THE RUINS OF TULOOM, YUCATAN 



197 



At the height of the glory of Tuloom, the glistening white buildings with their barbaric mural paintings, 

 standing out clearly against the dark green forests" of the seaward slope, the crowds of gaily dressed natives 

 thronging the shore, and the brilliant blue of the Caribbean Sea stretching between, so impressed Padre 

 Diaz, the priestly chronicler of the Grijalva expedition, that he was moved to write that his beloved "Seville 

 would not have appeared more considerable or better." Panoramic sketch by Mr. S. E. Lothrop 



bly primarily to enclose the temple 

 area, its admirable defensive possibili- 

 ties can hardly have been overlooked, 

 and would appear to have been intensi- 

 tied by the use of narrow offset passage- 

 ways and watchtowers. 



Within the walls are scattered a 

 score or more of buildings, and there 

 are perhaps half as many, although 

 smaller, hidden in the bush outside. 

 The ground rises gently from the south- 

 west corner of the enclosure to the top 

 of the bluff along the sea. The principal 

 temple, the so-called "Castillo," sur- 

 mounts this crest facing toward the en- 

 closure, that is, away from the sea. 

 This is an elaborate construction on 

 three different levels, the two-room 

 building on top, probably the chief 

 sanctuary of the city, being approached 

 by a broad steep stairway. The flank- 

 ing structures on either side are sym- 

 metrically arranged with reference to 

 the central part, and present a number 



of interesting features, such as columns, 

 wooden lintels, stucco figures, faces, 

 animals, and mural paintings. 



The architecture of Tuloom is dis- 

 tinctly of a late and debased period. 

 Stylistically considered, the greater part 

 of the structures now standing proba- 

 bly dates from after 1200 a.d. when 

 the Maya had all but lost their ancient 

 cunning. The building blocks are not 

 even squared or faced,^ as the walls 

 were finished with a hard plaster coat. 

 While the latter is doubtless true of 

 other great Maya cities both of the Old 

 and New Empires, that is, of the south 

 and north respectively, elsewhere the 

 Iniilding blocks are both squared and 

 faced. The Tuloom masons, on the 

 other hand, were slovenly and de- 

 pended upon the plaster finish to cover 

 up the more glaring faults of their 



1 Mr. Lothrop noted a possible e.vception in the 

 walls of Temple 30, where the blocks appear to 

 liave Ijeen both squared and dressed. 



