494 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [NOV., 



found are representations of various animals, birds, and figures of 

 idols. The last are all more or less of the same character, and 

 of very inferior grade of pottery — hollow, showing head decorations 

 and ear-rings, or rather buttons, necklaces, etc. The upper teeth 

 arc always showing, sometimes in an exaggerated form, but seldom 

 any lower teeth. These clay idols occur in almost endless forms, 

 but all with the foregoing characters. 



•• Among the stone implements I have found human heads or idols; 

 axes of several kinds of stone ; arrow- and spear-heads of very superior 

 workmanship; grinding stones for corn or 'metates' — of hard stone 

 as well as of the stone used at the present time. Without exception, 

 however, these metates are very small, with short legs. 



"I have also a number of smaller stone implements, of which one 

 can only guess the uses. Besides the aforementioned specimens, 

 I have one bone implement, such as might be used for husking corn. 

 Up to the present. time there has not been a single metal implement 

 or ornament found here. 



"It will give you some idea as to the age of this civilization, when 

 I tell you that nearly all the -available ground for building, in such 

 areas as I have been able to study — that is, where we have cleared 

 away the forests — has, without doubt, been worked over by hand, 

 as evidenced by buildings, or rather the remains of them: little 

 piles of stones and trash, evidently gathered ready for building, as 

 well as broken stones without number. All, or most, have evidently 

 been tested as to their suitability for stone implements. 



"In many places, without evident remains on the surface, there 

 is, upon excavation, as much as a meter of soil containing broken 

 pottery, pieces of broken stone implements, etc., and often, also, 

 remains of human skeletons. 



"From my limited observation and knowledge of such subjects, 

 I came to the following conclusions in regard to these prehistoric 

 people, whoever they were:— that the density of population was 

 equal — or beyond — anything existing to-day upon the face of the 

 earth, outside of the large, modern cities; that they were well ad- 

 vanced in the art of building; that they were unfamiliar with the 

 use of metals (?); that there has been not only one highly developed 

 people, but two or three, each building upon the ruins of the former ; 

 that they had highly developed the art of clay-burning and glazing; 

 that they had outside communication with a people inhabiting the 

 highlands of Guatemala or Mexico or some other people living in the 

 volcanic mountain country, and that, at least, they cultivated cotton 



