SCULPTURES OF SANTA LUCIA COZUMAHUALPA. 55 1 



ered collectivoly. Eisen^s memoir treats of the materials still rcmaiiiiiicr 

 at Santa Lucia and its environs, of which Berendt sent descriptions 

 and di-a wings to Bastian, the pu))lication of which is nmch to l)e desired. 

 Seler gives remarkable explanations of the principal i)icces found at 

 Santa Lucia. 



A part of these treasures adorning- the B(M-lin Ethnological Museunj 

 have now become a gift to our own in the form of exc^dlent plaster 

 casts. They are to be found on the north side of the upper storv of 

 the museum of natural history in the prehistoric collection. The 

 author of the present account of them has deemed it incumbent upon 

 him to publish something concerning their significance, so that the 

 public, by understanding them better, may be led to take more interest 

 in them. 



The discoveries at Santa Lucia are remains of an important settle- 

 ment which must have been destroyed long Ix'fore 1522, the date of 

 the plundering of the country by Alvarado; for had it not been so, 

 we should have had notices about it from the Spaniards. That this 

 destruction must have been a foj-cible one is proved by the disorderly 

 position of the remains hitherto discovered, especially such as plainly 

 formed parts of buildings. This is shown by the plan of the site pul)- 

 lished by Bastian in the Berlin Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologic. Vol. \'I1I. 

 p. 322. The rank tropical vegetation had covered these remain^ and 

 given them over to oblivion, until, centuries later, chance l)rought tlicin 

 to light again, and thus gave us a glimpse into a ciAilization ])i'c\ iously 

 quite unknown. 



To the question, what race produced these moiuuiients. no certain 

 answer can be given. Their type is a new one to us. Comparing 

 them with those of the Maya civilization, we tind that they present 

 differences so fundamental that they must be of another origin. The 

 anthropological type of the figures exhibited, at least of those which 

 represent inhabitants of Santa Lucia, contrasts decidedly with those of 

 the Maya sculptures, while the hieroglyphics characteristic of the lat- 

 ter are here wholly wanting. We are thus driven to seek theii- origin 

 among the Nahoa peoples who formerly inhabited old :\lexico. lait of 

 whom a part, as we learn from the remains, wandered south a> far as 

 the shores of the South Sea and into Central America, everywhere 

 forming settlements of longer or shorter duration. Remains of these 

 settlements have already been found. They are ascribable. with some 

 degree of certainty, to the Nahoa civilization. It is. however, neces- 

 sary to allow for the influence of the new conditions of life which the 

 wanderers must have encountered, as well as for that of conta.t with 

 foreign civilizations, in modifying original characteristics of their ..wn 

 and in introducing new elements -(>tlects which nmst hav l.ec..me 

 mon« marked the longer and the more undisturl)edly those causes acted. 

 Such must have been the case with the settlers ..f Santa Lucia, smce 



