Juty, 1898. Ruins oF XKICHMOOK, YUCATAN—THOMPSON. 2L7 
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Yucatan. About ten per cent. of the existing chambers, so far as my 
observation extends, have or once had these seats. In some the 
vertical sides are finished in dressed stone. This is the case in sev- 
eral of the chambers at Uxmal. At Labna and also at Chichen Itza 
I have found them covering a larger section of the floor. One, at 
Labna, covered nearly half the floor of alarge chamber. Most of them 
are masses of solid material, but one that I found at Uxmal was 
hollow, and in the cavity was a rough and worn stone figure or 
idol. The structure was in a very dilapidated condition, and the 
stone image may have been placed within at a later period to hide it 
from observation. 
Upon the northeast corner of the great terrace is a mound 16 
feet high (mound 3 on the general plan) which was probably terraced. 
The crowning edifice, if there ever was one, must have been of a perish- 
able nature, possibly constructed of wood and palm leaves. Upon the 
terrace between the Palace and this mound are two raised circular 
spaces 12 feet in diameter, about a foot high, enclosed by cut stones 
and filled in with rubble. Fronting the principal stairways in most of 
the structures in this group are placed similar circles, the dimensions 
varying considerably. Most of them have in the center a cylindrical 
stone; some of these appear to have been stelle or phalli, and others 
mere pedestals. In most cases they appear to have been imbedded 
in lime, cement or rubble. 
Occupying the same great terrace, go feet east of the east wing 
of the Palace, lies the much ruined Edifice No. 7, described further on. 
Upon the southeast portion of this terrace are meandering wall out- 
lines, the remains of chambers now destroyed or possibly, in some cases, 
of walls that were never finished. On the extreme southwest corner 
is one of those diminutive edifices, the counterparts of which, found 
in ruins on the east coast (El Meco and others), have given rise to the 
idea that they were constructed bya race of pigmies. There appears, 
however, to be no good foundation for this theory. The diminutive 
structures were doubtless built for some purpose quite commonplace 
among the people of that time, but which has not survived the changes 
brought about by the Spanish occupation. 
Excavations.— Under the great mass of debris aad fallen stone 
work that covered the floor of the upper chamber or sanctuary, marked 
g in the plan of the Palace, were found various fragments of incense 
burners and human figures in hard burned clay. In the floor material 
of the ruined Chamber No. 17 of the eastern wing, 6 feet beneath 
the floor surface and almost flush with the foundations of the southern 
