ARCHEOLOGY. 



Morley, Sylvanus G., Santa Fe, New Mexico. Associate in Middle American 

 Archoeological Research. (For previous reports see Year Books Nos. 

 13-21.) 



Three separate and independent expeditions were maintained in the field 

 during the season of 1923, as follows: Dr. Morley in Mexico, Yucatan, Guate- 

 mala, and Honduras; Messrs. Ricketson and Love (Department of Terrestrial 

 Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington) in northeastern Peten, 

 Guatemala; and Mr. Kilmartin (United States Geological Survey) at Tayasal 

 on Lake Peten, Guatemala. 



The activities in Middle American Archaeological Research for the current 

 year may be described under five main headings, as follows: 



1. The securing of permits from the Governments of Guatemala and Mexico for the 

 inauguration of intensive excavation projects in these respective countries, to extend over a 

 period of years, by Dr. Morley. 



2. The discovery of new hieroglyphic inscriptions from Chichen Itzd, Ocosingo, Chiapa, 

 Copan, and in the National Museum of Archaeologj'^ and History at Mexico Citj', by Dr. 

 Morley. 



3. The determination of the exact geographical positions by latitude and longitude of 12 

 of the most important archaeological sites in northeastern Peten, by Messrs. Love and 

 Ricketson, being the seventh season of work in this region. 



4. A topographical survey of Lake Peten, Guatemala, with special reference to the location 

 and topographical characteristics of the ancient Itzd capital of Tayasal, by Mr. Kilmartin, 

 being the third season of work at this site. 



5. The preparation of the report on the archaeological sites along the east coast of 

 Yucatan, with special reference to the ruins of Tuluum, by Dr. Lothrop, now in press 

 (Publication No. 335). 



Dr. Morley left Washington on January 31, for Yucatan, to make arrange- 

 ments for the visit of the President of the Institution and General Parsons of 

 the Board of Trustees, who followed a week later. The purpose of this trip 

 was, by a first-hand examination of the ruins of Chichen Itz§,, to ascertain the 

 nature of the archaeological problem at this site and how far the Institution 

 might cooperate in its solution. 



The President and General Parsons returned to the United States after a 

 fortnight's stay in Yucatan; and Dr. Morley, after a further examination of 

 Chichen Itza, left Yucatan on March 30 for Mexico City, to lay before the 

 Direction of Anthropology of the Ministry of Agriculture and Pubhc Works, 

 in preliminary and unofficial conversations, the outline of a plan for archae- 

 ological investigations at Chichen Itza by the Institution. 



On April 16 Dr. Morley proceeded to Guatemala City, where he took up 

 with Senor Don Abraham Cabrera, the Minister of Public Instruction, the 

 question of securing a permit from the Government of Guatemala, under which 

 excavations and archaeological studies might be carried on at any one or all of 

 the three following sites: Uaxactun, Piedras Negras, and Tayasal, in the 

 Department of Peten. 



The permit obtained concedes, for a period of five years beginning January 

 1, 1924, the privilege of making excavations and archaeological studies at 

 these sites, under the direct supervision of the Minister of Public Instruction. 

 It was signed by that official on behalf of the Government of Guatemala on 

 May 12 and delivered to Dr. Morley on May 23. 



On the occasion of the formal organization of the Geological and Historical 

 Society of Guatemala, Dr. Morley defivered an illustrated lecture, on the 



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