ANCIENT AMERICAN CIVILIZATION AND SUPPOSED OLD WORLD
ANALOGIES—ARCHITECTURE, SCULPTURE AND HIEROGLYPHICS.
Analogies, Real and Fancied — MAYA ARCHITECTURE — The American
Pyramid — The Palace of Palenque — The French Roof at Palenque
— The Trefoil Arch — Yucatanic Architecture — Uxmal — The Casa
de Monjas — Kabah — Casa Grande of Zayi — QUICHÉ ARCHITECTURE
— Copan — Circus of Copan — Description by Fuentes — Utatlan —
NAHUA ARCHITECTURE — Remains in Oajaca — Mitla — Grecques at
Mitla — Remains in the State of Vera Cruz — Cholula — Pyramid
of Xochicalco — The Temple of Mexico — Teotihuacan — Los
Edificios of Quemeda — Maya and Nahua Architecture Compared —
Old World Analogies — SCULPTURE — Of the Mounds — At Palenque
— At Uxmal — At Chichen-Itza — On the Isla Mujeres — Of the
Nahuas — Ancient American Art and its Old World Analogies —
Egyptian Tau at Palenqué — Serpent Sculpture — Nahua Symbolism
probably Asiatic — HIEROGLYPHICS — Maya MSS. and Books —
Landa’s Alphabet — The Attempts at the Interpretation of Maya
MSS. by Bollaert, Charencey, and Rosny — Rosny’s Classification
of the Hieroglyphics — Hopes that a Key has been Discovered —
The Mexican Picture-writing — Aztec Migration Maps.
Without pretending to furnish an exhaustive treatment of the subject
proposed for this chapter, we desire to make observations on some
phases of the development of American civilization in the Pre-Historic
period. One of the most natural fruits of the study of the arts and
customs of any people, is a disposition on the part of the investigator
to institute a comparison with corresponding features of civilization
in all parts of the world. Unfortunately this disposition has led many
writers on America into wild and fanciful speculations, which tend only
to deceive the reader and add nothing to true investigation. In a few
instances pronounced old world analogies have been proven to exist in
ancient American institutions and arts, but their number bears a small
ratio to the multitude of fancied analogies which never existed, except
in the imaginations of their discoverers. To discuss the subject in
hand without transcending the limits of the period which is treated in
previous chapters, namely, the Primitive period—that which antedates
the era of the annals of those ancient peoples, is a somewhat difficult
task, since the question of dates is a very uncertain one in the
absence of any sufficient key to the hieroglyphic and picture records.
The customs and political organization, together with the Aztec
civilization, have been often treated, and by none better than our own
Prescott and Bancroft. The repetition of their labors here would be
highly superfluous. We shall, however, ask the attention of the reader
to some considerations upon the following divisions of the subject:
1. ARCHITECTURE. 2. SCULPTURE and HIEROGLYPHICS. 3. CHRONOLOGICAL and
ASTRONOMICAL KNOWLEDGE. 4. RELIGIOUS ANALOGIES.
_Architecture._—The works of the Mound-builders and Pueblos have
already been described and their transitional forms or stages noted.
To seek for parallelisms or analogies between the Mound-builders and
the people of Asia because mounds are common to both continents, or
to seek to identify them with the people of Northern Europe because
the shell-heaps of our sea-board resemble those of Denmark, would
certainly be an unjustifiable use of the imagination, in anything
like a serious discussion of the question. We have no disposition
to speculate on this subject, since such speculation cannot furnish
any satisfactory results. Certain resemblances between American and
Hindoo-mounds have been supposed to exist, but the resemblance, if
any, proves nothing.[491] That more fruitful and wonderful field of
ancient architecture in Central America, Yucatan and Mexico, furnishes
abundant opportunity for the discussion of our subject. Detailed
descriptions of the remains found in different localities have been
given by travelers, artists and authors, the latter availing themselves
of several accounts and instituting comparisons between the statements
of different explorers. Such works, savoring somewhat of the critical,
cannot be underrated, since their development of the true facts has
contributed largely to our knowledge of the subject. It has been
generally the rule for writers to undertake the description of remains
in a particular locality and treat them in detail, thus presenting to
the mind a pleasant picture of the whole, together with the relation
of parts. This is certainly a satisfactory plan to many readers,
but it seems to us that such a course is unnecessary, after it has
been once pursued by the explorer. By repetitions nothing is gained,
unless the work of classification (by which certain architectural
forms and methods are woven into a style and their variations noted)
receives attention. In preceding chapters we have treated of the Maya,
the Quiché, and the Nahua peoples, and in this, it is our purpose
to briefly note the main features of their styles of architecture,
sculpture, etc., as indicated in the divisions above laid down.
_Maya Architecture_ furnishes evidence of growth, and may be classified
into the Chiapan or ancient and the Yucatanic or modified styles.
The Chiapan or ancient style is exhibited in the imposing remains of
Palenque, with which the reader is supposed to be already familiar,
from the descriptions of several explorers.[492] Palenque is situated
in the Usumacinta River region in Chiapas, on a small stream sometimes
called the Otolum, a tributary of the Tulija, which is itself a branch
of the Usumacinta. The ruins are situated in a small valley of the
foothills, from which rise the high table-lands of the interior. They
are known as the Palace, with a pyramidal base measuring two hundred
and sixty by three hundred and ten feet and forty feet high; Temple of
the three Tablets; Temple of the Beau Relief; Temple of the Cross, and
Temple of the Sun. The most conspicuous feature of the architecture
employed, and seen in most of the Central American structures, is the
massive pyramidal foundation. The sides of the pyramid of the Palenque
palace are faced with regular blocks of hewn stone, with extensive
flights of stairs, upon the east and north leading to its summit.[493]
Mr. Bancroft has analyzed the structure of the American pyramid in a
philosophical way, and no doubt has in part explained its object. “I
think,” he remarks, “that perhaps with a view to raise this place or
temple above the waters of the stream, four thick walls, possibly more,
were built up perpendicularly from the ground to the desired height;
then, after the completion of the walls, to strengthen them, or during
the progress of the work to facilitate the raising of the stones, the
interior was filled with earth, and the exterior graded with the same
material, the whole being subsequently faced with hewn stone.”[494]
[Illustration: Mode of Constructing Pyramid.]
In the above cut Mr. Bancroft illustrates his opinion. Stephens
and Waldeck, who excavated from the summit downwards, imply that
the interior D is of earth. Twenty years later Charnay found a
perpendicular wall on the eastern side, quite contrary to the
observations of all previous travelers. Mr. Bancroft accounts for this
on the supposition that the stone facing, loosened by the growth of
trees which covered it, had fallen from B to F, and that the earth
which filled the sides at E E had been washed away by the rain and left
the perpendicular wall exposed at B. Such a supposition we consider
to be perfectly probable in view of the rapid dilapidation of the
ruins since Dupaix’s visit in 1806. The ancient model thus established
in the construction of this, perhaps oldest of existing American
cities, may have determined the style of many similar edifices. A
plan of the palace has been furnished by several authors.[495] The
accompanying restoration from Armin’s _Das Heutige Mexiko_, employed
by Mr. Bancroft, may serve to give an idea of the proportions of the
structure. The edifice occupies the entire summit platform of the
pyramid except a narrow passage-way around the edge, and measures 228
feet by 182, and about 30 feet in height. The doorways, of which there
are forty in the outer wall, are wider than the piers intervening
between them, and were constructed originally with flat wooden lintels,
all of which have disappeared. The main architectural features will be
observed in the accompanying plate from Waldeck. The lower right-hand
figure shows the angle of the foundations of one of the interior
buildings and the manner in which the stones were laid. The left-hand
figure affords a sectional view of the eastern stairway descending
from the principal corridor into the grand court. It will be observed
that the height of the steps considerably exceeds their width. Waldeck
illustrates this singular disproportion by a diagram in which a native
is represented as sitting upon the stairway. The perpendicular face
of a step is shown to be considerably higher than the Indian’s knee,
and must have measured two feet. The upper left-hand figures represent
the forms of niches, which are of frequent occurrence. The T shaped
niche is the representative of a numerous class so resembling the
Egyptian _tau_ or cross as to excite no little interest in its origin.
M. Waldeck found the marks of lamp-black upon the tops of some of
them, and supposes them to have held torches which illuminated the
corridors; others, which extend through the walls, may have served for
the purposes of ventilation; while others perhaps contained idols.[496]
The right-hand upper figures represent the highly artistic double
cornices employed. Nothing of a definite nature is known of the style
of roof with which the palace was covered, since every vestige of it
has disappeared. Castañeda represents it as sloping and plastered,
while Dupaix refers to it as consisting of large stone flags, carefully
joined together.[497]
[Illustration: The Palace Restored.]
[Illustration: Architectural Features at Palenque.]
The neighboring buildings, such as the Temple of the Three Tablets,
the Temple of the Cross, and the Temple of the Sun, each have
well-preserved roofs of masonry, which are quite remarkable. The first
of these stands upon its lofty pyramidal base, measuring one hundred
and ten feet on the slope, with continuous steps on all sides. The
temple, which is thirty-five feet high, is crowned with a sloping
ornamental roof of great beauty. Stephens illustrated the temple in
several views, subsequently copied by Bancroft.[498] The roof is
divided into three parts; the lower section recedes from the cornice
with a gentle slope, and resembles the corresponding section of a
French or Mansard roof. The stucco decorations of this lower section,
which is also painted, add considerably to the general effect. Five
solid square projections with perpendicular faces suggestive of the
attic windows of a modern French roof are found on this section,
corresponding to the several doors of the temple immediately below. The
second section, which slopes back at a more acute angle, is of solid
masonry. The crowning section seems to have been purely ornamental,
consisting of a line of pillars of stone and mortar, eighteen inches
high and twelve inches apart, surmounted by a layer of flat stones
with projecting sides. The Temple of the Cross and Temple of the Sun
both have roof-structures which may be described as resembling a
lattice-work of stone.
The most interesting feature of Palenque architecture is the arch, of
which there are two styles, if one of them may be classed as an arch
at all; of this we have doubts. The style to which we allude is that
which has been designated as the Yucatan arch. A section of the double
corridor of the palace furnishes an example as shown in the cut from
Mr. Bancroft’s work.
[Illustration: Section of Palace Corridor.]
This so-called arch is nothing more than the approach of two walls
toward each other in straight lines, nearly forming an acute angle at
the top. These inclining walls are constructed of overlapping stones,
with a small surface of exposed ceiling, produced by a lintel-like
covering. The principal doorway, which is eighteen feet high, is
constructed in the form of a trefoil arch, while niches or depressions
of the same trefoil form are ranged along the inclined face of the
gallery on each side of the entrance. This arch is suggestive of the
Moorish pattern, though the latter probably is the more modern. The
accompanying cut—a photographic reduction from Waldeck—will convey a
clear idea of its form.
The tower situated in the southern court is considered by Waldeck as
the crowning work of all. The frontispiece is a photographic reduction
from Waldeck’s drawing, and no doubt indicates the true number of its
stories, as well as the remarkable growth of vegetation upon its roof.
The descent of the little roots and tendrils of the trees above in
quest of nourishment, furnish a striking illustration of the luxuriant
vegetable growth which pervades the region. The very air is laden with
life, though the remains of man’s handicraft and power are but the
lifeless monuments of his vanished glory. The gentle evening breeze
which plays upon the tendrils stretching themselves down the tower’s
wall, produces a soft melodious sound, resembling that of the Æolian
harp, and gives rise to the apprehension in the minds of the natives
that the place is enchanted.[499]
[Illustration: Trefoil Arch, Palenque.]
The second division of Maya architecture, namely, the Yucatan or
modified style, presents some variations from the ancient or Chiapan.
Probably the most remarkable group of ruins in that richest of American
architectural fields—Yucatan—is situated at Uxmal, in Lat. 20° 27′ 30″,
thirty-five miles south of Merida. The reader is of course acquainted
with the detail of the survey of this remarkable city of antiquity
through the work of Stephens and Catherwood.[500] These indefatigable
explorers examined about forty ruined cities, nearly all of which were
previously unknown to others than the natives, and many of them were
unknown at Merida, the capital of the country. While these travelers
are pre-eminently the explorers of Yucatan, there are others whose
services have been of great value in the same field.[501]
Mr. Bancroft has divided the architectural remains in Yucatan into
four groups, classifying them geographically. We do not consider
it necessary to follow such a course, nor enter into the detailed
description of any group, but will content ourselves by simply noting
any variations from the Palenque models. At Uxmal our attention is at
once arrested by the irregular pyramidal base of the building known
as the Casa del Gobernador. The base of the pyramid is a figure of an
irregular rectangular form. The northern and eastern sides of the base
are equal, and measure about six hundred feet each; the southern and
western are, however, irregular. As all the angles are right angles,
and two contiguous sides are equal, it will be understood that the
figure of the base would have been a square, but for the irregularity
of the remaining two sides. These irregularities fall within the
figure of the square. The pyramid is terraced, the first promenade
when observed being but three feet from the ground. The second terrace
rises from this to a height of twenty feet, and supports a platform
with sides 545 feet in length. A trifle west of the centre of this
platform rises the third terrace, nineteen feet high, and supporting
the summit platform, measuring about 100 by 360 feet, with an
elevation above the ground of upwards of forty feet.[502] The pyramid
is composed of fragments of limestone thrown together, but with the
terraces substantially faced with walls of regular and smoothly-hewn
limestone-blocks, laid in mortar which has become intensely hard.
The corners of the pyramid differ from those usually met with in that
they are rounded. The terrace walls incline slightly toward the centre
of the pyramid. The second platform was reached by a long inclined
plain on the south side one hundred feet wide. A regular stairway with
thirty-five steps, and one hundred and thirty feet wide, furnished the
means of ascent from the second platform to the summit. The crowning
feature of the structure is the Casa del Gobernador, a characteristic
Yucatan building, measuring three hundred and twenty-two feet long
but only thirty-nine feet wide. The Casa is surrounded by a promenade
thirty feet wide, and in its interior contains two parallel rows of
apartments (a plan of which is given by Mr. Stephens).[503] A sectional
view of the Casa resembles the sectional view of the palace corridors
at Palenque, except that in the arches conspicuous in the latter, the
irregularities produced by the square overlapping stones (which are
filled up to an even surface by mortar and plastering), are avoided in
Yucatan, by the overlapping stones of the arch being dressed carefully
to the angle of inclination of the wall or ceiling, thus presenting
a smooth surface. The roof is formed by filling in the space between
the tops of the arches and between the arches and the outer walls with
stone, up to the desired level; after which a perfectly flat covering
of well-cut stones is laid over the whole, having a neat though small
projecting cornice, as will be observed in the accompanying cut from
Bancroft’s work. The rear wall is about nine feet thick and perfectly
solid. The comparative modernness of the building may be realized when
we state that Mr. Stephens found the top of each doorway supported
by a heavy beam of zapote-wood. One of these, which was elaborately
and beautifully carved, and measuring ten feet long and ten by twenty
inches wide, he brought to New York, where, unfortunately, it was
destroyed by fire with the remainder of his collection. It is presumed
that the zapote-wood was prized for its rarity, as it is not found at
present near Uxmal. Inside of and above the doors of the Casa were
stone rings, which occur frequently in Yucatec structures, and are
supposed to have supported curtains for closing the doorways. Stephens
presents in a cut (page 346) a view of the imposing and elegant front
looking toward the south.[504]
[Illustration: Casa del Gobernador, Uxmal.]
[Illustration: Section of Casa del Gobernador.]
Of the several Uxmal edifices, one especially demands attention as
representing the highest state of ancient architecture and sculpture
in America. This is known as the Casa de Monjas, or Nunnery, and is
situated nearly three hundred yards north of the Casa del Gobernador,
on a pyramid with three terraces, and measuring three hundred and
fifty feet square at its base. On the summit platform, only nineteen
feet above the level of the ground, stand four of the characteristic
Yucatan buildings upon four sides of a nearly square court. The
northern building does not stand quite parallel to the building on the
opposite side of the court. The plan from Stephens will present clearly
the arrangement of the apartments, in which it will be observed that
of the eighty-eight rooms contained in the Casa de Monjas, not more
than two apartments open into each other, except in one instance,
which occurs in the eastern front.[505] The court formed by these long
narrow edifices measures 258 by 214 feet, and according to M. Waldeck
was paved with 43,660 blocks of stone six inches square. In the centre
stood the fragments of a rude column similar to others observed in the
Casa del Gobernador.[506]
[Illustration: Ground Plan of the Nunnery.]
A cut of one of the beautifully sculptured façades of the Casa de
Monjas will be found on a future page. Near the Casa de Monjas stands
the pyramid and edifice generally known as the Casa del Adivino or
Prophet’s house, and named by M. Waldeck the Pyramid de Kingsborough.
The pyramid rises to a height of 80 feet from a base of 155 by 235
feet. The corners are rounded, and the sides, which are carefully faced
with cubical blocks of stone, rise so steep that the ascent and descent
by the grand stairway on the eastern face is giddy and dangerous. The
stairway measuring one hundred and two feet on the slope is inclined at
an angle of eighty degrees.[507]
About a dozen miles south-eastward from Uxmal are the remains of the
ancient city known as Kabah, where ruins quite similar and nearly
as extensive as those already described are found. However, new
architectural features here meet the observer. In one instance the
structure which surmounts a terraced pyramid is square, instead of
long and narrow as at Uxmal. The inner rooms of the edifice have
floors two feet higher than the floors of the outer rooms, and are
entered by two stone steps. In one instance these were cut from a
single block with the lower step in the form of a scroll. At Kabah
we meet with an entirely new feature in Maya architecture, and the
reader’s acquaintance with the terraced casas, of the New Mexican
region, will supply the lack of an illustration at this point. In the
style of building referred to, the pyramid instead of serving as a
foundation for the building, serves as a central support around which
the house with its receding stories, one above another, is built. The
first story of the building referred to is built upon the ground, with
the perpendicular sides of a mound for its rear wall. Just above,
on a level with the roof of the first story on the platform of the
first terrace of the mound, stands the second story, with the roof
of the first serving as a promenade in front of it, while the third
story rests upon the second platform of the mound. The platforms or
roofs of the first and second stories are reached by means of a stone
stairway supported upon a half arch. The first story is accessible
from the ground by doorways. The interior apartments are constructed
on the model of the Yucatec arch. Here, however, lintels of stone are
met with, supported in the centre by rude stone columns surmounted by
square capitals. These buildings are of large proportions, equalling
any we have thus far described. The decorations of the edifices were
considered by Mr. Stephens equal to those of any known era, even when
tried by the severest rules of art.[508] At Zayi, one of the finest
illustrations of this style of architecture is to be seen in what is
known as the Casa Grande. The dimensions of the Casa Grande are as
follows: lower story, 120 by 265 feet; the second story, 60 by 220
feet; and the third, resting on the summit platform of the mound, 18
by 150 feet; a stairway thirty-two feet wide furnishes a means of
ascent to the third story on the front, while a narrow stairway leads
to the second story at the rear. Round columns both in doorways and
the façade constitute the chief variation from the styles already
observed. An “elephant trunk” ornament protruding from the cornice
(also found on Casa del Gobernador and the Casa de Monjas at Uxmal) is
a marked feature of decoration. It is unnecessary for us to say that
its presence has given rise to much speculation as to its origin. M.
Waldeck has given the figure the name which we have applied to it, and
perhaps with some reason.[509]
At Labná ruins of a curious and extraordinary nature exist, though far
gone in decay. The accompanying cut, employed in Stephens’, Baldwin’s
and Bancroft’s works, will serve to show the extravagant decoration
lavished upon the cornices of the edifices. At Chichen-Itza, the
so-called “Nunnery” is supported by a solid mass of masonry, with
perpendicular walls. The dimensions of this base are one hundred and
twelve by one hundred and sixty feet and forty-two feet high. This was
crowned by a building having two receding stories. The great pyramid
of Chichen is celebrated for the solid stone balustrade which guards
its northern stairway of ninety steps, forty-four feet wide. These
balustrades terminate in colossal serpent heads, ten feet long.[510]
Both at Chichen and at Mayapan circular structures are met with and
are figured by Stephens.[511] The same author has described the
rectangular watch-towers of Tuloom, which rise majestically amid the
extensive ruins of the ancient city of the same name, situated upon the
eastern coast in latitude 20° 10´. At Tuloom, Mr. Stephens (its only
describer), found the first walled city in Yucatan. He believes it to
have been occupied long after the conquest, and probably was one of the
cities whose many towers met the gaze of the wondering Spaniards, who
beheld them as they coasted along the shore.[512]
[Illustration: Corner at Labná.]
_Quiché Architecture._—The propriety of classifying the great ruins
of Honduras and Guatemala as Quiché in their origin and style, may
be questioned by some of our readers. It must be admitted that great
contrasts in style are found in this region, which was occupied by
the powerful kingdom of the Quichés and Cakchiquels, at the time of
the conquest. However, it is probable that the ancient Quichés (who,
as we have already seen, at an early day developed a religion and
literature), were the authors of the more ancient cities, like Copan
and Quirigua. The Quiché-Cakchiquels of more modern times were quite
another people, whose institutions, language, and no doubt their
architecture, had been largely influenced by Nahua people from the
Mexican plateau. Utatlan, the magnificent capital of this modern and
mixed people, was in the height of its glory just before the blighting
power of the conquerors laid it in ruins. As ours is not an attempt at
the history of discovery, we omit entirely that interesting feature
in the treatment of antiquities, and call attention at once to the
features conspicuous in Quiché architecture. The ancient city known as
Copan, on the eastern bank of a river of the same name, in latitude
14° 45´ and longitude 90° 52´ in Honduras, and four leagues from the
Guatemala line, is interesting in furnishing material for study in this
department. It is probably the most ancient city on the continent.
Copan no doubt could successfully contend with Palenque for the palm of
antiquity. It is again to the indefatigable Stephens and the skillful
Catherwood that we are most indebted for our knowledge of these
ruins.[513] The period of the abandonment of Copan is a question with
reference to which we possess too few data to render an intelligent
decision concerning it. Following the example of Stephens and Bancroft,
we first introduce the account of Fuentes contained in Juarros.[514]
“In the year 1700, the great circus of Copan still remained entire.
This was a circular space, surrounded by stone pyramids about six
yards high and very well constructed; at the base of these pyramids
were figures, both male and female, of very excellent sculpture, which
then retained the colors they had been enameled with; and what was
not less remarkable, the whole of them were habited in the Castilian
costume. In the middle of this area, elevated above a flight of steps,
was the place of sacrifice. The same author (Fuentes) relates that,
a short distance from the circus, there was a portal constructed of
stone, on the columns of which were the figures of men, likewise
represented in Spanish habits, with hose, ruff round the neck, sword,
cap, and short cloak. On entering the gateway there are two fine
stone pyramids, moderately large and lofty, from which is suspended
a hammock that contains two human figures, one of each sex, clothed
in the Indian style. Astonishment is forcibly excited in viewing this
structure, because, large as it is, there is no appearance of the
component parts being joined together; and although entirely of stone
and of an enormous weight, it may be put in motion by the slightest
impulse of the hand. Not far from this hammock is the cave of Tibulca;
this appears like a temple of great size hollowed out of the base of a
hill, and adorned with columns having bases, pedestals, capitals and
crowns, all accurately adjusted according to architectural principles;
at the sides are numerous windows faced with stone exquisitely wrought.
All these circumstances lead to a belief that there must have been some
intercourse between the inhabitants of the old and new world at very
remote periods.” The swinging stone hammock is probably a work of the
fancy rather than that of the artist’s hand, though the padre at Gualan
told Stephens that he had seen it, and an Indian remembered to have
heard his grandfather speak of it. None of these remarkable remains
have been identified with certainty, though it is not improbable
that they might be discovered if the heavy growth of vegetation were
removed by a conflagration and explorers to extend their observations
farther from the banks of the Rio Copan. According to Stephens’ survey,
a wall encloses a rectangular area measuring about nine hundred by
sixteen hundred feet. The principal group of buildings is designated
as the temple. It is built of heavy blocks of cut stone, with walls
of about twenty-five feet in thickness, and when examined they were
between sixty and ninety feet high on the river’s bank. The temple
measured six hundred and twenty-four feet north and south by eight
hundred and nine feet east and west. The general feature of the ruin
is that of an immense pyramidal terrace, with a platform elevated
about seventy feet above the ground. The river side of the terrace
is perpendicular, while the remaining sides are sloping; viewing the
ruin from this general platform seventy feet high, depressions such
as amphitheatre-like courts descend from it in some instances thirty
or forty feet, or about half way to the level of the ground, while
above the level of the general platform pyramidal structures rise to
a considerable height, in one instance one hundred and twenty-two
feet. It is difficult to conceive of what might have been the nature
of the superstructure, if any surmounted the general platform. It is
probable that for the purposes of assembly the amphitheatres with their
sloping sides may have answered every purpose, while the pyramids
may have been surmounted by temples now in ruins. Of the sculptured
columns of this locality we will speak farther on. Utatlan, the former
capital of the modern Quiché kingdom, would naturally be selected as
a point at which to seek for remains of the newer Quiché styles of
architecture. The conquerors, however, left little that can serve
as the basis for architectural study. The city was surrounded by a
deep ravine or barranca, which can be crossed at only one point, and
there long lines of stone fortifications still guard the passage. A
fortress, called El Resguardo, is among these works. It rises one
hundred and twenty feet high in the form of a terraced pyramid, with
a stone wall plastered with cement enclosing its summit platform,
on which a circular tower provided with a stairway was built. Only
fragmentary walls of the Quiché palaces remain; their dimensions were
eleven hundred by twenty-two hundred feet, and nothing but their cement
covered floors have survived the vandalism of the conquerors and the
architects of the modern town; the latter having carried away the upper
portions for building purposes. A pyramidal structure near by, known
as El Sacrificatorio, presents no architectural contrasts to pyramids
already described. Its stairway, composed of nineteen steps each eight
inches broad and seventeen inches high, is characteristically Central
American.[515] In the province of Vera Paz, especially in the Rabinal
Valley, Brasseur de Bourbourg observed numbers of tumuli, resembling
those of the Mississippi Valley both in material and structure. These
were especially prevalent in the neighborhood of the villages, and
sometimes were associated with pyramidal structures equal in finish to
any we have described. The name _cakhay_, “red houses,” is generally
applied to these tumuli.[516]
_Nahua Architecture._—It would be quite impossible for us to devote
that space to this subject which the number of remains would justify,
and the presentation of the typal features of the architecture of that
interesting family of nations will be all that we shall here attempt;
of geographical and detailed treatments there are several on the
different departments of the subject.[517] In the pages which follow we
will select a few examples of Nahua architecture in order to illustrate
our subject, but we would state that many equally important works,
though perhaps presenting no new features, have been purposely passed
by unnoticed. In a preceding chapter we referred to those intermediate
nations which occupied the transition position between the Mayas and
Nahuas. The Miztecs, Zapotecs and others, were probably a mixed people,
related in different degrees to both of the great families on the
north and south of them. Oajaca and Guerrero were the homes of these
peoples, where they developed their own civilization and styles of art
in channels distinct from those of their neighbors. The isthmus of
Tehuantepec presents some interesting remains, chief among which we
may cite two stone pyramids situated three leagues west of the city of
Tehuantepec. One of these measures fifty-five by one hundred and twenty
feet at the base and thirty by sixty-six feet on the summit. A grand
stairway composed of forty steps and thirty feet in width leads up the
western slope. The summit is also made accessible by smaller stairways
on the north and south sides. The lower of the four terraces composing
the structure, is perpendicular; the others have inclined walls. On the
face of the second terrace were four ranges of flat stones, one above
another, extending entirely around the pyramid and furnishing a series
of shelves, devoted no doubt to some sacred or sacrificial use. The
whole structure was plastered with a cement, colored brilliantly by red
ochre. The adjoining pyramid presents an architectural novelty in its
gracefully curved sides. Castañeda has sketched and Dupaix described
it. The height of the pyramid is over fifty feet while its general
dimensions are about the same as those of its neighbor. In close
proximity to the pyramids, altar-like structures were observed, one of
which was composed of eight circular stones, like mill-stones, placed
one above another. The base measured ten and a half feet, but the
summit only four and a half feet; the height measures twelve feet.[518]
Numerous earthen tumuli resembling those of the Mississippi Valley were
observed by the German traveler Müller, scattered over the region,
especially to the south-east.[519] The most important group of ruins
in Oajoca is that at Mitla, situated about thirty miles south-east of
the capital of the State. This is probably the finest group of remains
north of the isthmus of Tehauntepec. Still they are not purely Nahua in
their style, being, according to tradition, the work of the Zapotecs.
This group has been described several times by explorers, whose
accounts have differed considerably in value. The most important of
these are the descriptions and drawings by Dupaix and Castañeda, made
in 1806, and the description and valuable photographs by Charnay, the
latest explorer of this group, whose work was performed in 1859.[520]
The mitla ruins are distributed into four groups of buildings
(generally called palaces or temples) and two pyramids. The principal
edifice is described as follows: three low oblong mounds only six or
eight feet high but surmounted by stone buildings, enclose a court.
The court measures 130 by 120 feet. The eastern and western buildings
are in a fallen and ruined condition. The northern building, however,
presents a singular example of ancient grandeur. The southern portion
measures 36 by 130 feet, and the northern 61 feet square. The edifice
is about eighteen feet high, having walls varying from four to nine
feet in thickness. The accompanying cut, a photographic reduction of
Charnay’s photograph, gives a correct idea of the western façade of the
northern building.[521]
The walls of this edifice are constructed in a somewhat novel manner,
their interior portions being nothing more than clay intermixed with
stones, thus furnishing a poor substitute for the cement and stone
filling in the inner parts of Yucatanic walls. However, the exterior
facing of the walls is of hewn stone blocks cut in different forms
and sizes, and so set in relation to each other as to present examples
of perhaps the finest variety of grecques found in any structure in
the world.[522] Two layers of large stone blocks form the base of the
palace, from which rises buttresses and a framework of stone, filled
in with panels of mosaic, in patterns as described. We pronounce these
grecque patterns mosaics, because of the manner of their structure.
They are not of the nature of sculpture, since each pattern, with all
its regularity, is composed of small brick-shaped blocks of stone built
into the wall, mosaic-like, thus forming the graceful patterns shown in
the cut. No trace of mortar has been found at Mitla. The inner surface
of the wall in the northern building was smoothly plastered without any
ornament. Six round stone columns standing in line occupy the centre
of the apartment, and no doubt supported a roof of wood or stone, but
more probably of the former.[523] The cut in Baldwin’s work, copied by
Bancroft showing the interior of the apartment and the six columns,
conveys an incorrect impression as to the form of the columns and the
character of the walls, as is proven by Charnay’s photograph.[524]
The façades of the inner court of the northern wing of the palace
are finished with mosaics of great beauty. Four or five feet of the
wall is plain at the bottom except that the plastering was evidently
frescoed in various colors. The remainder of the wall is decorated with
bands of mosaic grecques, as shown in the cut, which is a fac-simile
of Charnay’s photograph engraven for Mr. Bancroft’s work. We should
not fail to note the use of immense stones in the base, framework
and lintels of the southern wing of the building. One of these is
of granite, sixteen or nineteen feet long, with the pattern of the
adjacent grecques sculptured on its face. None of the other buildings
at Mitla present any architectural contrasts to the one already
described, and require no special attention. Under a temple on the
south-west side of the one we have just referred to, is a subterranean
gallery, constructed in the form of a cross. The opening is at the
base of the mound upon which the temple stands. The arms of the cross
pointing toward the East, North and West, are each twelve feet long,
five and a half feet wide, and six and a half feet high. The southern
arm is, however, about twenty feet long, and not more than four feet
high throughout most of its length. Near the centre of the cross (which
lies directly under the centre of the temple above) a flight of four
steps descends in the southern arm of the cross to a lower level, so
that the southern arm of the passage is somewhat lower than the others.
The entire subterranean chamber was roofed with large flat stones
reaching from side to side. The walls, besides being painted red, were
ornamented with panels of mosaic, but of a ruder style than that of the
superstructure, which is suggestive of an earlier period in the growth
of the art. A circular pillar resting on a square base, and called by
the natives “the pillar of death,” because of the belief entertained
among them that whoever embraced it would immediately die, supports
the large flagstone which covers the intersection of the galleries. An
immense fortification over a mile in circumference and with stone walls
six feet thick and eighteen feet high crowns the summit of a hill,
which stands three-fourths of a league south-west of Mitla. The place
was inaccessible except on the side toward the village where the wall
was double. Castañeda has delineated and Bancroft copied the plan of
this fortress.[525]
[Illustration: Western Façade of the Palace at Mitla.]
[Illustration: Grecques of an Interior Room at Mitla.]
Passing into the state of Vera Cruz, the attention of the observer
is arrested by great numbers of mounds of all the varieties peculiar
to the Mississippi Valley. Excavations have yielded pottery of burnt
clay, idols, and flint and stone weapons, as well as implements of
agriculture, but no trace of iron or copper is recorded. As the Nahuas
are said by Duran and Sahagun to have landed on the Gulf coast not far
north of this region, and to have traversed it in their wanderings
southward, and since the tradition derives them from Florida, it is not
improbable that here we see the continuation of the works of the lower
Mississippi.[526]
[Illustration: Pyramid near Puente Nacional.]
Of several interesting specimens of ancient architecture in the state
of Vera Cruz we have selected a few examples. At Puente Nacional the
remarkable pyramid shown in the cut is situated. It was described by J.
M. Esteva in the _Museo Mexicano_ in 1843. The pyramid is six stories
high, and the eastern side is faced by a grand stairway in the form
of a cross. Mr. Bancroft has described it, employing the accompanying
cut. At Centla, twenty-five or thirty miles north of Cordova, a series
of remarkable fortifications were discovered in 1821, which have been
most thoroughly described by Sr. Sartorius, who visited the locality in
1833, but whose account was not published until 1869.[527]
The most notable fortification is situated at a narrow pass between
two ravines, with perpendicular walls several hundred feet deep. The
distance between the precipices at this point is only twenty-eight
feet. The defensive works consist of several pyramidal structures built
of stone and mortar. The largest of these has three terraces rising
from the rear until they approach a perpendicular wall, fronting a
narrow passage-way only three feet wide. This perpendicular wall is
surmounted with parapets and loop-holes for defence. A pyramid on the
opposite side of the passage-way, the platform of which is reached by
a single flight of steps, is possessed of the same defensive features,
with the addition of a ditch at its front eleven feet wide excavated
in the solid rock to a depth of five and a half feet. The object of
the fortress seems to have been the protection of an oval-shaped tract
of fertile land containing about four hundred acres, lying between
the barrancas. At the opposite end of the oval tract, the precipices
approach so closely to each other as to leave a narrow passage of only
three feet in width, which also is guarded by stone walls. Of numerous
pyramids in the region, the one figured in the cut (from Bancroft’s
work) is pronounced by Sr. Sartorius as typical of all of them.[528]
[Illustration: Type of Pyramids at Centla.]
Half a league below the town of Huatusco, Dupaix discovered a
remarkable pyramid crowning a hill on a slope of which was also a group
of ruins called the Pueblo Viejo. This structure known as El Castillo,
measures sixty-six feet in height, though there is some uncertainty
as to the size of the base.[529] Dupaix’s text states it to be two
hundred and twenty-one feet square, but Mr. Bancroft calls attention
to the fact that Castañeda’s drawing makes it about seventy-five feet
square. The pyramid in three terraces measures thirty-seven feet
high. The superstructure is in three stories, with a single doorway
in the lowest. This seems to have been the only opening through the
walls of the castle, which were eight feet thick; we presume, however,
only at their base, as their exterior shows a sloping rather than a
perpendicular surface. The lowest story forms a single apartment with
three pillars in the centre supporting the beams of the floor above.
Portions of the beams were visible when Dupaix visited the locality.
The walls of the castle are of rubble made of stone and mortar, as
in the Yucatan structures, having stone facings. The exterior of the
castle proper was coated with polished plaster and ornamented with
panels containing regular rows of round stones embedded in the coating.
Some unimportant fragments of sculpture in stone and terra-cotta were
found in the ruin. El Castillo is of special interest because of the
well-preserved condition of its superstructure. About one hundred and
fifty or sixty miles north-west of the city of Vera Cruz, the German
artist Nebel found a group of ruins known as those of _Tusapan_, buried
in a dense forest at the foot of the Cordillera. The only structure
which remains standing closely resembles the pyramid above described,
except that the walls of the pyramid are not terraced, and the tower
surmounting the pyramid is built with a single story. The only opening
in the tower is the doorway at the head of the stairway. The interior
contains a single apartment twelve feet square. The ceiling is said
to have been arched or pointed, but Herr Nebel has failed to furnish
definite information as to whether the arch was of overlapping stones
or not, an oversight of an unpardonable character, since it would be of
greatest interest to know whether the Maya arch existed so far north.
The pyramid is described as thirty feet square, and built of irregular
blocks of limestone, which was probably covered with a coat of the
plastering generally employed and so polished in its appearance.[530]
One remaining structure in the State of Vera Cruz merits special
attention, namely, the pyramid of Papantla. This pyramid, known as
El Tajin, “the thunderbolt,” is situated in a dense forest near the
modern town of Papantla, which lies about forty miles east of Tusapan.
There is a wide divergence of expression as to the dimensions of the
pyramid. Herr Nebel, however, makes the base something over ninety
feet square and the height fifty-four feet. The pyramid is seven
stories high and apparently solid, except the topmost story which
contained interior departments. This crowning structure is now sadly
dilapidated. Dupaix’s statement, copied by Humboldt, that the material
of the pyramid is porphyry, cut in immense blocks, appears to be an
error, since later exploration has revealed the fact that the pyramid
was constructed of regularly cut blocks of sandstone laid in mortar,
and coated with a hard, smooth cement, three inches thick. A stairway
on the eastern front is divided as well as being guarded by solid stone
balustrades.[531]
For Nahua monuments of the purest type we naturally turn to Anahuac
the home of Toltec and Aztec art during its most advanced period of
development. But alas! the hand of the conqueror and the zeal of the
fanatic have robbed irretrievably the antiquarian and the student
of the history of architecture and art, of the best and noblest
remains of that strangely interesting civilization. Our attention
is naturally directed to the architecture of that ancient religious
centre—Cholula—the origin of which, together with that of its great
pyramid, we have described in a previous chapter. We have already
seen that the prime object for erecting the immense pile, according
to Duran, was the worship of the sun, and not to afford a refuge from
a deluge as has been generally supposed. The pyramid of Cholula is
situated in the eastern portion of a village to which it has given its
name, and is reached by a ride of about ten miles westward from the
city of Puebla de los Angelos. The magnificent temple upon its summit
dedicated to Quetzalcoatl, fell a prey to the destroying vengeance
of Cortez, who no doubt was enraged at the stubborn resistance with
which he was met by the devoted natives, in a hard-fought battle at
the foot and upon the slopes of the pyramid. Of the large number of
descriptions, either made from personal observation or written from a
comparison of accounts, none surpass that of Humboldt, which was the
result of a careful survey, performed in 1803. Humboldt’s drawing,
however, was a restoration and not a picture of the condition of
the shrub-grown hill as he saw it.[532] The pyramid, according to
Humboldt, measures at the base six hundred and thirty-nine metres or
a trifle more than fourteen hundred and twenty-eight feet square; in
other words, about forty-four acres. The base is shown by Humboldt to
be more than twice as large as that of Cheops. Humboldt and Dupaix
give its height as fifty-four metres or one hundred and seventy-seven
feet; Mayer says it is two hundred and four feet; Tylor, two hundred
and five feet, and Heller[533] states that its summit platform covers
an area of 13,285 square feet. Its height is somewhat greater than
that of the pyramid of Mycerinus. Humboldt compares it to a mass of
brick, covering a square four times as large as the Place Vendôme and
twice the height of the Louvre. He considers it of the same type as
the temple of Jupiter Bélus—the pyramids of Meïdoùn Dahchoùr, and the
group of Sakharah in Egypt. This great monument was constructed in four
equal terraces of small sun-dried bricks, laid in a mortar which has
been pronounced by some a mixture of clay with fragments of stones and
pottery, by others a cement intermixed with small pieces of porphyry
and limestone. Herr Heller discovered that the entire structure had
been covered with a coating of cement composed of lime, sand and
mortar.[534] The present appearance of the pyramid is sufficient to
induce the opinion that it was originally a natural eminence faced up
with adobes in terraces, in accordance with the architectural idea, but
its position in the centre of a plain, together with the revelations
as to its contents, disclosed by the construction of the Pueblo road
through one corner of its base, furnish partial if not conclusive
proof that it was entirely of artificial construction. The excavation
revealed the perfect regularity with which the bricks were laid in
the interior, and brought to light a tomb containing two skeletons,
two basalt figures, a collection of pottery and other articles not
described. Humboldt has fully described this chamber, which was
constructed with stone walls supported by cypress timbers. No doorway
could be found opening into the tomb.
At Xochicalco, the “hill” or “castle of flowers,” situated seventy-five
miles south-west from the city of Mexico and distant from Cuernavaca
fifteen miles in nearly the same direction, are found the most
remarkable specimens of ancient Mexican architecture north of the
isthmus of Tehuantepec. The most important descriptions of the ruins
are by Alzate y Ramirez,[535] Humboldt,[536] Dupaix and Castañeda,[537]
Nebel,[538] and one prepared by the authority of the Mexican
government.[539]
These ruins are both beneath and upon a natural hill of oval form
measuring about two miles in circumference and from three hundred to
four hundred feet in height, authorities differing considerably on this
point. At the foot of the hill on its northern side, are the entrances
of two tunnels, one of which extends to a point eighty-two feet from
the edge of the hill, where it terminates abruptly. The second tunnel
penetrates the solid limestone of the hill in the form of a square
gallery nine and a half feet high and broad, extending inward for
several hundred feet and branching into several auxiliary galleries,
which terminate in some instances abruptly. The floors are paved with
small blocks of stone, to a thickness of a foot and a half; masonry
in some places support the sides, and all the interior surface shows
traces of red paint upon the polished cement coating with which it was
finished. The principal gallery, after turning a right angle toward the
left and extending some hundred feet in a straight line, enlarges into
a subterranean chamber eighty feet long by about sixty feet in width.
Two circular columns of living rock were left in making the excavation
as supports for the roof. The most singular feature connected with the
chamber is the perfectly circular excavation found at its south-east
angle, or that corner of the room diagonally opposite to the corner at
which the passage-way enters it. This circular apartment is only about
six feet in diameter, and while it is no deeper than the adjoining
chamber, rises above its ceiling in a dome-shaped roof, lined with
stones hewn in curved blocks. The curve of this dome-like ceiling
corresponds with that of a well-proportioned Gothic arch. At the apex
of the dome, a round hole ten inches in diameter extends vertically
upwards; some suppose to the pyramid above, but a moment’s calculation
suffices to show that in view of the considerable diameter of the hill
and the comparatively short distance from the chamber to its exterior
slope, such is impossible. The exterior of the hill presents a most
wonderful display of masonry. Its entire circuit is compassed with
five terraces of well-laid stone and mortar, faced with perpendicular
walls. Each terrace of masonry is about seventy feet in height, and
is constructed in an irregular line, forming sharp angles, like the
bastions of a fortress; each wall supporting the terraces rises above
the level of their respective platforms in parapets, evidently for
defence. The pavements of the platforms are of stone and inclined
slightly toward the south-west, with a view to draining off the
rainfall. Dupaix is the only explorer who mentions the means of ascent,
which he describes as a roadway eight feet wide, leading to the summit.
The summit platform measures 285 by 328 feet, and is surrounded by a
wall which is perpendicular on the inside, and on the outside conforms
to the slope of the terrace wall of which it is an extension. This
parapet, built of stones without mortar, rises five and a half feet
above the plaza, and is two feet and nine inches thick, we presume at
its top, since the outer slope of the terrace would make a difference
between the top and bottom. Near the centre of the plaza stands
the base of a pyramid which presents some remarkable architectural
contrasts from anything we have thus far described. Its sides face
the cardinal points, and measure sixty-five feet from east to west,
and fifty-eight feet from north to south. One of the façades, the
northern, according to Nebel, and the western, according to the Mexican
Government Survey in the _Revista_, is cut in two in the centre by an
opening twenty feet wide, where it is supposed a stairway formerly
led to the superstructure. The cut from Nebel, and reproduced by Mr.
Bancroft, shows the façade to the left of the opening, as the observer
faces the pyramid.
[Illustration: Pyramid at Xochicalco.]
The great granite or porphyritic stones which constitute the facing
of the pyramid, some of them eleven feet in length and three feet in
height, must have been brought to the summit of the hill at the expense
of great labor, especially since they must have been transported from a
considerable distance, no such material being found within a circuit of
many leagues. The stones were laid without mortar, and so nicely that
it is said the joints are scarcely perceptible. Fragments of a ruined
superstructure surmount the pyramid. The foundation walls of the second
story were two feet and three inches from the edge of the cornice below
it, except on the west where the space was four and a half feet wide.
In 1755, so say the inhabitants of the vicinity, the structure was yet
complete, having five receding stories like the first, and probably
reaching a height of sixty-five feet. On its crowning summit, on the
eastern side, stood a large throne-like block of stone, ornamented
with elaborate sculptures. The second story foundations indicate the
position of three doorways at the head of the grand stairway, and
the account in the _Revista_ describes an apartment twenty-two feet
square observable at the summit of the first story, but now filled with
fragments of stone. Mr. Bancroft suggests that from this apartment
there may have been some means of communication with the subterranean
galleries already described. The colossal sculpture on the face of the
pyramid will receive our attention on a future page.[540]
The general description given above, together with the reported
character of the superstructure of this magnificent monument, calls to
mind the main features of the great teocalli dedicated to the bloody
god Huitzilopochtli in the Aztec capital called Tenochtitlan or Mexico.
This blood-stained temple upon whose altars smoked the hearts of
countless human victims, is supposed to have occupied the site of the
cathedral fronting the Plaza Mayor of the modern city of Mexico. Not a
vestige of that terraced pyramid has survived the destructive hand of
fanaticism and the transforming work of man and nature which have been
going on ever since upon the old site of the capital of the Montezumas.
It is said to have been built in five stories, with flights of steps
affording access to the summit; but each flight was so constructed with
reference to the platform at its top, as to require almost a complete
circuit of the building before the next flight could be reached. It was
necessary, therefore, in order to reach the summit platform, to pass
four times around the pyramid. It is supposed that this was intended
to display to better advantage the solemn processions of the priests
as their long train mounted gradually the sides of the edifice. The
specialist is already familiar with the descriptions by Bernal Diaz,
whose particular extravagance of statement renders his work altogether
unreliable. Also with the accounts by Torquemada, Gomera, Cortez and
Clavigero. The reader has no doubt acquainted himself with the main
facts in the writings of the graceful and imaginative Prescott, whose
seeming romance, _The History of the Conquest of Mexico_, has been
proven by recent and reliable investigation to have approached much
nearer to fact than to fiction. Mr. Tylor, after careful exploration,
has expressed in his “Anahuac” his surprise and satisfaction at what
he considers to be the proof of Mr. Prescott’s general correctness
of statement as to the extent of the Aztec capital and the probable
character of its edifices.[541]
For a description of the palaces of Mexico and Chapultepec, the
museums, mansions of the nobles, the pavements and aqueducts of that
buried city, we refer the reader who has not access to the sources, to
the admirable account by Prescott, especially since it more properly
belongs to the province of history (now that all traces of them have
disappeared) than to that of archæology.[542]
Of many interesting localities where architectural remains still exist,
we select one more in the Central region, to illustrate our subject.
The ancient religious city of the early Nahuas, Teotihuacan, with
its famous pyramids—the traditional origin of which we have already
noted[543]—deserves our attention. The city of the gods has had
many describers, from the illustrious Humboldt to the observant and
philosophical Mr. Tylor. The most complete description, however, is
that given in the report of a scientific commission appointed by the
Mexican government in 1864, containing accurate plans and views.[544]
Sr. Antonio Garcia y Cubas, a member of the commission, subsequently
published a most interesting memoir on the pyramids of Teotihuacan,
entitled _Ensayo de un Estudio comparativo entre las Pirámides Egípcias
y Mexicanas_ (Mexico, 1871). The analogies between Teotihuacan and
Egyptian pyramids receive the greater share of attention, though some
valuable facts not mentioned in the report of the commission are here
made known. Mr. Bancroft has reproduced the main features of the report
of the Mexican Commission and compared it with previous researches,
thus presenting the reader with probably the best critical version of
the exploration of Teotihuacan, to be found in any language.[545] The
cut reduced from Almaraz for Mr. Bancroft’s work shows the plan of the
Teotihuacan monuments on a scale of about twenty-five hundred and fifty
feet to an inch.
[Illustration: Plan of Teotihuacan.]
The pyramid marked A in the plan is known as Metztli Itzacual, which
is interpreted “House of the Moon.” It measures 156 metres or 512
feet from east to west by 130 metres or 426 feet from north to south.
According to Almarez, its height is 42 metres or 137 feet, but Sr.
Garcia y Cubas, who took his measurement on the opposite side of the
pyramid from that measured by Almaraz, says that it is 46 metres or
150 feet high. The summit platform, according to Garcia y Cubas, is
six metres or nineteen and a half feet square; quite a discrepancy
is here observable between the estimated area given by Beaufoy and
copied by Mr. Bancroft as thirty-six by sixty feet, and this actual
measurement. The sides of the pyramid nearly face the cardinal points.
The eastern slope is 31° 30′, while the southern is somewhat steeper,
being 36°. The slope on the east seems to have been unbroken except
by a zigzag roadway, leading to the summit. The remaining sides
are plainly marked by the remains of three terraces, one of which
is still about three feet wide. Humboldt and Tylor both speak of
remains of stairways of which no mention is made by the Government
Commission. Most observers have described the pyramids as faced with
hewn stone, but the commissioners on the contrary found them coated
with successive layers of different conglomerates as follows: “1st,
small stones from eight to twelve inches in diameter, with mud forming
a layer of about thirty-two inches; 2d, fragments of volcanic tufa,
as large as a man’s fist, also in mud, to the thickness of sixteen
inches; 3d, small grains of tetzontli (a porous volcanic rock) of
the size of peas, with mud, twenty-eight inches thick; 4th, a very
thin and smooth coat of pure lime mortar. These layers are repeated
in the same order nine times and are parallel to the slopes of the
pyramid, which would make the thickness of the superficial facing
about sixty feet.”[546] On the southern slope, sixty-nine feet from
the base, according to Almarez, a gallery large enough to admit a
man crawling on hands and knees, extends inward on an incline, a
distance of twenty-five feet, and terminates in two square wells or
chambers, each five feet square, and one of them fifteen feet deep.
Mr. Löwenstern, according to Mr. Bancroft, states that “the gallery
is a hundred and fifty-seven feet long, increasing in height to over
six feet and a half, as it penetrates the pyramid; that the well is
over six feet square, extending apparently down to the base and up to
the summit; and that other cross galleries are blocked up by débris!”
It is probable that these remarkable galleries never existed, except
in Mr. Löwenstern’s imagination, since Sr. Almarez in the report of
the official survey pronounces the tunnel already described as simply
excavations by treasure-hunters. The pyramid B of the plan, situated
five hundred and seventy-five yards south of the House of the Moon, is
called Tonatiuh Itzacual, or “House of the Sun.” This pyramid requires
no description, except to give its dimensions, since in all other
respects it is precisely similar to the House of the Moon. The House
of the Sun, according to the measurement of Sr. Garcia y Cubas, which
is the most recent, is at the base 232 metres or 761 feet by 220 metres
or 722 feet. Its height is 66 metres or 216 feet, while the summit
platform measures 18 by 32 metres or 59 by 105 feet. Both this pyramid
and the preceding have each a small mound on one of their sides near
their base. In the latter instance this mound seems connected with an
avenue of mounds just west of it. An embankment marked _a_, _b_, _c_,
_d_, one hundred and thirty feet wide on the summit and twenty feet
high, widening out at the extremities into platforms, extends around
three sides of the “House of the Sun.” Across the Rio San Juan, and at
the distance of twelve hundred and fifty yards southward of the “House
of the Sun,” stands the Texcalpa or “citadel.” This is a quadrangular
enclosure, measuring on its exterior twelve hundred and forty-six by
thirteen hundred and thirty-eight feet. The embankments are of enormous
strength, being two hundred and sixty-two feet thick by thirty-three
feet high, except on the western side, which is but sixteen feet high.
The enclosure is divided unequally by a wall as strong as that upon
the sides. On the centre of this wall stands a pyramid ninety-two feet
high. At its base are two small mounds besides one in the western
enclosure, while fourteen others averaging twenty feet in height are
arranged with regularity upon the summit of the enclosing wall. An
avenue two hundred and fifty feet wide formed by mounds and measuring
two hundred and fifty rods in length, extends from a point south of
the “House of the Moon” to the river, as is shown from C to D, in the
plan. The avenue is cut up into compartments by six cross embankments,
a rather strange feature for which no explanation has been afforded.
These mounds are mostly conical, built of fragments of stone and clay,
and some of them reach a height of thirty feet. The native traditions
call it Micaotli, which may indicate that they were designed for the
purposes of sepulture. Almaraz, who excavated one of the multitude of
mounds or _tlalteles_ in the vicinity, found four walls meeting at
right angles, though a little inclined and forming a small square.
Connected with this were steps, at the top of which four other walls
enclosed a little room, supposed to have been a tomb. The natives
describe the discovery of a stone box in one of the mounds containing
a skull, with about such a collection of trinkets as is commonly met
with in the stone graves of Tennessee. Mayer describes a massive stone
column, ten feet long and four feet square, cut from a single block.
This resembles the elaborate capitol of a column resting on a base with
scarcely a shaft intervening. It is called the fainting stone by the
natives, who believe that whoever sits on it is sure to faint instantly.
One additional group of ruins, as yet unclassified with any of the
types we have described, merits our attention. This group is known
as Los Edificios of Quemada, situated in southern Zacatecas north of
the Central plateau and probably the home of the Chichimecs.[547] Mr.
Bancroft has attempted to reconstruct the unsatisfactory accounts of
the several explorers of Quemada, but with little success. We therefore
decline adding another comparative failure to the list of literature
on these ruins. Some general observations, however, may not be out of
place. The Cerro de los Edificios is a natural eminence about half a
mile long and between one hundred and two hundred yards wide, except at
its southern extremity where it increases to a width of five hundred
yards. The authorities differ as to its height, one saying from two
to three hundred feet, and another eight to nine hundred feet above
the plain. Ancient roads well paved radiate in various directions from
the hill, some of them extending a distance of five or six miles. The
northern brow of the hill, where the descent is not so precipitous
as at the other points, is guarded by a stone wall, as are all other
points where the precipitous sides do not offer a sufficient barrier
to an intruder from without. The surface of the hill is quite uneven,
and these irregularities have been formed into terraces supported by
stone walls. Foundations have thus been secured for a multitude of
structures, some of them perfectly pyramidal and others consisting
of quadrangular enclosures or squares, terraced and having steps
descending to the court within, where pyramidal structures of stone are
found. On the eastern terrace of the Cerro, a round pillar, eighteen
feet high and nineteen feet in circumference, stands in proximity to a
wall of as great height as the pillar. Traces of nine similar pillars
are visible, and the probability is that they formed part of a balcony
or perhaps a portico. Adjoining this wall is an enclosure measuring 138
by 100 feet, in which are eleven pillars in line, each seventeen feet
in circumference and as high as an adjacent wall, namely eighteen feet.
The distance from the wall is twenty-three feet, and the presumption is
that the pillars supported a roof. There are no doorways, properly so
called, since the doorways are large quadrangular openings extending to
the full height of the halls. No windows were discovered anywhere. The
material is gray porphyry from hills across an intervening valley, and
the mortar is reddish clay, mixed with straw, and is of poor quality.
Sculpture, hieroglyphics, pottery, human remains, idols, arrow-heads,
and obsidian fragments are totally wanting, thus presenting a strange
contrast with all other Mexican ruins. Nevertheless, the massiveness
of the fortifications, the height and great thickness of the walls,
none of which are less than eight feet thick and in one instance over
twenty, the extensive system of paved roads, besides great elevated
stone causeways running through the city, the size of the enclosed
squares, one of which contains six acres, all indicate that this
might have been the capital city of a powerful people, a people whose
architectural affinities with all others that we are acquainted with
are very few, and whose contrasts are numerous. Certainly the type and
execution of the masonry, though massive, is more primitive than found
elsewhere in Mexico. We do not mean that it is more ancient, for such
cannot be true, but inferior to that in other parts of Mexico and the
Central American region. The arch of overlapping stones is entirely
wanting, and but for the round columns without either base or capitol,
the steps toward advancement in the art would only be those common to
that generally vigorous and warlike period which, in the history of
every people, has preceded a higher civilization. Mr. Bancroft has
published Burghes’ plan of Quemada but to little purpose, since the
descriptive matter available does not contain a reference to more than
one-fourth of the many structures indicated.