lO DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 



chalchihuitl or greenstone) ; it consists of a plain elliptical or nearly- 

 elliptical central face surrounded by a beaded border. From it in turn 

 hangs a pendant consisting of a broader central band and two narrower 

 divergent pieces. The ear contains an ear-disk with pendant. The 

 face, shown in profile, is notable for its prognathism, the strong some- 

 what aquiline nose, and the retreating, perhaps artificially deformed 

 forehead. l"he forehead is cro.ssed by a plaited band, above which 

 rises an elaborate helmet head-dress with crest of long pendant plumes. 

 The carving is handsome and boldly done. The workmanship is 

 more Mayan than Aztecan or Zapotecan. 



This Mayan character of the art is in keeping with the inscription 

 on the reverse of the specimen, which is the feature most deserving of 

 careful study. This is located in the lower part of the upper third of 

 the piece. The characters composing it are four in number and are 

 contained in rectangular spaces formed by straight deeply-cut lines; 

 these form a continuous band across the specimen. Two of these 

 spaces are entire; the other two are partially destroyed. The charac- 

 ters contained within them are clearly related to the '' calculiform " 

 characters of Mayan inscriptions on monoliths, pottery vessels and 

 carved greenstones and to those of the codices. The figure given in 

 the plate gives a perfect idea of the characters, their arrangement and 

 their position. For purposes of comparison, however, they are repre- 

 sented here in a special cut. This has been made by taking a tracing 

 over the photograph and then perfecting it. 



Should these characters prove, as I believe, to be Mayan we are nat- 

 urally, though not necessarily, led to one of two startling conclusions: 



(a) That the calculiform characters were already developed and 

 were in use at Tula, far outside of the recognized Mayan region, be- 

 fore the abandonment of that city — or (b) that relations of trade and 

 barter connected Tula, at the time of its occupancy, with some Mayan 

 region — presumably to the East, South, or Southeast. 



