118 Shells as evidence of the Migrations. 
exploring a number of isolated tombs beneath the pave- 
ment of courtyards and under the foundations of houses 
at this city, human remains were found associated with 
various articles of use and adornment. “ The beads, ear- 
ornaments, medallions, and a variety of other ornaments, 
usually of jadeite,’ Gordon remarks, “exhibit an extra- 
ordinary degree of skill in the art of cutting and polishing 
stones, while the pearls and trinkets carved from shell 
must have been obtained by trade or by journeys to 
the coast.’ Thomas Gann, of Yucatan, also states that 
“ornaments such as beads, gorgets, and ear-pendants, 
made from the pearly shell of both the oyster and the 
conch, are of common occurrence in many sepulchral 
mounds in British Honduras and Yucatan.” '™ 
In Guatemala no pearls appear to have been observed 
in the pre-Columbian graves, but marine shells, whole, 
and elaborated in connection with jadeite beads have 
been found." 
On the Pacific coast of Mexico, and especially along 
the coast of Lower California, quite extensive pearl- 
fisheries are prosecuted. The fisheries on the Mexican 
coast appear to have been in existence for centuries. 
European knowledge of these resources dates from the 
conquest of Mexico by Cortés about 1522. Native chiefs 
were found living in primitive huts along the sea-shore, 
with quantities of beautiful pearls lying around, and from 
a tribe near the present site of Hermosillo, in the State of 
Sonora, Cortés secured quantities of the gems."" 
Pearls were highly appreciated by the Aztec kings, 
and the gems were employed to decorate statues of the 
gods and their temples, as in India. The temple in which 
‘9° Kunz and Stevenson, of. ciZ,, p. 511. 
18° Jbid., p. Sit. 
1! Kunz and Stevenson, of, cif., p. 241. 
