THE GREAT DEAGON OF QUIRIGUA, GUATEMALA.^ 



By W. H. Holmes, 

 Head Curator, Department of Anthropology, U. S. National Museum. 



[With 10 plates.] 



In February, 1916, the writer had the good fortune to become a 

 member of the Carnegie Institution's archeological expedition to 

 Central America. Under the able directorship of Sylvanus G. 

 Morley, the fascinating work of exploring and studying in detail 

 the remarkable remains of ancient Maya culture was vigorously car- 

 ried forward. The especial object of this year's expedition was the 

 discovery of additional sculptured inscriptions embodying glyphic 

 dates — for it is the dates, now read with facility, that furnish the 

 skeleton of Mayan history. 



Among the ancient ruined cities visited while the writer was as- 

 sociated with the expedition was Quirigua in eastern Guatemala, the 

 subject of much scientific attention during recent years. On arriv- 

 ing at the site our party emerged from the tropical forest that sur- 

 rounds the few acres of cleared ground, called a park, in which 

 the ruins are inclosed, and came suddenly upon a group of the 

 great sculptured monoliths. For a moment we were puzzled by a 

 curious! scaffolding and platform some 20 feet in height erected 

 against the face of an elaborately sculptured stela. Momited on 

 this platform without apparent protection from the sun was de- 

 scried the figure of a man posing before a large canvas. It proved 

 to be Mr. Joseph Lindon Smith, the master portrayer of ancient 

 monuments engaged in painting the portrait of the mysterious per- 

 sonage whose heroic form is cai*^^ed in high relief in the face of the 

 monument. The several paintings completed by Mr. Smith are pre- 

 served in the Peabody Museum of Ethnology and Archaeology, 

 Cambridge. 



PROBLEMS OF MAYAN HISTORY. 



The reading of the dates, inscribed in glyphic characters on the 

 sculptured monuments, and in ancient manuscripts, is a most im- 



1 Reprinted with author's revision from Art and Archaeology, Washington, D. C, 

 December, 1916. 



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