THE ARCHEOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE OF GUATEMALA 
By A. V. KippER 
Chairman, Division of Historical Research 
Carnegie Institution of Washington 
[With 6 plates] 
The high aboriginal cultures of Mesoamerica extended from north- 
central Mexico well into Nicaragua. Guatemala lies almost exactly 
in the middle of this great area. Not only is it central geographically 
but, as will be shown, it is unquestionably one of the New World’s 
most important archeological fields. 
To begin at the very beginning, it is certain that somewhere in 
Guatemala there must exist remains of the earliest comers to the 
Americas. The Indians, we know, were present at the extreme tip 
of South America at a time when many sorts of animals now extinct 
were still in existence. To reach South America, their forebears 
must have worked their way down through Central America and 
Panama. Until very recently, however, no trace of early human 
occupancy of, or man’s passage through, Mexico and Central America 
had come to light. But during the last 2 years crude implements and 
a human skeleton have been found in the Valley of Mexico in deposits 
which seem surely to date from very shortly after the close of the last 
glacial period. Discovery of similar evidence in Guatemala would 
add greatly to our at present extremely scanty information as to the 
peopling of the New World, and as to the culture possessed by the 
pioneers. 
Where to seek such evidence is a problem. The Pacific coast 
plain, level, rich in game, its waters teeming with fish, would seem to 
have offered the most favorable route for migration. It surely so 
served in later times. However, to find the meager remains that 
hunters and fisherfolk and gatherers of wild foods can be expected to 
have left behind them will not be easy. The coast plain and the 
slopes of the volcanic coast range are deeply covered by alluvium 
washed down during the ages from the mountains. Early camp sites 
must, in most cases, lie far below the present surface. Not only that, 
but the shore line of today is evidently a considerable distance farther 
out than it was 10 or 15 thousand years ago. Random digging would 
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