Not figured.
Fragments of a female, sitting statue were shattered in the vicinity
of the place, that should have been occupied by the tenth statue. The
head was adorned with a turban-shaped head-dress, without any trace of
a tenon. It is, however, very uncertain whether this statue has formed
part of the series.
Between the last-mentioned statue and F there was not the least vestige
to be found of that statue which ought to have been the eleventh in
number, when reckoned from A.
F
Pl. 6, 7, and 8.
Male, half-sitting figure, with its right arm hanging straight down,
and its left one bent, and resting on the chest. According to my
impression, received on regarding the statue and sketching it, it
represented a chieftain or warrior with a mask before his face and a
helmet on his head. I have arrived at this conclusion from the reasons,
viz. that the face was here incomparably much stiffer than in the
other images, without the slightest attempt of indicating the muscles,
the cheeks, or the mouth; further that the eyes were marked by two
concentric circles with a little (peeping-)hole in the centre, and
that the whole face and the covering of the head were so much broader
proportionally to the breadth of the body than in the other statues.
(A somewhat similar head was found on the heavily injured statue at
the mound 5.) The head-cover may be considered to exhibit the form
of a helmet; this reached to the shoulders at both sides, hiding the
ears completely; but nearly at the place of the ears there was on each
side a shallow circular depression with a small excavation, probably
representing a hole, in the centre. From the lower part of the helmet
a thick elevation, grooved length-wise in front, came down over the
chest. It may be regarded as representing a breast-armour, or possibly
a beard. From the face itself, below the nose, a piece of the same
shape as the just described elevation was seen to descend, but it was
of much smaller dimensions. The left shoulder with the bent arm was
somewhat more raised than the right. Both shoulders were uncommonly
large and broad, so that the artist almost seems to have intended to
indicate the blade-bone. The arms were pressed close to the body,
disproportionately narrow when viewed from the front, but more than
sufficiently broad when viewed from the side. On its left bent fore-arm
the statue held a little round shield, at the anterior margin of which
the hand projected, showing, unusually enough, the thumb of the same
length with the index. The chest and abdomen were sculptured with some
signs of muscles. The legs were short and thick, the feet clumsy, with
no traces of toes. The image stood on a pedestal, the upper part of
which showed a deep cavetto. The pedestal was deeply immersed into the
ground. Immediately above the helmet was the square tenon. The length
of the statue from the upper edge of the tenon to the upper edge of
the pedestal was 207 cm. The breadth across the shoulders was 57 cm.,
that of the head 36 cm. The statue was on the whole well preserved, and
stood, no doubt, in its original situation.
As it seems to be beyond a doubt that the above described statues,
which were found standing more or less erect, and at almost equal
distances, nearly five meters from one another, remained in the
situations where they had been originally placed, it cannot be
considered too bold, to suppose that we have here before us an ancient
temple exhibiting an example of how such a building might be arranged
with the Niquirans. It is evident that the ground-plan of the edifice
has been a broad oval, and it is highly probable, on account of the
back of the statues not being elaborated, but only roughly cut, that
it has not been open, but enclosed by walls, the statues serving as
pilasters. However, it must be admitted that this latter circumstance
is far from being proved. The figures A and B, being larger than the
others in the periphery, and more deeply fixed in the ground, may
possibly have stood at each side of the entrance or perhaps of a flight
of steps, leading up into the temple. The roof was probably supported
by a plate of stone or wood, carrying light rafters, covered with
palm leaves or such like materials.