CHAPTER VII

THE ANCIENTS AND THEIR MONUMENTS

“World wrongly called the New! this clime was old When first the Spaniards came, in search of gold. Age after age its shadowy wings have spread, And man was born, and gathered to the dead; Cities rose, ruled, dwindled to decay, Empires were formed, then darkly swept away; Race followed race, like cloud-shades o’er the field, The stranger still to strangers doomed to yield.”

AT the time of the conquest the Aztecs, who were then at the height of their power and glory, were the dominant race in what is now Mexico and Central America. And yet the broad plains of Yucatan and Central America were the theatre of a much older civilization compared with which that of the Aztecs was, as one writer says, “as the brightness of the full meridian moon to the splendour of the sun that has already set.” As to whether the Aztec culture was a borrowed culture or not has been the subject of much vain speculation, and little has been accomplished by actual investigation. It is still a matter of dispute “Whether the Maya culture was developed on the soil where its remains are found, or brought with the people from parts unknown; whether the Aztecs borrowed from the Mayas, or the Mayas from the Aztecs; or whether both these great nations derived their culture from the Toltecs. And again, it is claimed that the Toltecs themselves are nothing more than the figures of a sun-myth.”

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From this it will be seen that of these early races and their history little is known. It is supposed that the Toltecs who appeared in the Valley of Mexico about the seventh century and built the city of Tula, and possibly Mitla, wandered southward after their defeat by the Aztecs and finally stopped in Guatemala where they found rest from pursuit. This much at least is known that the region comprising the greater part of Guatemala, and the western portion of Honduras, and Yucatan, was the seat of an ancient American civilization as highly developed and as interesting to the archæological or anthropological student as any of the primitive civilizations of the Old World. Long before the dream of western empire began to fire the ambitions of European kings and incite the adventurous spirits of the times, centuries before the empire of the Montezumas had reached the height of its glory, when it was destined to become the prey of those avaricious adventurers, the curtain had already fallen on the last sad scene that closed the career of this Maya, or Toltec, empire, and the ruined cities alone remained as a reminder of their former splendour.

There are numerous remains of these cities, or rather they might be termed ruins of religious and governmental centres, for no ruins have been found of private dwellings. Religion and government seem to have been one and inseparable among these early races. Among these ruins are those of Palenque and Uxmal in Yucatan, Utatlan and Quirigua in Guatemala, Copan,[2] and some lesser known ruins in Honduras. There are probably still other cities in the wildernesses around Lake Peten awaiting the coming of the traveller—cities that had their birth so far back in the twilight of time that not even a tradition remains to tell who built them.

Footnote 2:

See appendix for description.

There are some traditions which have come down to us in a book called the “Popul Vuh,” or sacred book of the Quichés, by an unknown author. Two translations exist of this book, one in Spanish by Ximenes, the other in French by the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg. Mr. Brigham, in his excellent work, has translated into English a number of the legends contained in that quaint work concerning the founding of the world, the creation of the first inhabitants and other curious lore. I will quote but one concerning the creation of the world:—

“Then the word came to Tepeu Gucumatz in the shades of night; it spoke to Gucumatz and said to him: It is time to consult, to consider, to meet and hold counsel together, to join speech and wisdom to light the way and for mutual guidance. And the name of this is Huracan, the Voice which sounds: the Voice of Thunder is the first; the second is the Flash of Light; the Lightning is the third. These three are the Heart of Heaven, and they descended to Gucumatz at the moment when he was considering the work of creation. Know that this water will retire and give place to land, which shall appear everywhere: there shall be light in the heaven and on earth: but we have yet made no being who shall respect and honour us. They spoke, and the land appeared because of them.”

The Spaniards found numerous books among the priesthood and old Indian families of many pages, in which the history, traditions and customs of the people are probably recorded. The pages were covered with numerals, glyphs and drawings quite beautifully executed in colours. The Spanish priests destroyed all these writings that they could get their hands on, just as they did the records of the Aztecs in Mexico, and made bonfires of the accumulated literature of centuries. Thus, to satisfy a religious bigotry, they have deprived us of a true knowledge of the progressive races who once dwelt in this favoured land. A few of these books still exist and they are preserved in European libraries, although copies have been reproduced for other libraries.

Mr. Gordon, in an article in the Century Magazine, describes these books as follows:—

“Four only have come down to us—priceless relics that in some unknown manner found their way into European libraries, where they lay hidden until unearthed by scholars of recent years. The books of the Mayas consisted of long strips of paper made from maguey fibre, and folded after the manner of a screen so as to form pages about nine by five inches; these were covered with hieroglyphic characters, very neatly drawn by hand, in brilliant colours. Boards were fastened on the outside pages, and the completed book looked like a neat volume of large octavo size. The characters in which they are written are the same as those found upon the stone tablets and monuments in the ruined cities of Palenque and Copan. This system of writing, which is entirely distinct from the picture writing of the Aztecs, was the exclusive possession of the Mayas. It was a highly developed system, and as investigations have shown, embraced a number of phonetic elements. In this respect, as in many others, the Mayas were far in advance of any other American people.”

A flood of light might be let in upon prehistoric America if these books and the inscriptions on the many columns which have been found, and which are very similar, could ever be deciphered. It is known that many of the hieroglyphics record dates, but the significance of most of them is unknown. They are evidently of a peaceful character as there is nothing to indicate that they are memorials of strife or anything of a warlike nature. These people possessed a well-developed system of numeration whose chief application seemed to be in their time-reckoning. Their year was divided into eighteen months of twenty days each, the year beginning on the day of transit of the sun by the zenith. As the months only gave a period of three hundred and sixty days, the remaining five days were arbitrarily added to make the complete cycle.

Among the most remarkable and inexplicable ruins of these people are those of Quirigua which are not far from Port Izabal. These ruins are completely hidden in a thick tropical forest a few miles from a village of the same name. They consist of several square and oblong mounds and terraces, varying from six to forty feet on each side, which were ascended by flights of stone steps. The principal interest, however, centres in several large, carved monoliths of light-coloured, coarse-grained sandstone, thirteen in number, arranged irregularly around what were probably the most important plazas. There are numerous hieroglyphic inscriptions on these monoliths which have Egyptian characteristics. The natives seem to have no traditions respecting the ruins, and they simply call them _idoles_, that is, idols. Several of the stones are from three to four feet square and from fourteen to twenty-five feet high above the ground.

The entire surface, except top and bottom, is covered with inscriptions. On the front and back are full length human figures standing in stiff and conventional attitude. Tiger heads carved above these figures probably indicate high rank, or chiefs, and a skull denotes death. The mysterious symbols of the Greek cross which is also found on these stones has been the cause of much speculation among scholars. If the human figures are portraits of persons, who were they? Where did they live? and what did they do that they should be thus immortalized?

Various theories have been propounded concerning all these ruins of Mexico and Central America, and it would be presumptuous for anyone not a member of a dozen or more learned societies and bearing several scientific degrees to venture an opinion. A few writers ascribe them to descendants of the lost tribes of Israel, to the Phœnicians, and to the Egyptians. Some ascribe to them great antiquity and others assert that they are of comparatively recent construction. The well-known traveller, J. L. Stephens, says: “They are the work of the same race who inhabited the country at the time of the Spanish conquest, or of some not very distant progenitors.” The great argument against this view is, however, that there were no traditions among the people found by the Spaniards that shed any light as to their origin, as would certainly have been the case if he is correct. The people who built them seem to have had a distinct, independent and separate existence.

Professor Marshall H. Saville, of the Department of Anthropology, in Columbia University, and also one of the curators in the American Museum of Natural History, is one of the best versed authorities on the ruins of Spanish-America, as he has visited many of them in connection with scientific expeditions. Through his courtesy I am enabled to give the following description written by him of the ruins at Quirigua:—

Of all the ancient cities in Central America, the forest covered ruins of Quirigua are perhaps the least known. They are situated in the valley of the Motagua, or Montagua River, about half a league from the left bank, and about sixty miles from the mouth where it empties into the Caribbean Sea. Entirely overspread with the densest tropical vegetation found anywhere in Central America, they have remained unexplored and their extent unknown. Now, however, the transcontinental railway from Puerto Barrios to the City of Guatemala passes through the valley at a distance of not more than a mile from this wonderful group of remains, and they are thus brought within easy reach of the traveller.

As yet no systematic excavation has ever been carried on there, although no field in Central America offers a richer return to the archæologist. It is not at all improbable that still more valuable sculptures may be buried in the paradise of luxuriant growth, in which cacao, quina, india rubber, mahogany, bamboo and gigantic ferns abound, through the depths of which the jaguar, puma, tapir and peccary roam at will, while birds of brilliant coloured plumage are exceedingly numerous.

The ruins consist of a large number of mounds, pyramids, terraces or platforms, both square and rectangular, measuring from six to forty feet in height, some standing in groups of four arranged around a central square or plaza, while others occupy an isolated position. The greater number of these structures have been faced with squared stones and had flights of stone steps on one side leading to the top.

There are three principal structures in the main group, near which are standing thirteen large monuments in the form of stelae, and large, rounded masses carved to represent grotesque animals. These are in what is probably the great plaza, or square, the heart of the ancient city. At the northern end is a large rectangular terraced structure about three hundred feet long from east to west and one hundred and seventy-five feet from north to south. Near the northwestern corner is what appears to be an artificial lagoon, or pond, which probably has an outlet in the Montagua River. At the southern base of the structure are standing three stelae, or monoliths, ranging in height from fourteen to eighteen feet and having carved on the front and back representations of human figures. On one is a man with a chin beard. Both sides are entirely covered with hieroglyphic writing in the form of squares, called _katuns_. On another is perhaps the most important hieroglyphic inscription yet found in America. It consists of two kinds of writing. The upper half of the inscription is in pictures elaborately and intricately carved, while in the lower half are the abbreviated and conventional characters such as are commonly found in the Mayan glyphs.

Undoubtedly an unravelling of the picture writing will aid greatly in deciphering the hundreds of inscriptions which are found in the territory once occupied by the Maya race, formerly the most advanced of all the ancient peoples of America. In only two other monuments is this form of “picture” writing found, one example being in the ruins of Copan, Honduras, where the back of a stela is entirely covered with pictures.

About two hundred feet south of these three monoliths are the two highest monuments which have been discovered in the new world. The first stands twenty-five feet above the ground; the other is twenty-two feet high. The first mentioned is leaning at an angle of forty-five degrees, and as it stands there must be at least ten feet of its length under ground. There are full-face human figures carved on the front and back, and a hieroglyphic inscription on either side. (Fortunately it has been accurately moulded by Mr. Maudslay in plaster, and a cast is in the American Museum of Natural History, in New York, and in the Peabody Museum at Harvard College.)

The second stela, twenty-two feet high, is by far the most artistically carved of all the standing monoliths. It has large, full-face human figures on the front and back, and both sides are occupied by hieroglyphs. The figure best preserved represents a man with a small chin beard. He is standing on a platform covered with symbolic carving. His feet, which are placed heel to heel, are shod with elaborate sandals. On his head is an immense head dress, made up of five superimposed grotesque faces or masks. From either side extend feathers, which are carved gracefully around the sides above the inscriptions, the whole effect being most striking.

The ears of the person are almost covered with huge ear ornaments. The breast and body to the waist are loaded with ornaments, and an elaborately worked loin cloth hangs from the waist, down between the legs to the feet. In the right hand is held a kind of wand or sceptre, much resembling a “jumping jack.” The upper part is a grotesque little figure, with a long nose, representing a deity. From the bottom of the stick hang feathers. The left hand is covered by a shield, on the face of which is a mask, probably a representation of the sun god.

Near at hand are two fallen stelae about ten feet in length, entirely covered with moss and vegetable debris. About eight hundred feet south of these two large stelae is a high truncated pyramid, more than one hundred and fifty feet in diameter at the base. A short distance east and northeast are three large monuments, and from three hundred to four hundred feet south in a plaza enclosed on three sides, is another group of stelae.

The most important of these is in the form of a conventionally carved gigantic turtle, the most extraordinary sculpture in Central America. Roughly described, it is a cube about eight feet in size and probably weighing twenty tons. It is entirely covered with picture and hieroglyphic writing, and representations of a symbolic character, among which are several exaggerated animal and human faces and figures. (A plaster cast of this is also found in the above named museums.) In addition, there is an interesting figure carved on another stela, representing a woman, with fat, round cheeks, which has been called the enano, or dwarf. Besides the monuments now standing there are several fallen stelae, some complete, while others are broken.

The rock out of which they are carved is a gray porphyry, the quarries being several miles from the ruins and more than six hundred feet above the valley. The stones were probably all transported in the rough and carved on the spot where they now stand, the debris being used in the construction of the pyramids and edifices. The labour of transporting these immense stones must have been stupendous, and indicates a very high knowledge of mechanics.

In the mounds and pyramids all traces of palaces and temples of stone have disappeared. One excavation made, however, proves that stone buildings have existed, for in the principal pyramid several rooms have been uncovered, revealing the triangular Maya arch, with walls to the rooms, made of nicely laid stones, covered with stucco or plaster, and with smooth cement floors.

During the last decade decided advance has been made in deciphering the Mayan inscriptions, and the Quirigua hieroglyphs have received considerable attention, especially since the appearance of the work of Mr. A. P. Maudslay. The careful drawings have given us material for a comparative study of these inscriptions with those of Copan and Palenque. Certain parts of the writing have been unravelled and the mystery surrounding them is being slowly dispelled. Much remains to be done, however, before the entire body of the inscriptions is deciphered.

So far as they have been worked out they relate to chronological counts extending over a period of more than three thousand years. This does not imply that they had a written history of such respectable antiquity, but according to their ingenious calendar system and mode of reckoning time they are carried back to a fixed date, very much as we reckon from a fixed date, namely, the birth of Christ. The later dates of the Quirigua inscriptions very probably may be assigned to a place somewhere about the beginning of the Christian era.