Not figured.
Male torso, impossible to complete. It was lying near G, and seemed to
have belonged to the mound 2. It measured 57 cm. from the shoulder to
the thighs. The breadth across the shoulders was 48 cm.
H
Pl. 11.
Male, sitting image. This is the first representative of a kind of
idol, of which, as far as I know, not more than a single one from
Central America previously has been figured.[6] SQUIER has also given
an illustration of a statue from _Pensacola_ (Las Isletas), in which a
head of an animal is placed upon the head of a human figure, but there
the animal’s head evidently serves only as a helmet; this seems also
to be the case with the above-mentioned image E 1, from the western
side of the stone-mound 1. With regard to the present image, on the
contrary, I believe that the head of the animal is the more important
figure, representing a deity, the human figure being nothing but the
bearer of the god, viz. a kind of caryatid. I formed this opinion on
account of the very strongly marked supporting postures exhibited by
the three human figures, bearing heads of animals, which follow next in
my description. Of the image H only the upper portion remained; this
showed, that the human figure had been sitting, or half-sitting, but
not in what manner the arms had been used as supports. The head of the
animal was a splendid head of a jaguar, very finely elaborated, and
pretty well preserved. The mouth was somewhat open, showing distinctly
elaborated lips, blunt molars and sharp, large cuspids. The muzzle was
somewhat longer than necessary, the nostrils oval, somewhat widened;
the eyes formed oval cavities, powerfully cut; the ears were rather
small, with the margins, as it were, indented. Two volutes and a
powerful intumescence at the sides were possibly designed to mark the
strong muscles of the head. The human figure was carefully elaborated.
The face was well preserved, with the exception of the mouth and the
chin, that were cut off with a chisel, or some other keen instrument.
The forehead was rather low and separated from the head of the jaguar,
by a roll or fillet. The nose was large, almost straight; the eyes
were rather small, the cheeks full, the cheek-bones not prominent. The
ears were unusually small, of natural shape. The neck was particularly
vigorous, the muscles of the breast well developed. The shoulders
and upper arms were full, and well cut, the arms not quite detached
from the sides. The back of the statue not being elaborated seems to
indicate that it has been placed against or in a wall. That it has not
served the purpose of supporting a roof, is proved by the finely hewn
upper side of the jaguar’s head with its erect ears. The head of the
jaguar was 63 cm. long; its height from the top to the lower hinder
corner was 42 cm. The height of the ear was 10 cm. The length of the
face of the human figure was 24 cm.
[6] SQUIER, l. c., p. 64, and the plate facing the same page.
I
Pl. 12.
Male, kneeling figure, supporting the head of a great vulture or «Rey
de Zopilotes». It belonged to the same category as H, but has probably
stood isolated, as the back was as neatly cut as the front. The head of
the vulture was colossal in proportion to the human figure supporting
it, and very carefully sculptured. The beak was very true to nature,
the eye formed a semi-circular cavity, the anterior corner of the
eye was well indicated. Backwards projected a massive round process,
a sort of crest on the back of the head. On the top of the head was
a tenon-shaped projection, which, however, could hardly have served
the purpose of a tenon, as it was unusually thin in comparison with
the tenons found on the statues around the mound 1. It may possibly
have been designed to represent the comb of the beak of the vulture,
though in such a case it was placed too far backwards. The anterior
part of the head and the cheeks were carved with softness and elegance.
Behind the head of the human figure the head of the vulture was united
to its support by a snailshaped spiral (volute) with wide aperture.
Although the kneeling male figure was not perhaps so well worked as
the image H, yet it was well balanced, and of an easy posture. The
forehead was straight, the nose slightly curved, the mouth closed,
the lower lip thin, prominent; the cheeks were rather thin, the ears
disproportionately large, and placed too far backwards. The neck
was long, the Adam’s apple was indicated on the throat. The chest
was rather little developed, the shoulders and upper arms vigorous,
the hands pressed against the sides of the legs. The male organ was
placed high up on the abdomen. The legs below the knees were of equal
thickness throughout, without any trace of muscles, smoothly rounded
backwards, without feet. The pedestal being broken, the statue was
thrown down in the middle of the «plaza», the open place or square
between the mounds 1, 2, 3 and 4. The length of the vulture’s head from
the anterior edge of the beak to the posterior edge of the process at
the back of the head was 100 cm., the height of the head from the top
to the inferior edge of the lower jaw 37 cm. The whole length of the
statue from the upper edge of the tenon-shaped projection to the upper
edge of the pedestal was 154 cm. The upper part of the pedestal formed
a square plinth, on which the human figure was kneeling.
K
Pl. 13.
Male, sitting figure, with its head strongly bent forward, supporting
on its shoulders and the back of its head the large head of an animal,
which was possibly meant to represent the head of a tortoise or a
lizard. This head was rather little elaborated, evenly rounded above,
having in front a round, beak-shaped mouth. A circular cavity before
and over the posterior corner of the mouth represented the eye. At the
back this head carried two high, rectangular, double plates, which
may possibly be regarded as representing the beginning of the back
armour of the tortoise, or perhaps the scales of a lizard or a serpent.
The human figure was very well elaborated; next to the figure A it
was certainly, from an artistic point of view, the most carefully
finished one of all the statues at Punta del Sapote. The head was bent
strongly forwards, as if depressed by the gigantic load; the forehead
was high, the nose straight, the eyes were well cut out, the cheeks
rounded, the ears small. The neck was stretched forth, very thick
and muscular. The shoulders were not so powerful as should have been
expected from the thickness of the neck, but they were neatly molded.
The trunk and the back were very nobly and elegantly sculptured, and
formed the best portion of the statue. The upper arms were rigorous
and well proportioned, the lower arms perhaps a little too short. The
hands were closed, resting on the knees. The legs were thick, and not
so well worked as the upper portion of the statue, the feet clumsy,
without distinct toes. The figure was seated on a high socle, with a
low foot-stool under its feet. As was demonstrated by the unusually
careful workmanship expended on the back portions, the statue has quite
certainly stood isolated. The height of the statue from the summit of
the head of the animal to the upper edge of the pedestal was 137 cm.
The length of the face of the human figure was 20 cm. The length of the
head of the animal was 82 cm., its greatest height 36 cm. This statue
was pretty deeply imbedded in the earth, and was found nearly in the
middle of the open place between the stone-mounds 2, 3, and 4.