ARCHEOLOGY. 319 



The facade had been ornamented with an elaborate decoration in 

 stucco which was entirely destroyed when the roof collapsed, many 

 small fragments of which were recovered during the excavation of the 

 terrace in front of the temple. 



The plaster on the floors and interior walls was of lime, fairly hard, 

 and had been painted a dark wine-red. Some traces of green were also 

 found in the doorway. 



Fig. 2. — Temples 1, 2, 3, and 4, Quirigua, Guatemala, looking southwest (restored). 



The most interesting feature of Temple 3 was the small dark interior 

 chamber which was entered by a low passage 3 feet 6 inches high, from 

 the north chamber. It is only 3 feet 10 inches high, 2 feet 8 inches 

 wide, and 4 feet 9 inches long. Strange to say, it was intact when 

 found, every roof stone being in place, and it was half full of red earth 

 lightly packed, as was also the passageway giving access to it. This 

 earth had doubtless washed in since the city was abandoned, and 

 was due to the leaking through of water from above, carrying with it 

 particles of the red-clay bonding material , which gradually filled the 

 chamber. Not a single specimen was recovered from this chamber, 

 the use of which remains problematical. 



A similar chamber was found in the excavation of Temple 2 in 1912, 

 and at its farther end were twelve or fourteen rounded river pebbles 

 weighing a pound or more each and showing signs of having been 

 smoked by fire. It has been suggested that these may have been heated 

 and dropped into bowls containing water , thus making vapor, and that 

 the chamber itself was used in connection with some sweating cere- 

 mony. 



The most important architectural feature of Temple 4 was the 

 interior stairway leading from the northern chamber to the roof. 

 This was composed of two flights of steps and a landing. The first 

 flight is 2 feet 2 inches wide, and has four steps averaging 9 inches in 

 height. Beyond the landing the stairway makes a 90° turn to the left, 

 and then continues 2 feet 8 inches wide for five steps more to the top, 

 the steps averaging 1 foot in height. The roof was gone, but it prob- 



