ARCHAEOLOGY. 311 



had been fortified by a well-laid stone wall, 150 feet long, 25 feet thick, and 10 

 to 12 feet high, pierced by a single offset passageway, the whole construction 

 constituting an admirable defense against an attack by land. Half a mile 

 back from the end of this lagoon lies the main group of ruins, centering around 

 a single plaza 315 feet long by 75 feet wide. There are ten or twelve stone 

 buildings, the principal temple being in an excellent state of preservation, with 

 the original sapote beams of the door-lintel still in position. 



A fortnight was spent at the ruins of Tuluum, easily the largest site on the 

 east coast of Yucatan, where sufficient data were collected to complete the 

 material for a preliminary report; Doctor Morley first visited this site in 1913, 

 again with Doctors Gann and Lothrop in 1916, 1 and with Doctor Gann and 

 Mr. Held in 1918. 2 



This year a much more extensive investigation was possible. The forest 

 was felled completely inside the inner inclosure and around all the principal 

 temples. Doctor Lothrop made a number of tracings of the mural paintings, 

 especially in Temple 16, as well as extensive architectural and stylistic notes. 

 Mr. Ricketson, assisted by Mr. Alfred Harvey, resurveyed the city, correcting 

 and amending the map made by Doctors Morley and Lothrop in 1916. Indi- 

 vidual plans and elevations of all constructions within the great wall were also 

 made, and more than 200 photographs were secured by Mr. Sopena. 



The most important contributions made this year at Tuluum were: 



1. The discovery that the principal temples of the city, save only those within the inner 

 inclosure (the Castillo Group) and the so-called Guard House by the East Gate of the North 

 Wall, are distributed along a single main thoroughfare running the entire length of the city 

 from the West Gate in the North Wall to the West Gate in the South Wall. This is a 

 unique feature in the assemblage of Maya structures, the regular practice being arrange- 

 ment around a single plaza, or groups of connected plazas. 



2. The discovery of three new stelae, two of which are carved, the third being covered 

 with stucco and then painted a brilliant light blue. Stelae 2 and 3 (carved) are very similar 

 stylistically to the late stelae at Mayapan, notably to Stelae 8 3 and 9. All four of these 

 stelae are surrounded with borders of the same kind, i. e., squares with central dots; and 

 Stela 2 at Tuluum like Stela 9 at Mayapan, has an Ahau sign as the only glyph upon it. 

 The best decipherment indicates that this monument dates from some Katun 2 Ahau. 

 Any given katun-ending recurred every 256 years, though on stylistic grounds only the last 

 three occurrences of this katun need be considered here: 1004 A. D., 1261 A. D., and 1517 

 A. D. Of these, the last (1517) appears most probable to Dr. Morley, although the second 

 (1261) is by no means an unlikely date for this stela. The first (1004) is almost certainly 

 too early. Only one piece of Stela 3, the top, was recovered; this was built into the western 

 pier of Structure 33 (a small altar) in ancient times. 



All of the archaeological evidence — the architecture, the mural paintings 

 the stucco ornamentations, the serpent columns, the Mayapan type of stela, 

 everything, indeed, save only the comparatively early Stela 1 (10.6.10.0.0. (?) 

 approximately 699 A. D.) — points to Tuluum as having reached its zenith 

 after 1400 A. D., and it should not be forgotten that it was occupied as late as 

 1518, when Juan de Grijalva made the first voyage down the east coast of 

 Yucatan. 4 



i See Year Book No. 15, pp. 337-339, and The American Museum Journal, March 1917, vol. 

 xvii, No. 3, pp. 191-204. 



2 See Year Book No. 17, pp. 274-275. 



3 See Carnegie Inst. Wash. Pub. No. 219, pp. 574, 575; also Year Book No. 17, second table 

 on p. 274. 



4 Recueil de Pieces Relatives a la Conquete du Mexique, Voyages, Relations, et Memoires 

 originaux pour servir a l'histoire de la decouverte de 1'Amerique, vol. x., p. 11 , H. Ternaux- 

 Compans. 



