24 



THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



weight abo\e and secondly because the 

 walls of this upper chamber are plainly 

 made of reused material. There is good 

 evidence that the sculptured details of 

 certain other parts of the Monjas were 

 taken from the wreckage of earlier build- 

 ings. In close connection with the 

 Monjas are two small temples without 

 substructures, the more interesting one 

 being the single-roomed building called 

 the Iglesia or Church. This little temple 



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'40 







End \new of the North Temple of the Ball Court. The 

 entke side surface of the North Temple, including the sloping 

 walls of the vault and the rotmd columns in front, is sculptured 

 in low relief 



is decorated with mask panels, and has 

 the front wall elevated one story above 

 the roof, an architectural device known 

 as the flying fa9ade. This flying facade 

 bears three mask panels which differ 

 from each other and which are obviously 

 made up of reused material. 



West of the Monjas is the Akat'cib, the 

 House of the Dark Writing, so called 

 on account of some hieroglyphic inscrip- 

 tions. North of the Monjas is the Cara- 

 col or Snail, a curious circular 

 tower with a winding stairway. 

 Still farther to the north is the 

 Casa Colorada or Red House, 

 \ an admirably preserved building 

 with a long outer chamber and 

 three inner ones. The flying fa- 

 cade of this building is very 

 pleasing with its mask panels 

 flanked by frets. Over the cen- 

 I ter of the roof rises another wall 

 pierced by windows. This archi- 

 tectural detail, commonly called 

 >; •, the roof comb or roof crest, is 

 found in this single instance at 

 C'hichen Itza although often seen 

 in other Maya cities. 



Continuing in the same north- 

 erly direction we encounter a 

 temple upon a pyramid very 

 similar to the Castillo, but small- 

 er, which has been named the 

 Temple of the High Priest's 

 Grave. This rather fanciful title 

 comes from a deep shaft on the 

 floor leading down to a small 

 burial chamber. In conjunction 

 with this temple are some small 

 platforms which are believed to 

 have been used as stages for 

 dramas or religious ceremonies. 

 Several of these platforms, 

 having stairways on the four 

 sides and sometimes sculptured 

 panels, are found at Chichen. 

 Itza, 



