RESEARCH AT THE RUINS OF CHICKEN ITZA, YUCATAN. 81 



After more than a century of robbery and exploitation, both Greece and Italy 

 found it necessary to forbid by law the removal of antiquities from their 

 domains. Mexico, with antiquities relatively as priceless as the Elgin 

 marbles of the Old World, has an equal right of protection against similar 

 exploitation at the hands of unscrupulous collectors. The archaeologist of 

 to-day has no more in common with the pot-hunter of forty years ago than 

 modern medical practice has to do with the quackery of the Middle Ages. 

 In the modern science of archaeology any specimen is of value only for the 

 story it tells of the people who produced it; and so long as the specimens 

 found are preserved for the use of future students it is immaterial where they 

 are housed. 



This question of the ultimate disposition of objects found during the 

 course of excavation has been the rock upon which many an archaeological 

 expedition has foundered, not only in Mexico but also in other parts of the 

 world. The stand herein taken, that archaeological objects belong to the 

 country in which they are found, rather than to the finders thereof, it is con- 

 fidently expected, will enlist the active interest and sj^mpathy of the Mexican 

 Government in this particular project. The antiquities at Chichen Itza, 

 whether they be in the form of statuary, reliefs, wood carvings, vases, metal 

 ornaments, or what not, were the product of a Mexican civilization, and for 

 that reason, originals should in all justice remain in the custody |of the Mex- 

 ican nation. For exhibition in museums and for scientific instruction, casts 

 would serve as well. 



Concerning the length of time which will be required to complete the 

 work herein outlined, something has already been said. It was suggested 

 (p. 71) that research in the Maya field should not be organized for a period of 

 less than twenty years. The writer has reached this conclusion only after a 

 careful study of the situation. The experience of the Peabody Museum of 

 Harvard University at Copan, Honduras, and of the School of American 

 Archaeology at Quirigua, Guatemala, was such as to indicate that at least five 

 years are necessary to complete satisfactorily a single unit of work; and it is 

 only in the aggregate that completed units of work yield reliable scientific 

 data. In observational sciences, final jiroof of any point rests on the accumu- 

 lation of sufficient evidence touching thereon — upon corroborative material 

 from a number of sources — hence the desirability of continuing this research 

 long enough to obtain such corroborative data. As stated above, the writer 

 believes this would require a period of not less than twenty j'ears.^ The 

 problems presented are numerous, and a number of years of sustained effort 

 will be required for their ultimate solution. Moreover, in making this esti- 



' While the writer believes at least twenty years would be necessary to complete satisfactorily a definite 

 research in the Maya field, it is not to be supposed, on that account, that intensive investigations for a shorter 

 period vvould be devoid of important results. It is highly probable that much valuable scientific data would 

 be gathered during a ten years' study of Chichen Itza, though such a period of research would by no means 

 exhaust the possibiUties of the site. The point which the writer wishes particularly to emphasize is that, to 

 complete a large and definite research at Cliichcn Itza and its environs, twenty years at least will be required . 



