GREAT DRAGON OF QUIRIGUA, GUATEMALA HOLMES. 457 



cartouches should take the roundish, calculiform character. Every 

 feature of design had complete esthetic supervision (pis. 8, 9). 

 Throughout America plastic freehand methods always prevailed over 

 the mechanical. In the creation of this monument the great motor 

 force was religion, but the ever-watchful esthetic impulse joined 

 hands with that force in making it a masterpiece of art. 



Dependence of art on religion is amply shown in what has been 

 said, but the fact may be further illustrated. If in the course of the 

 progressive decadence of a primitive culture the religious impulse 

 should lose its hold on the people, all save the most ordinary esthetic 

 activities would cease and it is manifest that no additional block 

 would be hewn from the quarry, no great stone would be carried to 

 sacred precinct, no mythic conception would be applied to the stone, 

 and no hand would be available to undertake the task of realization. 



It is observed that the ancient Maya sculptor abhorred blank spaces 

 in his designs and also that in cases there is an overcrowding of 

 subject matter, but no people has ever filled in waste spaces more 

 effectively than the sculptors of Quirigua. The space-filling figures 

 are not, however, mere meaningless embellishments, but are doubt- 

 less generally significant, having reason to be in the particular 

 places where they are introduced. In this particular masterpiece 

 the introduced elements embody animals, human and grotesque 

 figures with symbols and embellishments all in agreeable accord 

 with the composition proper. A somewhat definite idea of the gen- 

 eral character of the design and the remarkable elaboration and 

 beauty of the work can be gained by a study of the photographs and 

 drawings herewith presented (pi. 10). 



Technic aspect. — The technic history of the great stone begins 

 with its removal from the quarry and transportation to the present 

 spot. How this herculean task was performed must remain a matter 

 of speculation. With a people unacquainted with the highly de- 

 veloped appliances of civilization, the task would seem beyond the 

 possibility of accomplishment. It is quite impossible to say whether 

 the removal was by land or by water. If by land, a road had to 

 be constructed over ground now rough, now yielding and unstable, 

 and a great force of men with rollers and ropes would be required. 

 If by water, a broad and deep canal had to be dug, and a raft of 

 large proportions constructed and launched to sustain the immense 

 weight. Unless decided evidence of the use of the latter method 

 appears, the former must be accepted as the one probably employed. 



The designing and carving of the monument, the methods and 

 means, are matters of great scientific interest on which we have but 

 meager light. It was not a task within the reach of an uncultured 

 people. The complicated conception had to be clearly in mind, the 



