ARCHAEOLOGY. 271 



One of the most spectacular caches of jade in the Maya area was found 

 on April 2, 1921, at Copan, just west of the northwest corner of the mound of 

 Stela 7, in a cruciform vault below the foundation-stone of some Early Period 

 stela. 



About 6 inches below the level of the cement floor on which the mound 

 of Stela 7 was built, a large slab of stone 5 feet 1 inch long, 2 feet 9 inches 

 wide, and a foot in thickness was unearthed. This would appear to have 

 been the foundation-stone upon which one of the several Early Period stelse, 

 found in the immediate vicinity, had rested, though just which one it is im- 

 possible to say. This foundation-stone in turn lay directly upon a large cir- 

 cular stone 3 feet 9 inches in diameter and 9 inches in thickness, which in turn 

 covered the cruciform vault. At the intersection of the axes of this vault 

 was found the cache above mentioned. This contained the following objects 

 of jade: 1 anthropomorphic statuette 7.25 inches high and weighing 2.5 

 pounds; 8 jade pendants carved with representations of the human figure or 

 grotesque animals; 2 pairs of round ear-plugs; and 2 long tubular beads. 

 Also, there were 38 sea-shells, Spondylus calcifer; 3 shell beads; and a small 

 quantity perhaps enough to fill a 2-ounce bottle, of quicksilver. 



Two or three yards east of this cache was found a human burial with 

 a number of jade objects: beads, ear-plugs, several small figures; also sea- 

 shells and quicksilver. In 1919 Dr. Morley found three pieces of beauti- 

 fully^ worked jade not more than 4 yards south of the above burial, in the 

 northwest corner of this mound, practically on the surface: an anthropo- 

 morphic figure 3 inches high, pierced for use as a pendant, and the two halves 

 of a jadeite pebble, from each of which a small cylinder had been cut out, 

 probably for making into a pair of ear-plugs.^ Finally, the Museum of the 

 American Indian, Heye Foundation, has a large jade pebble with a beauti- 

 fully carved seated human figure on the front, which came from th( cruciform 

 chamber under the foundation of Stela 7} 



The stylistic characteristics of these objects indicate that they all date 

 from the Early Period of the Old Empire, which is in agreement with the 

 dates actually recorded upon the stelae found on or around this mound, i. e., 

 9.2.10.0.0 (Stela 24) to 9.9.0.0.0 (Stela 7). The jade objects found on or 

 around this mound easily constitute the largest and most important col- 

 lection of early Old Empire jades known anywhere. 



Concerning the work of Messrs. Love and Ricketson in determining the 

 latitudes and longitudes of 12 of the largest archaeological sites in north- 

 eastern Peten, an abstract of the former's report thereupon, together with the 

 latitudes, longitudes, and magnetic elements of these several stations, is 

 published in the report of the Director of the Department of Terrestrial 

 Magnetism. See pages 261, 262. 



The archaeological reason for this particular investigation was to ascertain 

 the exact geographic positions of these different sites, from which data it 

 would be possible to make an accurate map of the northern Peten region, i. e., 

 the very heart of the Old Maya Empire, showing the relative positions and 

 distances apart of its largest centers. 



1 CarneKie Inst. Wash. Pub. No. 219, pp. 10:3-105. 



' The other objeot.s which were found in this chamber were: A sea-shell (Area graridis), a stone 

 with a hole through it, an obsidian spearhead 7 inches long, another of the same material slightly- 

 longer, an obsidian knife 6 inches long, and a small fragment of an Early Period stela, V'14. 

 See ibid, p. 105 



