the Inscriptions, of the Sun, of the Cross and of the Cross No. 2.

Although the orientation of these edifices is not accurate they may be

roughly said to face the cardinal points as follows:—

The temple “of the Inscriptions” faces the north, that “of the Sun” the

east, whilst the temple “of the Cross” faces the south and that “of Cross

2,” the west. Dr. Brinton has already shown that the well-known symbol on

the famous “Tablet of the Cross” is not a cross, but the conventional

symbol for “tree” of the type I have illustrated in the preceding fig. 53.

As Cross No. 2 unquestionably belongs to the same category, it results

that these two temples would be more correctly designated as “of the Tree”

and that they furnish us with an interesting parallel of the Peruvian

quisuar can-cha, or “place of the tree,” where the Inca erected two trees

which typified his father and mother and were “as the root and stems of

the Incas.” The Palenque “trees,” moreover, closely resemble those on the

Mexican Féjérvary chart (fig. 52) inasmuch as, in each case, the tree is

surmounted by a bird and is flanked by two human figures.

It has already been shown in the preceding pages that in ancient America

the tree was generally employed as a symbol for tribe and that the Maya

word for tree=ché occurs as an affix signifying tribe or people not only

in Qui-ché, Man-ché (the latter a tribe inhabiting the region of Menché

and Palenque) etc., but also in the names of tribes inhabiting the

southern regions of North America.

Assuming, therefore, upon convincing and substantial evidence which will

be further corroborated, that the “Tablet of the Cross” represents a tree,

the symbol of tribal life, the next step is to interpret the bird perched

upon it and generally acknowledged to be a quetzal (pronounced kay-tzal)

as the totem of the tribe, which also probably expresses its name. The

tree is represented as associated with serpent symbolism and as growing

from a vase=ho-och placed on a monstrous head=ho-ol, the idea conveyed

being that it flourished in the centre or middle, while the head

signifies, as has been shown, the capital and also the chief. On the vase

is carved a symbol to which I draw special attention, as it recurs on the

right hand end of the carved band below the tree, is met with in Maya

calculiform glyphs and is also frequently employed in ancient Mexico. It

represents the corolla of a four-petalled flower which obviously

symbolized the Four-in-One, which permeated the native civilizations.

The word for “flower” being nic in Maya and xochitl (pronounced hoochitl)

in Nahuatl, it must be admitted that the symbol of a vase with a flower

seems to afford an instance of a bilingual rebus, as the Maya hooch is

identical in sound to the Nahuatl xoch-itl. Even without this, however,

the meaning of the tree and serpent, the bird, the vase, the quadripartite

flower, and the head, would have been generally and equally intelligible

to native tribes, being familiar symbols constantly employed in

metaphorical speech.

Mr. Maudslay has pointed out and illustrated in his work (Biologia, pl.

92, pt. X) that the side branches of the “cross” simulate bearded

serpents’ heads, whilst their recurved upper jaws are covered with what

resemble buds of flowers, seeds or beads. The Palenque “cross” is indeed

characterized by being profusely decorated with “bead or seed-like

ornaments and appendages” some of which resemble beads or seeds, figured

in some instances, like those on the Copan swastika, the meaning of which

seems supplied by the previously cited Zuñi text. It does not appear to be

a mere matter of chance that the following Maya words, culled from the

dictionaries, are so closely connected: yax-ché=a sort of ceiba tree, the

emblem of celestial life of the Mayas; yax-chumil and

yax-pa-ibe=adjectives primitive, original; adverb firstly, at the

beginning; yaxil, verb=to make something new, to commence, begin;

yaxil-tun=bead or pearl; yax-mehen-tzil=eldest son.

According to this incontrovertible evidence we find that the sacred tree

of life of the Mayas was designated by the word yax, signifying first,

original, new, etc.; that the same root enters into the composition of the

word for eldest son and finally for “bead.” The latter curious agreement

is accentuated by the well-known fact that the Mexicans employed in

metaphorical speech the word cuzcatl=bead made of some precious stone, to

designate “father, mother, lord, captain, governor; those who are like a

sheltering tree to the people” (Olmos, cap. VIII). A term of particular

endearment for a son was “gold-bead” (teocuitla-cuzcatl). Olmos moreover

records no less than eight metaphorical designations for a “Tree, or first

father, origin of generation, lord or governor,” and appellations for

twenty-nine “Relatives who issue from one stem or trunk.”

Collectively, the evidence set forth in the preceding pages identifies the

image on the famous “Tablet of the Cross,” as a symbolical representation

of the “Tree of Life of the Eldest Sons,” chiefs or nobility of a tribe,

whose totemic bird was the quetzal.(67) Before completing the description

of this tablet, the analogous representation of a tree on the “Temple of

the Cross 2” should be examined. This is generally known as the foliated

Cross and like its counterpart it issues from a vase with a quadriform

emblem, and a monstrous head. Its branches are composed of

conventionalized maize plants on which human heads and faces occupy the

places of the corn-cobs whilst their hanging hair simulates the tassels of

the ripe corn. The maize-leaves are decorated with groups of seed-like

beads amongst which distinct representations of maize seeds are

discernible. These form, indeed, the leading motif of the seed decorations

and indicate that the “appendages” to the groups of seed-like beads on the

Copan swastika were but conventionalized maize-seeds. The branches of the

maize-tree are surmounted by a conventionally ornamented head from which

hangs a necklace of beads with a medallion consisting of a face surrounded

by a beaded frame. Above the head the totemic quetzal bird is repeated

under almost precisely the same form but in a reversed position. It is

interesting to note that the Maya name for maize is ixim, which added to

the ché=tree, yields ixim-ché, a word which actually occurs as the local

name of the ancient capital of Guatemala, named “Iximché-tecpan.” To this

curious fact should be also added that “ix” is the prefix employed to

designate the feminine gender and that Ix-chel is “the name of the Maya

goddess of medicine and of child-birth.”

An extremely interesting composite symbol is carved under the feet of the

personage standing next to the “maize-tree,” to the right of the

spectator. It consists of the realistically carved large convolute

sea-shell such as constituted the Mexican symbol of parturition. An almost

grotesque human figure is represented as issuing from it and holding in

its hand a maize plant which bends upwards and curves over the shell. Its

leaves are drawn with maize-seeds on and amongst them, in the same

conventional way that has been noticed on the central tree, and human

heads again simulate the corn-cob. An acquaintance with Mexican and Zuñi

symbolism enables us to grasp the significance of this composite symbol

which figuratively expresses the common birth and growth of the substance

of plant and human life. The personage who stands over this symbol, facing

the tree and the tail of the bird which surmounts it, holds a curiously

decorated emblem in his hand, of which more anon. A small twig bearing

three terminal leaves issues from his head. Behind him are 4 perpendicular

columns with 17 glyphs in each; whilst a detached series, consisting of 13

smaller glyphs, is carved in front and above him.

At the opposite side of the tree, facing the almost unrecognizable head of

the bird, a personage stands on an elaborately carved monstrous head,

covered with a maize-plant. He is wearing a necklace and medallion like

that on the tree itself. His head is surmounted by a high cap bearing a

conventionalized flower-bud. A belt in the form of a serpent with open

jaws, encircles his waist and he is holding aloft in his hands, a

miniature, human, seated figure with folded arms, a bead necklace and an

indescribable head-dress and masked face. His attitude indicates that, by

offering this figure, he is performing some rite. On the other hand, a

conventionalized sign for water seems to be issuing from the bird’s head

and descending upon the figure whilst puffs of breath and seeds issuing

from its beak seem to be directed towards the tiny effigy of a human

being.

Reverting now to the “Tablet of the Cross I,” we find precisely analogous

figures at its sides, only in reversed positions. To the right of the

spectator stands the priest with a tall hat surmounted by the flower-bud,

somewhat resembling a fleur-de-lis. The small human figure he is offering

is recumbent and is being held out so as to come in contact with the

pendant issuing from the bird’s head.

The figure on the opposite side, with the head-dress and twig with three

leaves, is facing the central tree and holding a staff which, in this case

although combined with other emblems, clearly appears to represent a young

maize plant, with its roots below, and growing shoot with leaves above. As

on the other tablets there are columns of glyphs behind each figure,

whilst the personage holding the maize-plant is associated with a detached

group, in two portions, consisting of 10+4 glyphs, and is standing on a

large glyph associated with a numeral.

Having thus cursorily brought out some special points observable on both

“Cross Tablets,” let us now glance at the tablet in the “Temple of the

Sun.” On this we again find columns of glyphs and a personage at each side

of a central figure. The same peculiarities and differences of costume are

observable here as on the preceding tablets; but each personage holds a

small, grotesque human figure with a long nose, and each stands on the

back of a human being, that to the left of the spectator especially

appearing to be a conquered enemy.(68)

Two over-burdened-looking seated figures, one of which is clothed in a

spotted ocelot’s skin, occupy the centre and support, on their bowed

shoulders, a curious emblem terminating in open serpents’ jaws. The large

head (of a jaguar?) is in the centre and above this issue two puffs of

breath with seeds, forming a double recurved figure so identical in shape

and detail to a single branch of the Copan swastika that one might imagine

it was carved by the same hand. On this tablet, instead of a tree, the

centre is occupied by a shield, exhibiting a face and having tufts of

feathers at its four rounded corners. This rests on two crossed lances

with decorated handles surmounted by large points.

In this connection it is interesting and important to note that, in

ancient Mexico, lands conquered and acquired in warfare were termed “mil

chimalli,” literally, “field of the shield,” a metaphor which was also

probably known to the Mayas.

Glancing next at the “Temple of Inscriptions,” the fourth of the large

detached temples of Palenque, we find that its interior is characterized

by the most extensive mural inscriptions found in America, consisting

entirely of hieroglyphics. Four exterior free pillars, however, “contain

on their outer faces, modelled in bold relief, life-sized figures of women

holding children in their arms” (Holmes).

Having brought out the particular point that, in each of the four temples

described, adults are represented in the act of carrying or offering

children or diminutive and strangely grotesque conventionalized effigies

of human beings, I would note that the only analogous grotesque figures

with long noses, I know of, are those on the sceptres held in the hand by

the seated personage on the “Great Turtle” and by the individual carved on

Stela E at Quirigua. It is noteworthy that the left hand of the latter

personage holds a shield displaying a face and recalling that carved on

the tablet of the Palenque “Temple of the Sun.” Analogous grotesque

figures also surround the personage carved on Stela F at Copan. These

facts indicate that the Quirigua “Great Turtle,” the stelæ at Quirigua and

Copan and the Palenque tablets, were erected by people sharing the same

cult and ritual observance, one feature of which was the carrying of

diminutive human effigies, with exaggerated and almost grotesque noses.

A clue to the significance of this rite is supplied by the text of the

Codex Telleriano-Remensis (Kingsborough, vol. V, p. 134) relating to the

Mexican 20-day period Iz-calli, the last of the year. “It was the feast of

Fire, because at this season the trees became warmed and began to bud. In

it was celebrated the festival Pil-quixtia, meaning ‘human life or nature

which had always escaped destruction although the world itself had been

destroyed several times.’ ”

“Izcalli signifies as much as liveliness, and in this 20-day period all

mothers lifted their children by their heads and holding them aloft called

out, Izcalli, Izcalli, as though they said ’aviva’=live, live.... This was

the period of production ... thanks were rendered to the nature which is

the cause of the production.... Every four years they feasted for 8 days

in memory of the three times that the world was destroyed. They name this

‘four times Lord,’ because this escaped destruction, although all was

destroyed. They designated the festival as that of ‘renovation’ and said

that when it and the fast came to an end the bodies of men became like

those of children. Therefore, in order to figure [or symbolize] this

festival, adults led certain children by the hand, in the sacred dance.”

Slightly incoherent though this text may be, it furnishes a most valuable

supplement to the descriptions of the same festival by other authorities.

As this is exhaustively treated in my forthcoming text to the “Life of the

Indians ” in which all available authorities are quoted and collated, I

shall confine myself here to some facts which bear a special relation to

the subject of this paper. In Mexico another name for the festival period

Izcalli, was Xilomaniztli=the birth or sprouting of the young maize.

According to Duran, izcalli signified “the creating or bringing up” and in

order to make the growth of children coincide with that of the young

maize, parents, during this period, stretched the limbs and every part of

the bodies of all infants of tender age.

Another observance which was held at this time was in anticipation of the

New Year and consisted in the raising and planting of high poles or wands

with branches, in the courtyards of the temples and in the streets. These

typified the new life; “the budding and rejoicing of the trees.” Another

New Year custom was that of carrying budding branches or young shoots of

maize in the hand, on a particular day named Xiuh-Tzitzquilo, literally,

“the taking of the year in one’s hands.” The explanation of this metaphor

is given by Duran who states that “the natives consider that the year,

with its months and days, is like a branch with its twigs and leaves.”

A passing mention must be moreover made of the two movable festivals

celebrated by the Mexicans, in which they scattered broken egg-shells on

the roads and streets as a rite of thanksgiving for “the life bestowed

upon the chicken in the shell” by the divine power. In the image of this

festival contained in the “Life of the Indians,” the egg-shells are

represented at the foot of a tree bearing seven blossoms; the seated

divinity in front of this wears a bird-mask and carries a staff with a

heart in his hand. These festivals were named respectively, seven flowers

and one flower.

Briefly summarizing the foregoing data, we find it proven that, deeply

impressed with the wonderful renewal of life in nature, the ancient

Mexicans rendered periodical thanksgiving for this in its various forms.

The budding tree, the young shoots of the maize, all seedlings, the broken

egg-shells from which the young chickens had emerged, were adopted as

emblems of the renewal of life. The child was likewise looked upon as the

renewal of the human race and every four years a thanksgiving festival “of

renovation” was solemnized in which children took a special part. In my

work on the Calendar system I shall show how far this festival “of new

birth” coincided with astronomical phenomena. From Landa we learn that in

the Maya months “Chen or Yax,” on a day designated by the priest, a

festival was celebrated named Ocna: “the renovation of the temple in

honour of the Chacs, the gods of the maize-fields.” This was held each

year ... all idols and incense-burners were renewed and if necessary the

building was rebuilt or renovated and, “in commemoration of this, an

inscription in the native characters was fixed to the walls.”

Referring to other chapters of Landa’s work we find that, as in Mexico,

the Yucatec children received a “child’s name” at birth which was changed

when, having accomplished the third year, they were “reborn” and received

a new name, _i. e._ the combined name of their father and mother. On

attaining puberty they obtained an individual name which they preserved

during life-time. A knowledge of the social organization of these people

enables one to grasp the full importance and significance of these changes

of name, which were accompanied by ritual observances and betokened the

enrolment of the children into their respective classes and sub-classes

and a consequent reorganization of certain departments of the State. It

appears that in ancient times the ceremonial of the “new birth,” or

re-naming of the children, took place every four years, simultaneously

with the thanksgiving feast for the “continuation of the human race.”

A careful analysis of native words and metaphors tends to show, moreover,

that the children born within each four-year-period were collectively

regarded as “a fresh growth upon the tribal tree.” In Mexico the word for

leaf=atlapalli, was employed as a metaphor for the lower class, whilst in

Peru the male and female descendants of the Incas were represented by gold

and silver fruits upon the trees of their male and female ancestry. The

collection of such scattered scraps of testimony enables us to reconstruct

the drift of native thought and realize that the registration of

individuals was associated with the conception of a tribal tree bearing

four branches and covered with blossoms, fruits and leaves which faded and

fell but were replaced by fresh growths.

We learn from Duran that so careful a record was kept of the population,

by the Mexican priesthood, “that not even a newborn babe could escape

detection.” The reason for this strict vigilance is clear, for the welfare

of the community and the harmonious working of the complex machinery of

state depended upon the constant renewal of vacancies caused by deaths in

each department of industry and government.

After this excursion into the realm of native thought let us now return to

the Palenque tablets, placed in detached temples which approximately face

the four cardinal points. On the tablet of the “Temple of the Cross” we

have a tribal tree with symbols of the Middle and of the Four Quarters and

of duality. A priest with a flower on his head presents a diminutive human

figure to the totemic bird perched on the tree. Another, with a leafy

branch on his head-dress, holds a conventional sceptre simulating a young

growing shoot of maize. Behind each figure are rows of glyphs and in the

upper corner to the left of the spectator is the septenary series headed

by the initial-sign.

In the “Temple of Cross II” we have a variant of the identical

representation in which the maize plant and the sea shell are prominent.

If I may hazard a suggestion of the meaning of these two tablets, I should

say that they appear to be tribal registers most probably relating to the

increase and decrease of the male and female population in all divisions

and classes, during a fixed period of time. Both seem to commemorate the

“renovation” or “new growth” of the tribal tree in a mode which would have

been as intelligible to a Mexican, for instance, as to a Maya. The fact

that the “Temple of the Sun” and that of the “Inscriptions” obviously held

analogous registers, points to the alternative possibilities (1) that each

temple was destined to preserve the register of the population and social

organization, etc., of one of the four quarters of the capital and state,

according to years; (2) that the trees in the “Cross temples” figured the

male and female lineages of the ruling caste, whilst the tablet in the

“Temple of the Sun” recorded the numbers of conquered people reduced to

slavery and the “Temple of Inscriptions” preserved the register of female

children or of vassals; (3) that each of the four temples preserved a

complete register of the entire state and had been erected consecutively

at the conclusion or beginning of eras, the difference observable in the

central motif conveying the salient feature or event marking each special

epoch and recording, according to years, the organization of the state

during its course.

In the face of this possibility as well as the probability that each glyph

was painted and implied a year, it is interesting to note that, including

the initial glyph, the “Tablet of the Cross” exhibits 108 glyphs on the

side to the left and 124 on the side to the right of the spectator=a total

of 232; the “Tablet of the Cross II” exhibits 76 to the left and 83 to the

right=159; and that in the “Temple of the Sun,” 70 to the left, 159 to the

right and 12 in the middle=241. The “Temple of Inscriptions” exhibits the

initial series (see Maudslay, Biologia, pt. X, pl. 82) and entire walls

covered with glyphs, some of which, as on the tablets enumerated above,

are accompanied by numerals whilst others are not.

In a future publication I shall submit illustrations of these monuments

with the ripened results of my investigations concerning them. For my

present purpose it suffices to have produced substantial proofs that the

ancient dwellers in Palenque employed the same metaphors, the same cursive

method of registration and held the same fundamental principles of

organization that have been shown to underlie the civilizations of Peru,

Guatemala, Yucatan, and Mexico and still survive amongst the Zuñis and

more northern tribes. It is obvious that, at Palenque and the neighboring

Menché and Ixkun, an integral civilization, based on these principles, had

existed for an incalculable length of time. Strangely enough it seems to

form so close a link between Maya and Mexican culture that it almost seems

justifiable to surmise that both Maya and Nahuatl languages were spoken in

these ancient ruined cities.

Proceeding mentally northwards we will not linger at the ruins of Mitla,

the name of which seems to indicate that it had lain to the north of a

great ancient centre of government, since Mictlan in Nahuatl and Mitnal in

Maya both designate the region of the underworld and the north.

Reaching the ultimate stage of our mental exploration of the American

Continent we now transport ourselves to the Valley of Mexico and, on the

site of the ancient capital of Montezuma and his coadjutor, face the three

great monolithic monuments which are popularly known as the Calendar

Stone, the Stone of Tizoc and Huitzilopochtli. In 1886, at the Buffalo

Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, I

presented a “Preliminary Note of an Analysis of the Mexican Codices and

Graven Inscriptions,” in which the opinion was advanced that the “Calendar

Stone” was identical with the “circular elaborately carved tablets which,

according to Padre Duran, were erected in each market-place in ancient

Mexico, and were held in great veneration. They were frequently consulted

and by them the market-days were regulated.”

“All writers concur in stating that the market was held on each fifth day,

when all adults were obliged by law to resort to the appointed

market-place. The entire produce and manufacture of the state were brought

there, even from great distances, severe penalties being incurred by those

who bartered the products of agriculture or manual labor on the highway or

elsewhere. On the broad, straight, cemented roads which led from the four

quarters to the heart of the capital, ‘resting places’ for the wayfarers

and carriers were provided at fixed intervals. The enormous concourse of

people, the variety of produce exhibited in the market-places of

Montezuma’s capital filled the conquerors with wonder and admiration. From

Cortés, Bernal Diaz, Sahagun and others we learn that the market was a

special charge of the supreme chief of Mexico; that appointed officers

presided in state over it whilst others moved among the throng

superintending the traffic. Standard measures were kept and rigorous

punishment awaited those who sold by false measure or bartered stolen

property.”

After making the preceding statements I advanced the opinion “that the

periodical market-day was the most important regulator of the Mexican

social organization and that the monolith generally known as the

Calendar-stone was the Market-stone of the City of Mexico. It bears the

record of fixed market days; and I venture to suggest that from these the

formation of the Mexican Calendar system originated. The stone shows the

existence of communal property and of an equal division of general

contributions into certain portions....”

I concluded the above communication with the statement: “Before publishing

my final results I shall submit them to a searching and prolonged

investigation. An examination of the originals of many of the Codices

reproduced in Lord Kingsborough’s ‘Mexican Antiquities’ will be necessary

to determine important points and during the forthcoming year my line of

researches will be in this direction.” In my youthful enthusiasm and

inexperience I little foresaw, when I wrote the above sentences, that I

should spend thirteen years in diligent research before I felt ready to

express my ripened conclusions concerning the Calendar-stone. Although the

results I am about to submit are final they are necessarily incomplete,

their full presentation with adequate illustrations being included in my

forthcoming special work on the Social and Calendaric system of ancient

America. For the present I have limited myself to the reproduction of the

outline drawing of the monolith made by the late Dionysio Abadiano of

Mexico and published in his somewhat fanciful work on this subject.(69) No

one, however, had studied the Calendar-stone more carefully than he; and,

besides being extremely accurate in outline, his drawing has the merit of

including the eight deep circular holes which were drilled at regular

intervals outside of the worked border of the stone as well as the groups

of smaller circular and shallow depressions which Señor Abadiano

discovered on the outer unworked portion of the monolithic block. Without

discussing here the question whether the eight drill holes were intended

to support a species of gnomon, as Leon y Gama first maintained, or merely

served for the guidance of those who carved this marvel of accurate

workmanship and symmetrical design, I shall merely point out that,

although the group of circular depressions in the block, in the lower

corner to the left of the spectator, offers a certain resemblance to the

form of the constellation of Ursa Major, this may be merely the result of

chance.

Facing the problem of the meaning and purpose of the “Calendar-stone,”

after thirteen years of assiduous study, I find that the interpretation I

suggested in 1886, is substantially strengthened and corroborated by

freshly accumulated evidence. The difference is that I now lay less stress

upon the phonetic elements and values of the symbols, although, as I shall

set forth in the special publication alluded to, no study of the monument

can be considered complete unless these be carefully analyzed and

understood. The one great stride in advance that I think I have made is

the recognition that the monolith is an image of the Great Plan or Scheme

of Organization which has been expounded in the preceding pages and which

permeated every branch of native thought.

The monument represents the high-water mark reached in the evolution of a

set of ideas, which were suggested to primitive man by long-continued

observation of the phenomena of Nature and by the momentous recognition of

the

“northern star,

Of whose true-fixed, and resting quality,

There is no fellow in the firmament.

The skies are painted with unnumber’d sparks,

They are all fire, and every one doth shine;

But there’s but one in all doth hold his place.”(70)

This inscribed tablet, which constitutes one of the most important

documents in the history of the human race, is as clearly an image of the

nocturnal heaven as it is of a vast terrestrial state which once existed

in the valley of Mexico, and had been established as a reproduction upon

earth of the harmonious order and fixed laws which apparently governed the

heavens.

The monument exposes these laws, the dominion of which probably extended

throughout the American Continent, and still faintly survive in some

existing aboriginal communities. It not only sets forth the organization

of state government and the subdivision of the people into classes bearing

a fixed relation to each other, but also serves as a chart of the

territory of the State, its capital and its four provinces, and minor

topographical divisions. Finally, it reveals that the progress of time,

the succession of days, years and epochs, _i. e._ the Calendar, was

conceived as a reproduction of the wheel of sinistral revolution described

by the circumpolar constellations around Polaris. The Septentriones served

as an indicator, composed of stars, the motive power of which emanated

from the central luminary. This marked not only the march of time each

night, but also the progress of the season by the four contrapositions

apparent in the course of a year, if observed at a fixed hour of the

night.

The twenty familiar day and year signs of the native calendar are carved

on a band which encircles the central figure on the stone. I am now in a

position to prove satisfactorily that these signs were not merely

calendaric and that they equally designated four principal and 4×4=16

minor groups of stars; four chiefs and 4×4=16 minor tribal groups or

divisions of men.

[Illustration.]

Figure 56.

Merely a few indications will suffice to prove how completely and

unmistakably the symmetrical design on the monolith (fig. 56) expounds the

great plan which had impressed itself so deeply and indelibly upon the

minds of the native philosophers and influenced all their thoughts and

speculations.

The head and face in the middle of the monument conveys the idea of

duality, being masked, _i. e._ doubled-faced and bearing the number 2

carved on its forehead. It conveyed the conception of a divine power who

ruled heaven and earth from a changeless and fixed centre in the heaven;

expressed the dual government of the earth by twin-rulers who dwelt in a

central capital. It typified light and the heaven itself with its two

eyes; the sun and moon and darkness and the earth by the mouth; whilst the

symbols for breath issuing from both nostrils and the tongue protruding

from the mouth denoted the power of speech, which was so indissolubly

connected with the idea of chieftainship by the Mexicans that a title for

the chief was “the Speaker.” The central head likewise denoted a “complete

count”=one man, and was expressive of a great era of time, embodying

twenty epochs.

As a synopsis of the whole, the following titles recorded in the

chronicles would be applicable to the central ruler, celestial or

terrestrial: the two lord, the divine twin; the two-lord and two lady; the

quadruple lord, “He who looks in four directions;” the lord of the

thirteen powers; the one lord, _i. e._ embodying a complete count=20; the

lord of five (_i. e._ of the Middle and Four Quarters); of seven, _i. e._

of the Middle, Above, Below, and Four Quarters; of thirteen, _i. e._ of

the duplication or male and female or celestial and terrestrial divisions

of the Above, Below and Four Quarters plus the Middle.

Surrounding the central head are four square divisions arranged in two

separate parts, each of which includes what appears to be in one case the

right, and in the other the left, conventionalized claw (forepaw?) of an

animal armed with hooked nails, such as Mictlantecuhtli, the lord of the

North, is represented with.

The square compartments contain symbols of the four elements so disposed

that air and water are appropriately associated with the hand to the right

(=male region) and fire and earth with the hand to the left side (=the

female region) of the central head. But this is not all, for another

carefully devised relation between the elements likewise appears upon

careful examination. In the middle, carved above the central face and

between the symbols for air and fire, is the conventionalized “ray of the

Sun,” or pyramid which typifies “that which ascends or is above” the upper

elements and the Above. As its opposite we find below, situated between

the symbols of earth and water, a ring with a concentric circle

representing the drop of water=“that which descends.” As the Moon was

inseparably associated with water and the Below, it is doubtlessly

included in the symbolism.

One more point which will receive due attention in my monograph remains to

be briefly noticed. As the symbol for air=east is situated to the right of

the symbol for north, and the earth=west is to its left, it is clear that

the central face is conceived as looking down from above upon the

spectator. It is only when the stone is considered as placed face downward

that the symbols assume their proper positions as regards the cardinal

points. This reversal, which is the natural result of the association of

the east and south with the right hand of the middle personage, suggests

that the monolith may have been originally designed to be let into the

flat or slanting ceiling of a building. As a parallel instance I will

state that, some years ago, Señor Troncoso pointed out to me a fact he had

noticed, namely, that the relative positions of the cardinal points on the

Féjérvary chart were reversed and that it must have been intended to be

looked at from underneath.

Each of the element symbols is accompanied by four numerals placed in the

angles of the squares, with one exception, where one numeral was obviously

dislodged from its proper position by an encroaching emblematic ornament.

The positions of these numerals and of their square enclosures are what

recalled to my mind the opposite positions assumed by Ursa Major in its

annual rotation around the axis of the heaven. Just as the central face

primarily represented Polaris, so these squares figured the four

contrapositions of the great constellation. The peculiar, almost

cross-shaped figure resulting from the union and association of the

symbols of the Centre, and of the Above, Below, Right, Left=Four Quarters,

is a well-known conventional sign, generally known as a “nahui-ollin.” The

accepted translation of this name is “four movements,” from olinia,

verb=to move, and no name could be more appropriate for a symbol which, to

my idea, like the swastika, actually represents the movement of the most

conspicuous of septentrional constellations to four opposite places.

At the same time, as the nahui-ollin on the stone encloses symbols of the

four elements, the union of which was believed by the native philosophers

to be essential for the production and maintenance of life, I was led to

observe also the fact that the words for life and heart, and the verbs to

be alive, to live, to resuscitate, etc., are all derivatives from the root

yuli, or yoli, which undoubtedly has a common origin with the verb

olinia=to move. It therefore not only appears that, to the native mind,

motion and life were indissolubly linked together, but that the name

nahui-ollin must have signified four-fold life as well as movement. It

likewise typified the four sides of the great pyramid which formed the

nucleus of the capital and was crowned by two temples, respectively

occupied by symbolical images of the “Divine Twins.” It is impossible not

to realize that, in ancient Mexico, the pyramid constituted an image of

the entire system.

Each of its sides obviously pertained to one of the four regions and was

probably painted with its symbolical color.(71) It seems safe to assume

that the pyramid was originally erected by the coöperation of people from

the four quarters of the capital and state and was possibly added to at

fixed intervals so that it represented not only the constitution of the

commonwealth, but testified to its age and growth. The widely-prevalent

primitive custom that each individual should add one or more stones to a

heap of stones, as an individual contribution, may have been carried out

in the building of pyramids, the origin of which will be discussed further

on.

Although it is almost superfluous to do so, as by this time the set of

associated ideas must be familiar to the reader, I shall briefly summarize

some of the chief four-fold division or organization of which the

nahui-ollin was the graphic symbol. It represented: