ARCHAEOLOGY. 273 



around the entire area involved. From Playa Trapiche a trail follows east 

 along the peninsula of Tayasal. At the road-forks, elevation 620, one trail 

 continues to Sonoti and thence to Playa Puxtial, while the other continues 

 south and east across the divide between Lake Peten and Lake Petenxel to 

 the intersection of the trail from El Yex to San Benito. 



From a point along the trail from Sonoti to Playa Puxtial a trail was cut 

 east to the saddle on the Pitchallin-Naranjal line. No lower place than that 

 previously discovered, i. e., 565, was found, and the elevation checked favor- 

 ably'' with the one before, which is one of the proofs that Tayasal was not an 

 island. In the village of Flores and just below the plaza on its north side, 

 certain glyphs are inscribed on a rock ledge, exactly 50 feet above the lake- 

 level, and it is likely that these were somewhere close to water-level a few 

 hundred years ago. 



Lake Peten contains ten islands, of which only two, Flores and Lepet, are 

 inhabited; the remainder are of no great importance, as they show no evi- 

 dences of ruins or of having been inhabited at any time. Indeed, all except 

 Santa Barbara, Flores, Hospital Island, and the last island to the east of 

 Flores are of recent origin, and even Lepet may also be included in this list. 



To the east of Flores and Lake Peten are two large and two small lakes, the 

 small lakes being at no time connected with the larger ones. Lake Petenxel 

 is 13 feet above Lake Peten, Lake Eckixil is 18 feet above Lake Petenxel and 

 31 feet above Lake Peten, and a 20-foot rise of water in Lake Eckixil would 

 connect all of these lakes. 



In Lake Eckixil are two small islands; on the island to the west are ruins 

 of perhaps one house, just above the 460-foot contour. These ruins are of 

 the same type found elsewhere throughout this region. Residents report 

 that the water rises but little during the rainy season. 



The Savana de Sonoti has many ruins similar to those on the western 

 end of Tayasal, and two tombs found there appear to be of the same type as 

 the one excavated by Dr. Guthe at Tayasal in 1922. Just west of the inter- 

 section of the trail to Sonoti and San Benito is a saddle 15 feet lower than 

 the one between Pitchallin and Naranjal; this also would tend to prove that 

 Tayasal was never an island. 



In drawing conclusions, we must, first of all, consider the hieroglyphs in 

 Flores, elevation 50 feet above lake-level. It is certain that these were not 

 inscribed under water, and therefore in order to convert Tayasal into an 

 island we must look for a saddle with an elevation that compares with this. 



On Candalaria Peninsula 65 feet of water would be necessary to convert 

 the small knolls shown into islands, but this would obliterate the ruins. 

 From this we can readily see what effect 150 and 165 feet of water would have 

 on these places. 



It is hoped that the foregoing facts, with the aid of the topographic map 

 obtained, clearly prove that the present peninsulas of San Benito, Candalaria, 

 and Tayasal were not islands as described by Father Avendano in his sketch of 

 Lake Peten in 1697. It is most likely that the present Tayasal was the capital 

 city of the Itzas, but certainly it was not an island, and the padres were 

 either wrong in their descriptions of it, or in their interpretation of the Maya 

 language. 



