GREAT DRAGON OF QUIRIGUA, GUATEMALA HOLMES. 451 



Seeking to determine the exact relation of the sculptured figure to 

 the strange forms which surround it, we discover that it sits in the 

 mouth of a great reptilian monster, whose upper jaw is arched above, 

 passing behind the headdress, while closing in on the figure at the 

 sides the tusklike fangs of the reptile are to be seen. The outer sur- 

 faces of the jaws are embellished with scalelike groups of glyphs and 

 cartouches, and to the right and left in the curves of the upturned 

 jaw are the deep-set eyes of the monster, the pupils of which are em- 

 bellished with glyphlike figures in relief. Beneath the figure the 

 lower jaw of the reptile appears with great rounded fangs at the 

 sides. At the right and left near the base and connecting back over 

 the sides are sculptured panels in which grotesque and distorted 

 demons appear, each holding tightly against his form a device hav- 

 ing the appearance of a glyph. The possible significance of the 

 human figure and its relation to the reptilian monster will be referred 

 to later. 



The south face. — Passing to the south face of the stone, we dis- 

 cover, occupying a central place in the surface, a great masklike 

 visage of forbidding aspect, of the type characteristic of the " Long- 

 nosed God" (pi. 5). Although this deity is given varying attributes 

 in the different Mayan centers of culture, it is thought probable that 

 in the present connection it may represent the god of the underworld 

 and possibly also of death. The great staring eyes are set in features 

 of strange conformation, and the wide mouth displaj'^s fangs with 

 molars at the right and left and the usual tusk coils springing from 

 the outer corners. At the sides are the ears, embellished with squarish 

 loops and pendants, while above rises the headdress of unique and 

 striking design. Inclosing the face and extending in terraced form 

 across the headdress is a glyphic inscription neatly carved and taste- 

 fully arranged. Above the forehead and surrounded by the inscrip- 

 tion is a beautifully designed scroll-inclosed panel from which looks 

 out a human face, the hands also appearing at the lower margin, 

 while above and extending to the upper surface of the stone is a 

 superbly chiseled device set against the crown of plumes which ex- 

 pands widely to right and left. Medallionlike embellishments are 

 overlaid upon the plumes, which terminate on the shoulders of the 

 image in an ornamental beaded appendage. 



To the right and left of the inscription richly embellished, rounded, 

 columnlike forms or shoulders are encountered which connect back- 

 ward at the base with flattish scaled plates suggesting the flippers of the 

 great sea turtle, and it is doubtless these features that gave the original 

 name — the " Great Turtle " — ^to the monument. Observing their 

 termination in what appears to be a claw, it is suggested that they 

 were not intended as representations of the flippers of any particu- 

 lar natural form, but rather of a mythical reptilian divinity of non- 



