THE MIDDLE CIVILIZATIONS
The influence of the Mayan civilization when at its height (400 to 600
A. D.) may be traced far beyond the limits of the Mayan area. Ideas in
art, religion, and government that were then spread broadcast served to
quicken nations of diverse speech and a series of divergent cultures
resulted. Most of these lesser civilizations were at their best long
after the great Mayan civilization had declined, but one or two were
possibly contemporary. It will be the aim in the present chapter to
emphasize the indebtedness of these lesser civilizations to the Mayas as
well as to comment upon their individual characters.
We will first proceed northwest into Mexico and then southeast into the
Isthmus of Panama. The environment under which the Mayas developed their
arts of life continues in narrowing bands westward along the Gulf of
Mexico and southward across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The most
westerly Mayan city of importance seems to have been Comalcalco. But
there is also a large ruin near San Andres Tuxtla and it may be
significant that the earliest dated object of the Mayas (the Tuxtla
Statuette) came from this region. In other words, the cradle of Mayan
culture may have been in this coastal belt where arid and humid
conditions exist side by side and where the figurines of the archaic
type are found together with those of the Mayas. Unfortunately, the
archæology of this part of Mexico has been little studied.
The Olmeca or Rubber People.
The Olmeca may be placed in the humid region of southern Vera Cruz and
western Tabasco which the Aztecs of later times called Nonoalco. This
region is frequently mentioned in the most ancient of the Mexican
traditions, doubtless symbolizing in a general way the civilizing
contacts with the Mayas. Rubber is called _olli_ in the Mexican language
and while the earliest known specimens of rubber are those found in the
Sacred Cenote at Chichen Itza, the ceremonial and practical uses of the
material are mostly mentioned in connection with the Olmeca and Totonac
peoples. Rubber was used for incense, for water-proofing purposes, to
tip drumsticks, etc. A large rubber ball was also used in a sacred game
which may be compared to basket ball since the goals were rings set high
up in the parallel walls of a specially constructed court.
According to Ixtlilxochitl’s history the Olmeca came before the Toltecs
and were the first to extend their civilizing rule over parts of the
Mexican highlands. Some authorities think the Olmeca were a Mayan tribe
but it is quite possible that they spoke Mexican. They may have fled
south at the breakdown of the Toltec empire for we find in Nicaragua at
the time of the Conquest a group of this name with traditions pointing
to the far north. The ruins found in 1927 by the writer at Cerro de las
Mesas, west of Alvarado Lagoon, may possibly be ascribed to this people.
The site contains seventeen monuments, several of which are dedicated to
Quetzalcoatl and must be referred to the thirteenth century. Bars and
dots are used in connection with day signs to record dates which may
belong to the calendarial system appearing on Zapotecan monuments.
Plate XXVII.
[Illustration: Detail of Monte Alban showing Wall Foundations and
Small Cell-like Rooms.]
Zapotecan Culture.
In the State of Oaxaca the Zapotecan Indians attained to a high degree
of civilization, but a study of their culture shows they were profoundly
indebted to the Mayas for many ideas. Monte Alban, the White Mountain,
overlooking the modern City of Oaxaca is the principal archæological
site in point of size and may have been the ancient capital. It was
abandoned before the coming of the Spaniards, however, and Mitla appears
to have taken its place.
[Illustration: Fig. 52. Comparison of Mayan and Zapotecan Serpent
Heads. The first two examples are from Palenque and the second two
from Monte Alban.]
Unfortunately no extensive traditions have come down to us to help in
the restoration of Zapotecan history, or in that of the neighboring
Mixtecs. Although the art, hieroglyphic writing, and calendar system
were pretty clearly derived from the Mayas, nevertheless there was time
and opportunity for these to develop interesting characters of their
own. It is impossible to tell from the record whether the Zapotecs ever
embarked on a career of empire: the area in which the full complex of
the characteristic products occurs is practically limited to the area at
present occupied by the tribe. It is quite possible that the Zapotecs
were conquered by the Toltecs in the twelfth century and that such
similarities as exist between the forms of Zapotecan sculptural art and
those of the Toltec cities of Xochicalco and Teotihuacan in central
Mexico, on the one hand, and those of Pipil and Chorotegan sites in
Guatemala and Salvador, on the other hand, are to be explained by
intercommunications under the Toltec régime.
[Illustration: Fig. 53. Bar and Dot Numerals combined with
Hieroglyphs on Zapotecan Monuments.]
Monte Alban and Mitla stand in strong contrast to each other, the first
crowning a mountain ridge, the second occupying a valley site. Monte
Alban has no buildings intact, but shows a vast assemblage of enormous
pyramids and platforms. Mitla has only one small pyramid, but boasts a
series of finely preserved temples on low platform bases. In Monte Alban
we find monolithic monuments comparable to the stelæ of the Mayas, and
carrying hieroglyphic inscriptions: also pottery figurines and jade
amulets in a style which follows rather closely the models developed in
the early cities of the humid lowlands. At Mitla there are none of these
things: instead, the architectural decoration shows a most interesting
use of textile designs treated in a mosaic of cut stones. It is apparent
then that a long record of high culture is to be found in the Zapotecan
field.
Plate XXVIII. Zapotecan Art:
[Illustration: Incense Burners.]
[Illustration: Funerary Vases of Portrait Type.]
[Illustration: Cruciform Tomb with Geometric Decoration.]
At Monte Alban there are one or two narrow vaulted chambers in mounds,
but on the tops of the mounds the few excavations have disclosed only
simple cell-like rooms which probably had flat roofs. Some hints of
ancient architectural decoration can be picked up here and there.
Figures similar to those modeled in bold relief on the fronts of the
cylindrical funeral urns (see frontispiece) seem to have been used over
doorways, somewhat after the fashion of the Mayan mask panels.
The hieroglyphs that are found on the stelæ of Monte Alban and on stone
slabs from other sites, resemble the Mayan hieroglyphs in the use of bar
and dot numerals, but the day and month signs have never been identified
with either the Mayan or Aztecan system, although almost certainly
dealing with the same type of calendar. Lintels with lines of
hieroglyphs on the outer edge have been found in burial chambers at
Cuilapa and Xoxo. The forms at the former site are clearly and
beautifully drawn, while at the latter site they are degenerate and
probably merely decorative.
In Zapotecan funerary urns a close connection with Mayan art can easily
be demonstrated. The urns are cylindrical vessels concealed behind
elaborate figures built up from moulded and modeled pieces. Many of
these built-up figures clearly represent human beings while others
represent grotesque divinities or human beings wearing the masks of
divinities. The purely human types have a formal modeling in high
relief, the head usually being out of proportion to the rest of the
body. The pose is ordinarily a seated one with the hands resting on the
knees or folded over the breast. Details of dress are very clearly shown
including capes, girdles, aprons, or skirts and headdresses. Necklaces
are often worn with a crossbar pendant to which shells are attached.
Headdresses are made of feathers and grotesque faces and are often very
elaborate. As for the divine types the jaguar and a long-nosed reptile
are the most common. The latter has a human body and may possibly be an
adaptation of the Mayan Long-nosed God.
The funerary urns are found in burial mounds called _mogotes_ which
contain cell-like burial chambers. The urns are not found within these
cells but on the floor in front of them, in a niche over the door, or
even on the roof. They are frequently encountered in groups of five and
seem never to contain offerings.
Other Zapotecan pottery is mostly made of the same bluish clay used in
the urns. This clay is finely adapted to plastic treatment but never
carries painted designs. The pottery products include pitchers of
beautiful and unusual shapes, dishes with tripod legs modeled into
serpent heads, incense burners, bowls, plates, etc. Of the same clay are
also made whistles in realistic forms, and moulded figurines. Painted
pottery also occurs in forms and designs of rare beauty, but it is much
less characteristic of the Zapotecan province than the unpainted ware.
Carved jades of splendid workmanship have been recovered in the
Zapotecan region and there is reason to believe that this semi-precious
stone was obtained here in the natural state. Many of the pieces are
smoothed only on the front, while the back retains its old weathered and
stream-worn surface. Beautiful examples of gold work found in this
region must be given a late date.
Splendid manuscripts were obtained by the Spaniards in the Zapotecan
region, but the pictures of the gods as well as the hieroglyphs show
strong Aztecan influences. These will be discussed briefly in a later
section. Some accounts have been preserved of the special features of
Zapotecan religion which mark them off rather sharply from the Aztecs,
however.
The high priests of the Zapotecans were called “Seers” and the ordinary
priests were “Guardians of the Gods” and “Sacrificers.” There was a sort
of priestly college where the sons of chiefs were trained in the service
of the gods. The religious practices included incense burning,
sacrificing of birds, and animals, and letting of one’s own blood by
piercing the tongue and the ear. Human sacrifice was made on stated
occasions and was attended by rites of great solemnity. The Zapotecs
never went to the blood excesses that stain the annals of the Aztecs.
[Illustration: Fig. 54. Detail of Wall Construction at Mitla,
showing the separately Carved Stones.]
Plate XXIX.
[Illustration: (_a_) Stone Sculpture of the Early Zapotecan Period
showing Rulers seated upon Thrones before an Altar.]
[Illustration: (_b_) Jade Tablets pierced for Suspension, found in
Zapotecan Tomb.]
The 260 day cycle of the time count, was subdivided into four periods of
65 days and each period was under control of a single god and was
associated with one of the cardinal points. Each period of sixty-five
days was further divided into five groups of thirteen days for a
ceremonial reason. Some authorities have considered that the general
form of the Central American calendar originated in the region of the
Isthmus of Tehuantepec and spread to the north and to the south. But
dependable history in the Mayan area goes back much farther than in the
Zapotecan region and renders such a guess extremely hazardous.
Mitla.
The famous temples of Mitla are the best-preserved examples of
architecture on the highlands of Mexico and are peculiar in form and
decoration. The word Mitla is a corruption of the Aztecan word
_Mictlan_, place of the dead. This site was the burial ground of
Zapotecan kings and may have been a place of pilgrimage. It was
conquered by the Aztecs in the last decade of the fifteenth century.
While the architecture belongs in a class by itself the frescoes have
the distinct character of the Aztecan period.
[Illustration: Fig. 55. Wall Paintings of Mitla, resembling in style
the Pictographic Art of the Codices from Southern Mexico.]
The remains at this site have already been contrasted with those at
Monte Alban. There is one fairly large mound at Mitla but it has no
surviving superstructure. The temples are placed on low platforms which
usually contain cruciform tombs. The buildings are carefully oriented
and are assembled in groups of four which almost enclose square paved
courts. The heavy walls have surfaces of cut stone and a filling of
concrete or rubble and are ornamented with longitudinal panels of
geometric designs arranged according to a carefully worked out plan. The
geometric patterns are based on textile art and the mosaics of
separately carved stones which fit neatly together preserve for us the
ancient designs on belts and mantles. The chambers are long and narrow
and formerly had flat roofs which have completely vanished. The wide
doorways usually have two piers which help to support the lintel blocks.
These are carefully trimmed stones of great length and weight. All the
outer surfaces of the Mitla temples were sized with plaster and painted
red and the frescoes, traces of which can still be seen in several
buildings, are in red and black upon a white base. Various gods and
ceremonies are represented in these frescoes, but only the upper portion
of the bands can be made out in detail.
Cruciform tombs are found under several of the temples at Mitla as well
as at a number of neighboring sites such as Xaaga and Guiaroo. In these
tombs the designs in panels appear on the inside and are carved directly
on large blocks of stone. Pottery remains are rare in the cruciform
tombs of the Mitla type but a few examples of gold work have been
discovered in them.
Within a short distance of Mitla is a fortified hill with several heavy
walls that still stand to the height of perhaps twenty feet. In the flat
valley between this hill and the ruins a considerable number of
potsherds are plowed up in the field.
Totonacan Culture.
In the central part of the state of Vera Cruz are found the remains
commonly referred to the Totonacan Indians. These Indians are southern
neighbors of the Huastecas who are an outlying Mayan tribe. The
Totonacan language is according to some authorities thrown into the
Mayan stock. If not truly Mayan it contains many loan words. This
apparent connection in language is all the more interesting in view of
the character of Totonacan art which also shows a strong strain of Mayan
feeling and technique in certain products but an unmistakable likeness
to the archaic art of the Mexican highlands in certain other products.
The pottery faces in the archaic style are advanced beyond the average
of such work and probably represent a late phase.
[Illustration: Fig. 56. The Eyes of Totonacan Figurines.]
A series of eyes showing Totonacan modifications of the styles prevalent
on the archaic pottery heads of the Highlands is given in Fig. 56. In
some cases we find the simple single or double groove eyes and in other
cases these eyes are made more conspicuous by the use of black
bituminous paint. The eyeball is developed at the end of the series.
Plate XXX.
[Illustration: Laughing Head of the Totonacs, remarkable example of
Freehand Modeling in Clay. Heads of this type probably served as
decorative details on temple fronts.]
The smiling or laughing faces have a much higher technique and are
perhaps the finest examples of clay modeling from the New World. These
heads have tubular extensions at the back and were possibly set into
temple walls. The faces and foreheads are broadened in accordance with
the esthetic type of a forehead flattening people. While the faces vary
so much in minor details as to create the impression that they are
portraits of actual persons they are alike in method of modeling. Nearly
all are laughing or smiling in a very contagious fashion. Sometimes the
tip of the tongue is caught between the teeth, sometimes the corners of
the mouth are pulled down as if the smile were reluctant, and there are
other individual variations in the expressions of lively and
unrestrained mirth.
Perhaps the most famous objects found in Totonacan territory are the
so-called “stone collars” or “sacrificial yokes.” In size and shape
these resemble horse collars, but in contrast to somewhat similar
objects from Porto Rico they are usually open while the latter are
closed. Nothing is really known concerning their use but there has been
no lack of fanciful surmises. The most popular explanation is that the
yokes were placed over the necks of victims about to be sacrificed. It
is evident that the yokes were intended to be placed in a horizontal
position because there is a plain lower surface and the ends are
frequently carved with faces that are right side up only when the plain
side is down. These yokes represent the richest and most elaborate works
of art in the entire region since they are carved in the most finished
manner from single blocks of exceedingly hard stone.
Other peculiarly shaped stones are found in the Totonacan area and are
carved according to the same splendid technique. The “paddle-shaped”
stones have been found in considerable numbers and their use, like that
of the stone yokes, is absolutely unknown. It is evident from the
carving that they were intended to be stood on end.
Plate XXXI.
[Illustration: (_a_) An Elaborately Carved Stone Collar, an Example
of the Best Sculpture of the Totonacan Indians.]
[Illustration: (_b_) A Palmate Stone from the State of Vera Cruz.
Two grotesque figures are holding snakes in their mouths.]
The designs on the sacrificial yokes and paddle stones are largely
reptilian, but there are examples where the turkey, the coyote, as well
as the human motive are treated somewhat after the manner of the Mayas.
Plumed serpents, monkeys, centipedes, and crocodiles are interestingly
drawn on pottery. An important site is Papantla where a remarkably
ornate pyramid rising in six terraces may be seen, as well as massive
sculptures in the same style as the works of art described above. The
front wall of each terrace on all four sides of the pyramid, except for
the space occupied by the stairway, is divided into a series of niches
neatly made of cut stone. Formerly each of these niches may have served
to shelter the statue of some god. Many fine remains of Totonacan art
have been recovered from the Island of Sacrifices in the harbor of Vera
Cruz. This island retained its ancient sacrificial character in the time
of the Spanish conquerors. It is apparent, however, that the culture had
already changed greatly if we may judge by the ruins of Cempoalan, the
Totonacan capital in the sixteenth century. The art of this city is
largely Aztecan.
The Toltecs.
Mexican history is greatly concerned with the Toltecs, the name meaning
People of Tula, or Tollan, “place of the reeds.” Evidence is
accumulating that this Tula was not the comparatively insignificant ruin
on the northern edge of the Valley of Mexico, but instead was the great
city of San Juan Teotihuacan. The lesser Tula may have been founded
about 1200 A. D., just before the collapse of Toltec power.
Archæology tells a more detailed and convincing story of the Toltecs
than does recorded history. In the stratified remains at Atzcapotzalco,
the objects accredited to the Toltecs overlie those of the first potters
of the Archaic Period and are in striking contrast to them. The
principal motives of Toltec decorative art are obviously related to the
earlier more brilliant work of the Mayas. The pyramids of the Toltecs
exceed in size those of the Mayas but are of inferior construction,
adobe bricks with concrete facing taking the place of rubble and cut
stone. The temples that crowned these pyramids were also of less solid
construction and no single example is now intact. Vaulted ceilings were
replaced by flat timbered ceilings or high pitched roofs of thatch.
Sometimes in wide rooms columns were used as additional support for roof
beams. The groundplans of buildings other than temples show small rooms
arranged in an irregular fashion round courts.
The ceremonial game of _tlachtli_ resembling basket ball was an
important feature of Toltec religion. It may have been obtained from the
Olmeca, but at any rate spread far and wide under the Toltec régime.
Another feature of Toltec religion was the worship of the sun’s disk
which is reflected in various sculptures. Also this people are supposed
to have invented _pulque_, made from the fermented sap of the agave. The
reclining type of sculpture known as Chacmool, after the famous example
found at Chichen Itza in northern Yucatan, may be a relic of a peculiar
Toltec cult in which drunkenness figured. Human sacrifice was another
feature of the religion of the Mexican highlands in contrast to that of
the lowland Mayas. On the economic side Toltec culture rested on the
earlier Archaic civilization, but on the artistic and ceremonial side it
was largely inspired by the Mayas through the mediation of the Zapotecs,
Olmecs, and Totonacs, but with new emphasis on certain aspects and
several important innovations. The language of the Toltecs seems to have
been essentially the same as that of the Aztecs who succeeded them.
The Toltecs made a radical departure in social policy in that they took
to war and expropriation as a means of building up national wealth,
thereby paralleling, somewhat ineffectively to be sure, the political
methods of Europe and Western Asia. There had been war before their time
in Central America, but not apparently for aggrandizement. The Mayas,
and most other Mexican and Central American nations, developed excess
food supply which released many persons for the pursuit of art and
science. Perhaps it was pressure of population upon food supply in an
arid land that directed the Toltecs towards tribute taking. At least the
fact is reasonably clear that this people did embark upon a short-lived
career of conquest and that they levied tribute of precious stones and
precious metals and secured by the same means an augmented food supply.
There is confusion and reduplication in the lists of Toltec rulers and
only three great names in succession can be regarded as certain. These
are Huetzin, Ihuitimal, and Quetzalcoatl, although it seems probable
that there was a still earlier chieftain named Mixcoatl or Mixcoamazatl
and that two successors of Quetzalcoatl were Matlaxochitl and Nauyotl,
the last-named also figuring as the first lord of Colhuacan. Then follow
various dynastic lists for several Mexican tribes which flourished
between the downfall of the Toltecs and the coming of the Spaniards.
Quetzalcoatl and the Toltec Era.
The chronology of the Toltecs and their successors is greatly dilated in
several historical compilations made after the Spanish conquest by
intelligent natives who interpreted fragments of ancient pictographic
year counts then surviving in Mexico. Thanks to a modern survey of
materials much more extensive than those which Chimalpahin,
Ixtlilxochitl, etc., had at their disposal, we are now able to avoid the
errors of these writers.
In the original pre-Spanish chronicles important events are recorded in
connection with fifty-two year signs falling in regular order and then
repeating. In the well-intentioned attempts to restore Mexican history
entire cycles are interpolated in several places and the rulers are
given lives of impossible length. In the case of Ixtlilxochitl we
possess, fortunately, the principal documents which this descendant of
the Texcocan kings attempted to interpret. Also in the case of the
Annals of Quauhtitlan, an early compilation made by a nameless student
of ancient history, we are in position to adjudicate wide errors in
chronology. There is an annotation on this manuscript reading “6 times 4
centuries, plus 1 century, plus 13 years, today the 22nd of May 1558.”
The “centuries” are the native cycles of fifty-two years and the total
on this basis would amount to 1313 years. Subtracted from 1558 the
beginning would be found in 245 A. D., while the years set down by the
compiler in an unbroken series reach back to 635 A. D. But there is no
pre-Spanish support for written history, outside the Mayan area, of
anything like this antiquity.
The Toltec Era was established by Quetzalcoatl, after a simplified model
of the Mayan calendar, on August 6, 1168 A. D., this date corresponding
to a day 1 Tecpatl (1 Flint) in the first position of a month Toxcatl.
This day gave its name to the entire year and its hieroglyph was one of
a series of fifty-two used to designate years in the pictographic
records. Most of the Mexican year counts begin with the particular sign
1 Tecpatl which corresponds to 1168-69 A. D. In others there is
reference to a day 7 Acatl 1 Panquetzaliztli in a year 2 Acatl (February
16, 1195 A. D.) upon which a new fire ceremony, established by
Quetzalcoatl in accordance with Mayan usage, was celebrated at intervals
of fifty-two years.
The conclusions are supported by evidence in Guatemalan chronicles and
also in records of the Mayas for we have already seen that Quetzalcoatl
conquered Chichen Itza in 1191 A. D. The three great Toltec emperors,
Huetzin, Ihuitimal, and Quetzalcoatl, swept over an area extending from
Durango to Nicaragua, the three seats of their government being
Teotihuacan in the Valley of Mexico, Chichen Itza in Yucatan, and
Iximché in Guatemala.
Quetzalcoatl probably spent his youth in Yucatan, returning to his
highland home with strange religious and social ideas. His opposition to
the Toltec idea of human sacrifice was followed by a war of cults.
Quetzalcoatl began the construction at Tula with serpent columns like
those of his lofty temple in Chichen Itza. Also he appears to have
founded Cholula as a special center for his humane religion. His death
occurred in connection with a prognostication in the Venus calendar of
the Mayas, for the year 1 Acatl, 1207-08 A. D.
Quetzalcoatl, perhaps the most remarkable figure in ancient American
history, was emperor, artist, scientist, and humanist philosopher. He
established orders of knighthood as well as the coronation ceremony used
by the later Mexican kings. He developed the various industrial arts and
built up a wide trade in cotton, cacao, and other products. As a patron
of the peripatetic merchant he appears under the name Nacxitl, which
means Four-way Foot. Apotheosis being an idea strongly fixed among the
Toltecs, Quetzalcoatl was deified as Ehecatl, God of Winds, on account
of his support of the Mayan god of rainstorms, and for his astronomical
work he was further deified as God of the Planet Venus.
Plate XXXII.
[Illustration: The Temple at Xochicalco before Restoration. The
lower part of the picture shows the sculptured base of the temple
pyramid. The walls of the temple itself are seen above.]
San Juan Teotihuacan.
This name Teotihuacan means Where the Gods (i.e., the deified dead)
Dwell. This enormous ruin is located on the eastern margin of the Valley
of Mexico. The principal features of Teotihuacan are two great pyramids
and a straight roadway lined with small pyramids. There are also several
groups of buildings of which the lower walls and the bases of the piers
are still to be seen as well as some interesting fragments of fresco
painting. The smaller of the two great pyramids is called the Pyramid of
the Moon. It is located at the end of the roadway which is commonly
called the Pathway of the Dead. The Pyramid of the Sun is situated on
the east side of the roadway. This pyramid is about 180 feet in height
and rises in four sloping terraces. The temple which formerly crowned
its summit has entirely disappeared. Explorations conducted by the
Mexican government showed that this pyramid was enlarged from time to
time and old stairways buried under new masonry. On the south side of
the small stream that flows through the ruins is a group of buildings
called the Citadel.
Plate XXXIII. Two Views of the Principal Pyramid in the Citadel at
Teotihuacan.
[Illustration: (_a_) General view of the original mass of the
pyramid at the back with the reconstructed addition in front.]
[Illustration: (_b_) View of stairway and various walls covered up
and preserved by the addition.]
In 1921 the Mexican Government undertook a restoration of the Citadel,
following the discovery of remarkable sculptures on the principal
pyramid. It appears that in ancient times this pyramid was enlarged by
an addition to one side and the richly ornamented terraces and stairway
buried (Plate XXXIII). The sculptured stones from the other three sides
of the temple were allowed to fall into neglect by the Toltecs or were
carried away and put to other uses, but the portion buried was kept in
its original state. The colors are still bright in many places and the
great heads of plumed serpents and obsidian butterflies sometimes retain
their inset eyes of obsidian. The decoration is a repeated motive. The
head of the feathered serpent projects outward from the terrace walls
and from the balustrade of the stairway, while the body is in low
relief. The tail of the serpent has a rattle, and the body is covered
with feathers. Shells are seen below the serpent where the body arches
and just in front of the tail is a massive head with two rings on the
frontal. This doubtless represents the Obsidian Butterfly, a divinity of
great importance among the Toltecs, which is represented unmistakably in
frescoes at Teotihuacan as well as on pottery. The Citadel well deserves
its name, since it is a great enclosure, much like a fort, with
buildings upon its bulwarks, and with steep outer walls, which could
easily be defended.
A few large sculptures have been found at Teotihuacan. But the site is
chiefly remarkable for pottery figurines and heads that are picked up by
thousands. The heads present such a marked variety of facial contour and
expression that it would seem as if every race under the sun had served
as models. It is very likely that these heads formed part of votive
offerings, being attached to bodies made of some perishable material.
The heads were seldom used to adorn pottery vessels, although many
modern and fraudulent vases are so adorned. Dolls with head and torso in
one piece and with movable arms and legs made of separate pieces were
known. The face of Tlaloc, the Rain God, is fairly common in Teotihuacan
pottery but other deities have not surely been identified. It is not
improbable that the God of Fire is personified as an old man with
wrinkled face, but somewhat less likely that Xipe is represented in the
faces that look out through the three holes of a mask. The jaguar, the
monkey, the owl, and other animals are also modeled with excellent
fidelity. The Mayan convention of the human face in the open jaws of the
serpent is not unknown.
[Illustration: Fig. 57. Jointed Doll of Clay from San Juan
Teotihuacan.]
A number of beautiful vases painted in soft greens, pinks, and yellows
have been recovered at Teotihuacan. These colors would not stand the
kiln and they were applied after the vessel had been burned. According
to one method, the outside of the vessel was covered with a fine coating
of plaster upon which the design was painted exactly as in fresco.
According to a second method the effect of _cloisonné_ was cleverly
achieved. This technique is most characteristic of the region northwest
of the Valley of Mexico and will be described later. Incised or engraved
designs are commonly met with on pottery vessels at Teotihuacan. No
inscriptions have been found at this ruin, in spite of the many years of
exploration.
Xochicalco.
Let us now pass over in brief review several ruins which belong to the
Toltecan period. Xochicalco, the House of the Flowers, is a large ruin
near Cuernavaca. The position seems to have been chosen primarily for
defense. The rounded ridge that drops off into deep valleys on either
side is laid out in courts, terraces, and pyramids. Only one building
offers evidence of the sculptural skill of the ancient habitants. It is
a temple, standing upon a rather low platform mound. The sides of the
platform mound are decorated with great plumed serpents, seated human
figures, hieroglyphs, etc. Parts of the sculptures also remain on the
low walls of the temple itself which is now roofless. The stone carving
at Xochicalco resembles that of Monte Alban especially as regards the
hieroglyphs and is probably of somewhat later date than Teotihuacan. All
in all the conclusion seems safe that writing was unknown outside the
Mayan area before Quetzalcoatl devised ways and means.
Tula.
Building stone of good quality was available at this site and in
consequence sculptures are plentiful. Particularly famous are the great
sculptured columns which represent feathered serpents and gigantic human
figures. The drums are mostly mortised and the columns are crowned by
true capitals. These architectural features at Tula find their closest
counterpart at the Mayan city of Chichen Itza in northern Yucatan. The
_tlachtli_ or ball court occurs at Tula and the groundplans of
complicated “palaces” can also be made out.
Cholula.
The sacred city of Cholula, in the environs at Puebla, is chiefly famous
for its great pyramid. This structure is more or less irregular in shape
but the base averages more than a thousand feet on the side and the
total height, now somewhat reduced, was probably close to two hundred
feet above the plain. Compared with the Pyramid of Cheops, it covers
nearly twice as much ground and has a much greater volume, but lacks of
course, in height. As already noted, the pyramids of the New World are
simply foundations for temples and thus always have flat tops. The great
mound of Cholula is a solid mass of adobe bricks of uniform size laid in
adobe mortar. The pyramid was evidently faced with a thick layer of
cement of which a few patches still remain. Two other large mounds exist
at Cholula. One of these has been partially destroyed and now stands as
a vertical mass of adobe bricks while the other is overgrown with brush
and cactus.
[Illustration: Fig. 58. Pottery Plates from Cholula with Decorations
in Several Colors. The pottery of Cholula ranks high in design and
color.]
Plate XXXIV.
[Illustration: (_a_) Partial View of the Great Pyramid at Cholula
which rises from the Level Plain in Three Broad Terraces. A Spanish
church has been built upon the top of this pyramid and a roadway
leads up the badly eroded mound.]
[Illustration: (_b_) A View at La Quemada. Cylindrical columns built
up of slabs of stone supported the roofs of some of the structures.
The use of columns was characteristic of late Toltecan times.]
Unlike the other Toltecan cities Cholula was still inhabited and a place
of religions importance when Cortez arrived in Mexico. But the figurines
and pottery vessels that are found at this site belong for the most part
to an epoch earlier than that of the Aztecs. Quetzalcoatl was the patron
deity of Cholula and in the decorative art the serpent is finely
conventionalized. A pottery shape frequently met with at Cholula is the
flat plate bearing polychrome designs.
The Frontier Cities of the Northwest.
An important culture area is located upon the northwestern limits of the
area of high culture in ancient Mexico. The best known and most
accessible ruin is La Quemada, “The Burned” which is situated a day’s
ride from the city of Zacatecas. This site was found in a deserted and
ruinous condition by the Spaniards in 1535 and there is little doubt
that it had been abandoned several centuries previous. La Quemada has
been popularly associated with Chicomoztoc, “The Seven Caves,” a place
famous in Aztecan mythology, but this association rests upon no
scientific basis. It is simply an unauthoritative attempt to invest a
forgotten city with a legendary interest. Chicomoztoc, where the Aztecs
came out of the underworld might be compared with our own Garden of Eden
and its exact location is just as much an eternal riddle. La Quemada is
a terraced hill resembling Monte Alban and Xochicalco. The retaining
walls of terraces and pyramids as well as the walls of buildings are
still well preserved. These walls consist of slabs of stone set in a
mortar of red earth. Perhaps the most noteworthy structure is a wide
hall containing seven columns built of slabs of stone in the same manner
as the walls. All in all the architectural types as well as the observed
contacts in art point to a late epoch of the Toltecan period. Other
ruins of the same character as La Quemada occur at Chalchihuites on the
frontier of Durango and at Totoate, etc., in northern Jalisco.
The most important artistic product from this northwestern region is a
peculiar kind of pottery which might be described as cloisonné or
encaustic ware. Examination shows that this pottery was first burned in
the usual way so that it acquired a red or orange color. Then the
surface was covered with a layer of greenish or blackish pigment to the
depth of perhaps a sixteenth of an inch. A large part of this surface
layer was then carefully cut away with a sharp blade in such a way that
the remaining portions outlined certain geometric and realistic figures.
The sunken spaces, from which the material had just been removed, were
then filled in flush with red, yellow, white, and green pigments. The
designs on this class of pottery are thus mosaics in which the different
colors are separated by narrow lines of a neutral tint. The geometric
motives show a marked use of the terrace, the fret, and the scroll. The
realistic subjects are presented in a highly conventionalized manner and
have few stylistic similarities to the figures from the Valley of
Mexico. Representative collections of this ware from Totoate, already
referred to, and from Estanzuela, a hacienda near Guadalajara, are on
exhibition in the American Museum of Natural History.
Cloisonné pottery of a somewhat different style sometimes occurs at
Toltecan sites in the Valley of Mexico, such as Tula, Teotihuacan, and
Atzcapotzalco, but fresco pottery which resembles it at first glance is
more characteristic. It appears that the cloisonné process was taken
over from the embellishment of gourd dishes in connection with which it
still exists over a large part of Mexico and Central America.
[Illustration: Fig. 59. Vessel with “Cloisonné” Decoration in Heavy
Pigments. This example comes from a mound at Atzcapotzalco and dates
from late Toltecan times. Trade pieces of this ware have been found
at Pueblo Bonito in New Mexico and Chichen Itza in Yucatan.]
[Illustration: Fig. 60. The Turtle Motive as developed in Negative
Painting with Wax at Totoate, Jalisco.]
Another common method of ceramic decoration taken over was that of
negative painting similar to the process used with cloth in making batik
designs. This process still exists in Central America as regards gourd
dishes although discontinued on pottery. Negative painting appears to be
an ancient process of exceedingly wide distribution. It is especially
common in Jalisco and Michoacan, the Valley of Toluca, Nicaragua, Costa
Rica, Panama, and Colombia, and sometimes occurs in Yucatan and Peru.
The design was painted in wax or some other soluble or combustible
paint, then the entire surface was covered with a permanent paint. When
the pot was burned the design came out in the natural color of the clay
against a black, or sometimes a red field. The design was often made two
layers deep by applying simple masses of red over the sizing before the
impermanent paint of the design proper was put on. In the northwestern
region of central Mexico now under consideration the negative painting
technique is associated with conventionalized designs representing
turtles (Fig. 60). Another ware with designs in white is concerned with
derivatives of the turtle motive. Then there are the remarkable copper
bells in the form of turtles made by coiling, that have been found in
nearby Michoacan.
Plate XXXV.
[Illustration: Stone Slab from an Ancient Sepulcher in the State of
Guerrero. The face at the top apparently represents a monkey, but
serpents have been introduced between the eyes and the eyebrows. The
other highly conventionalized faces are probably those of serpents.]
[Illustration: Fig. 61. Jaguar Head on Disk-Shaped Stone. Salvador.]
It is difficult to place time limits for the artistic styles that once
existed in this northwestern region. The archaic culture seems to have
lasted longer here than farther south; next followed the northern flow
of Toltecan culture which later receded and finally came a rather thin
layer of Chichimecan or Aztecan culture. We may tentatively conclude
that the forgotten cities of the Zacatecan subculture flourished after
1000 A. D. The question should be settled because of its connection with
the dating of Pueblo ruins farther north.
Santa Lucia Cozumalhualpa.
The zonal distribution of rain forests in southern Mexico and Central
America is especially important, as has been pointed out, in connection
with the spread of Mayan-type civilizations. The Olmeca and Totonacs who
were among the first to feel the cultural effects of the Mayan
ascendency occupied lands of heavy precipitation. The Zapotecan and
Mixtecan areas were partly wet and partly dry. The Toltecs seem
originally to have been desert dwellers but they extended their
conquests over tribes living in the humid tropics and made much of
cacao, rubber, copal, etc., obtained by trade and tribute from such
subject peoples.
Along the Pacific coast below the Isthmus of Tehuantepec lies a rain
belt containing ruined cities which flourished between 1000 to 1300 A.
D., or on the historical level of the Toltec expansion. The sculptural
art at these sites resembles the works attributed to the Olmecs in
Tabasco and Vera Cruz on the one hand and to the works of the Chorotega
of lower Central America on the other. One such ruin is Quiengola near
the modern city of Tehuantepec, another occupies a ridge above Tonalá
and there is a cluster of sites in the environs of Santa Lucia
Cozumalhualpa in southern Guatemala, extending into western Salvador.
Whether or not the sculptures of Santa Lucia Cozumalhualpa are to be
credited to the Pipil, a Mexican tribe, is far from certain, but human
sacrifice and other Toltec religious ideas are plainly presented. We
find here elaborate speech scrolls comparable to those of Xochicalco and
the Toltec work at Chichen Itza. Also there is evidence of the
ceremonial importance of cacao in this region, the god of this economic
plant being pictured in the form of a jaguar.
A peculiar type of pottery centered in southern Guatemala and western
Salvador from which region it was distributed far and wide by trade.
Although a few examples of this ware are found at Copan it is clear from
the designs that most of the pieces belong to a time subsequent to the
abandonment of this Mayan city. The ware has a semi-glaze which is the
result of lead in the clay. Because paint could not be applied to this
ware, the esthetic idea of shape was allowed to develop itself without
hindrance. This pottery is now referred to as plumbate ware.
The Chorotegan Culture.
Passing south and east from the Mayan area we find remains of a rich and
in many ways peculiar art, consisting mostly of pottery and stone
carvings, to which the name Chorotegan is applied. This name means
Driven-out People. It was first used in connection with several tribes
of the Chiapanec-Otomi stock dispossessed of a fertile area about Lake
Nicaragua by the intrusive Mexican-speaking Nicarao. The Chorotega were
not, however, totally dispossessed since they continued to hold the
Peninsula of Nicoya in Costa Rica as well as other pieces of territory.
In an archæological sense the name Chorotegan fittingly can be extended
to eastern parts of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras, since the
inhabitants of this stretch of land were also dispossessed some time
before the coming of the Spaniards. Or perhaps they voluntarily migrated
northward towards the end of the Toltec rule and are to be identified
with the Otomi, Tlappaneca, and Mazateca of southern and central Mexico.
The Tlappaneca and Otomi are definitely associated with introduction
into Mexico of the peculiar cult of Xipe, God of the Flayed. This cult
was clearly of southern origin and indeed still survived at Nicaragua at
the time of the Spanish Conquest. The Mazateca were found in transit by
Cortez, in the southern part of the Peninsula of Yucatan, living in
palisaded villages. Similar palisaded villages once flourished in
Honduras. The wild South American tribes who replaced the eastern
Chorotega exhibit a cultural non-conformity with the archæological
remains of the region they now occupy.
[Illustration: Fig. 62. Front View and Profile View Serpent Heads in
Chorotegan Art. Although derived from Mayan models they have
undergone great changes and have become highly conventionalized.]
Close analysis shows that many of the decorative motives in Chorotegan
art were developed from those of the Mayas. The serpent and the monkey
furnish the majority of the designs that are surely Mayan but each of
these is carried so far away from the original that only an expert can
see the connections. The arms and legs of the monkeys are lengthened and
given an extra number of joints while the heads degenerate into circles.
The tongues of the serpents are elongated and bent downward at the end.
All the open spaces are treated with scallops or fringes of short lines.
[Illustration: Fig. 63. Jaguar Design with Mayan Affinities
associated with Figurines that still retain Archaic Characters.
Costa Rica.]
[Illustration: Fig. 64. Jaguars from painted Nicoyan Vases.]
There is also in Chorotegan art a crocodilian motive that may be
peculiar to the Isthmian region although it has Mayan affinities. The
jaguar is also important in this ancient art. Among the most interesting
vases are those that have a modeled head projecting from one side
(jaguar, monkey, or bird) and two of the three legs of the vessel
modified into animal legs. On these elaborate vessels there are bands of
painted decoration mostly concerned with the crocodile.
Plate XXXVI.
[Illustration: (_a_) Finely Carved Ceremonial Slab found at
Mercedes, Costa Rica. The three large figures on the end as well as
the smaller ones on the bottom represent crocodiles. Keith
Collection.]
[Illustration: (_b_) Stone Figure from Costa Rica. This sculpture in
lava rock is one of the finest pieces ever discovered in this
region. The lines on the body probably represent tattoo marks.]
[Illustration: (_c_) Ceremonial Slab decorated with Monkeys.
Mercedes, Costa Rica. These ceremonial slabs may be developments of
metates or corn grinders. Keith Collection.]
The extremely elaborate metates (stones upon which maize was ground)
from southern Nicaragua and northern Costa Rica probably were made by
the producers of the peculiar pottery art already described. These were
carved out of solid blocks of lava with stone tools. It is not unlikely
that these elaborate metates were used as ceremonial seats since few of
them show signs of use. The jaguar is perhaps the most common motive
used in the decoration of these metates. The back is broad and slightly
dished, the head projects from the center of one end and the tail swings
in a curve from the other end to one of the feet.
[Illustration: Fig. 65. Highly Conventionalized Jaguar Motive. The
principal features of the head as well as the outline of the leg
survive in highly modified form. From the southern end of Lake
Nicaragua.]
At Mercedes remarkable stone slabs were found during the excavations
conducted by Mr. Minor C. Keith. These are now on exhibition in the
American Museum of Natural History. The sculptures in relief on these
slabs are by all odds the finest from the Isthmian area. Human beings,
crocodiles, monkeys and birds are all used to decorate these carefully
and laboriously made pieces whose use is entirely unknown. Statues in
the full round have also been unearthed in quantity at Mercedes which
gives every evidence of having been a large city with a long career.
[Illustration: Fig. 66. Simple Crocodile Figures in Red Lines on
Dishes from Mercedes, Costa Rica.]
[Illustration: Fig. 67. Panels containing Crocodiles painted in
White Lines on Large Tripod Bowls from Mercedes, Costa Rica.]
[Illustration: Fig. 68. Simplified Crocodile Heads in the Yellow
Line Ware of Mercedes, Costa Rica.]
We may be reasonably sure that the stone slabs date from a fairly late
epoch because an undoubted “Chacmool” exhibiting the same style of
carving has been discovered here. The “Chacmool,” a half reclining
figure with the knees drawn up, the body supported in part upon the
elbows and a bowl for incense or other offerings in the pit of the
stomach, gets its fanciful name from Le Plongeon who discovered the
original at Chichen Itza. But the unmistakable sculptures of this type
were apparently developed by the highland tribes and the cult was
introduced into northern Yucatan during the period of Mexican influence.
In addition to Chichen Itza examples have been found at Cempoalan, the
historic Totonacan capital near Vera Cruz, at Texcoco, in the Valley of
Mexico, at Jhuatzio in the Tarascan region, as well as at Chalchuapa far
to the southeast in Salvador. All of these occurrences indicate a late
Toltecan horizon for its distribution.
Isthmian Gold Work.
Metal-working was unknown to the Mayas of the First Empire, but is
abundantly illustrated in cities of the Second Empire, especially
Chichen Itza where the pieces are predominantly of Costa Rican and
Colombian manufacture evidently secured in trade. We are therefore
justified in concluding that the splendid Isthmian gold work came into
being after 630 A. D. and was typically developed by 1200 A. D. The
“wire technique,” essentially a cast rather than a soldered filigree,
characterized metal working as far south as southern Colombia and is
also the dominant mode in Mexico. In addition to plain and hollow
casting, two kinds of gold plating were carried to perfection by the
ancient metal workers: one a heavy plating over copper and the other a
thin gilding. The manner in which this plating was done is still
uncertain. It has been suggested that the molds were lined with leaf
gold or sprinkled with gold dust before the baser copper was poured in.
Also acids are said to have been used to dissolve out copper from the
surfaces. Many ornaments are of pure beaten gold and have designs in
_repoussé_.
Plate XXXVII.
[Illustration: (_a_) The Gold Work of the Ancient Mexicans excited
the Wonder of the Spanish Conquerors. Comparatively few examples,
however, have come down to us.]
[Illustration: (_b_) Many Ornaments of Gold are found in the Graves
of Costa Rica and Panama. The Keith Collection contains a very fine
series of these pieces illustrating all the forms as well as the
technical processes.]
[Illustration: Fig. 69. Conventional Crocodiles from Costa Rica and
Panama.]
The gold objects are found in stone box graves along with pottery and
stone carvings. Gold is taken from only a small percentage of the
graves, probably those of chiefs. A systematic rifling of the ancient
cemeteries has been going on since the arrival of the Spaniards, but the
finds have mostly been thrown into the melting pot. The burial places
are sometimes marked by low platforms built over a group of graves. An
iron rod, giving forth a hollow sound when the stone cysts are struck,
is used by the searchers. Human bones are found in these graves, but
seldom in a state of good preservation.
Mr. Minor C. Keith’s collection of gold work from Costa Rica and Panama
is unexcelled and illustrates the range of technical processes as well
as of ornamental forms. Human forms are represented with peculiar
headdresses and with various objects carried in the hands and often they
are joined in pairs. Many of the most beautiful amulets are frogs
arranged either singly or in groups of two or three. These figures are
all provided with a ring on the under side for suspension. Lizards,
turtles, and crocodiles are frequently modeled as well as clam shells,
crabs, and monkeys. But perhaps the most frequent amulets are those that
picture birds with outspread wings among which may be recognized
vultures, harpy eagles, gulls, man-of-war birds, and parrots. The larger
and more elaborate pieces of gold work cast considerable light on the
ancient religion of the natives since beast gods are figured in half
human form. Bells of copper and gold were much used in gala dress and
were doubtless an object of trade with the tribes farther north.
Plate XXXVIII.
[Illustration: A Page from the Tribute Roll of Moctezuma, showing
the Annual Tribute of the Eleven Towns pictured at the Bottom and
Right. The tribute consisted of: (_a_) Two strings of jade beads;
(_b_) Twenty gourd dishes of gold dust; (_c_) A royal headdress;
(_d_) Eight hundred bunches of feathers; (_e_) Forty bags of
cochineal dye; (_f-g_) Warrior’s costumes; (_h_) Four hundred and
two blankets of this pattern; (_i_) Four hundred blankets; (_j_)
Four hundred and four blankets; (_k_) Four hundred blankets. The
towns are: (1) Coaxalahuacan; (2) Texopan; (3) Tamozolapan; (4)
Yancuitlan; (5) Tezuzcululan; (6) Nochistlan; (7) Xaltepec; (8)
Tamazolan; (9) Mictlan (Mitla); (10) Coaxomulcu; (11) Cuicatlan, in
the State of Oaxaca.]