7G RESEARCH AT THE RUINS OF CHICHEN ITZA, YUCATAN. 



exceedingly rare; in fact, this lack constitutes one of the greatest obstacles 

 to the study of American archaeology. In Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek, 

 and Roman archseology, history acts as a constant check against specula- 

 tion. Therefore, when there are definite historical references to a New 

 World site, its archseological importance can not be overestimated. 



Ill .summing up the scientific reasons for the selection of Chichen Itza as 

 a base of operations for extended research in the Maya field, it may be said 

 that this site offers far more material for the study of Maya archaeology in its 

 various phases than any other center of the civilization. 



PRACTICAL REASONS. 



1. Accessibility. 



Few Maya sites are so accessible from the United States as Chichen 

 Itza. This group of ruins may be reached from New York City, via the 

 New York and Cuba Mail S. S. Co. {i. e., the Ward Line) to Progreso, 

 Yucatan (seven days), and the United Railways of Yucatan, Progreso to 

 Citas, and wagon to the ruins (one day) ; or from New Orleans, via the 

 Montes Line to Progreso (three days), and Progreso to Citas and the ruins 

 (one day) . Excepting Uxmal (also in Yucatan) and Quirigua (Guatemala) , 

 the same accessibility can not be claimed for any other large Maya ruin. 

 Indeed, most of the others are very difficult to reach. Palenque, Tikal, 

 Naranjo, Yaxchilan, Piedras Negras, and Seibal, for example, are hidden 

 in the jungles of southern Mexico and northern Guatemala, many days 

 distant from the nearest railroads or steamship lines, and they can be 

 reached only by very difficult travel over foot-trails, often blocked by luxu- 

 riant vegetation. The accessibility of the site recommended for the base 

 of operations has a direct bearing not only on the cost of placing an expedi- 

 tion in the field, but also of maintaining it there. A scientific expedition 

 can be sent to Cliichen Itza and there maintained more economically than 

 at any other large center of the Maya civilization, with the possible excep- 

 tions of Uxmal and Quirigua, above noted. 



2. Length of the Field Season. 



Northern Yucatan has a shorter rainy season than any other part of 

 the Maya area, and this fact du-ectly influences the length of the field 

 season at Chichen Itza. It was the experience of the Peabody Museum 

 at Copan (Honduras) and of the School of American Archaeology at 

 Quirigua (Guatemala) that excavation could not profitably be carried on 

 during the rainy season. The writer was in unmediate charge of the exca- 

 vations at Quirigua in 1912, and he well remembers how torrential were 

 the fii-st rains of the season, early in May, and how suddenly they put an 

 end to the work by flooding the diggings. The rainy season at Chichen 

 Itza commences about the close of May and extends until about the middle 

 of December, leaving at least five months during which it is possible to 

 conduct archaeological work without hindrance. At the southern Maya 

 sites, such as Palenque, Tikal, Copan, and Quirigua, the dry season is much 

 shorter. At Quirigua, for example, only the months of February, March, 

 and April are entirely free from rain, and similar conditions prevail at the 

 other southern cities. The field season at Chichen Itza and Uxmal is 

 almost twice as long as at any of the southern sites. 



