530 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 19 3 8 



This article has endeavored to sketch one phase of historical research 

 on the past of Mexico. A major problem has been to bridge the gap 

 between the peoples who are identified by Spanish and Indian docu- 

 mentary records and those who are known to us only through the 

 ruins of their buildings and the broken elements of their material cul- 

 ture which have survived. While at times it must seem as though 

 the archeologists labor to make bricks without straw, yet the results 

 of the Valley of Mexico research prove that it is possible to formulate 

 a history with the meager data provided. In Yucatan, Guatemala, 

 and Oaxaca, similar methods have sketched the main outlines of his- 

 torical development. Even if the history thus obtained discloses 

 little or nothing of the life of the individual, it does throw abundant 

 light on the steps by which man achieves his artistic development and 

 economic progress. The lesson is constantly driven home that greater 

 than man is the sum total of his achievements. 



