INVESTIGATIONS IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA. 33 



was carved a human head; s-till smaller pieces represented hands and feet, some 

 kind of implements and beads. All of them were pierced so as to allow a 

 thread to pass through. A little to one side of the legs of the corpse were found 

 the bones of another skull. This occurred during mv short absence for makins' 

 meteorological observations; and I am unable to say if the other bones belonging 

 to this body were also found, but I have no doubt they were, and consequently 

 two persons facing each other were buried in the same grave. Near the legs of 

 the first-named person was lying horizontally an implement of a gray porphyritic 

 stone highly polished, in the shape of a horseshoe. It was sixteen inches long and 

 fourteen inches across at the base of the two legs. In cross section it was a trun- 

 cated triangle two inches wide on the top and three inches at its base. A few inches 

 distant from the ends of the implement was a head sculptured in profile on a 

 slab of similar stone. On both sides the eyes, ears, and lips were sculptured. 

 The eyes were very large, three inches and a half in diameter, while the entire 

 width of the head above the eyes measured eight inches, and its length eleven 

 inches. The base of the head was flat, extending from the chin to the occiput. 

 The lips, eyes, and ears were colored with red ochre, and the cheek with some 

 black paint. Small quantities of both these pigments were lying close by. On a 

 line with the former implement and head another similar implement and head were 

 found, resembling the first, except that they were made from dolomite instead of 

 porphyritic stone. These latter two were very much corroded, so much so that the 

 different parts of the face witli the exception of the ear on one side could no longer 

 be distinguished, while the former were uninjured, except that their polish was 

 obliterated. This indicated tlie high antiquity of the grave. Next to the second 

 implement were two innnense pipes of burnt clay, painted with red and white figures. 

 The colors were partly gone, and the remainder peeled oft" at a touch. In their 

 shape they resembled a straight round cup, four inches high and the same in 

 diameter, having near the bottom a short neck for inserting the tube. They were 

 apparently designed for no common use. Outward from the pipes was a heap of 

 pottery fragments. It was impossible to decide whether the utensils which were 

 composed of these fragments were buried whole, or broken; in one instance it was 

 certain that only pieces of a utensil were buried, as the other portions necessary for 

 its construction were missing. Among this heap were the fragments of an image 

 of an old man, the head of which was perfect. One of the utensils found was a 

 kind of basin with two handles. One of these handles represented the head of a 

 rabbit, and the other, its four feet tied together. Besides this heap of pottery 

 there were others; the hollow above one of them indicated that the vessel has been 

 buried in a perfect condition, and the vacancy was caused by the collapse of the 

 broken parts, and, possibly, partly by the decay of the food which this vessel con- 

 tained when buried. There were also three obsidian knife-blades, and near them 

 indications of decayed substances. Some of the vessels had three legs, which were 

 hollow, with a rattle the size of a pea inside. The presence of the two pipes in 

 the grave is the more remarkable as the ancient inhabitants of Central America 

 did not smoke tobacco; those who smoke now seem to have acquired the habit from 

 Europeans. 



5 August, 1878. 



