568 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 193 5 



The surface of the Southern Terrace has been paved, in part, with 

 flat stones. Along its northern edge are to be seen the remains of 

 a low wall and 4 stairways, 3 of which extend a short way down 

 the slope, while the fourth (at the northeast corner) has nine 

 steps which terminate in a flagged walk bordered by mounds, leading 

 directly to the lower court (pi. 3, fig. 1). This stairway and two 

 others were restored by us. 



The north side of the same court is provided with two series of 

 steps leading up to the general level of the plateau. The eastern 

 series is extended to form a narrow paved walk exactly in line with 

 the distant parallel mounds of the so-called " Ball Court." 



On the northern side of the upper court is a large oblong mound. 

 The stairway which ascends this terminates abruptly at the foot of a 

 vertical wall 2 feet high. Above this, the surface is cobbled with 

 rows or rounded stones set on end. 



Judging by the height of the wall and the presence of these stones, 

 it seems unlikely that this platform was originally surmounted by a 

 temple or other building. Perhaps it was an altar. Praying for 

 victory over the strange new enem}'' from across the sea, perhaps the 

 fighting Lencas climbed these steps 400 years ago, carrying sacrifices 

 to place upon the rugged platform. 



THE SOUTHEASTERN GROUP 



The Southeastern Group was described briefly by Squier, but his 

 account does not adequately cover the material as it exists today. 

 Though he mentions a surrounding wall similar to that of the Cen- 

 tral Enclosure, I was unable to find vestiges of such a structure 

 (maps, figs. 1 and 3). 



Near the edge of the cliff are two mounds similar to those of the 

 Southern Terrace. The larger of these is slightly less than 2 meters 

 high, and stands upon a terrace edged with stone and elevated to a 

 height of 3 meters. Two curious structures are to be seen close by 

 these mounds; they are low, circular hillocks scarcely more than 12 

 centimeters high, covered completely with large flat stones. A third 

 object of this character lies a few meters to the northeast, below the 

 terrace and almost at the edge of the cliff. A fourth occurs due west 

 of this in a straight line with the western wall of the terrace. As 

 will be seen in the map (fig. 3), there are other mounds, some of them 

 large, between this group and the Southern Terrace. 



The most interesting single object encountered during the course 

 of our explorations was an elaborately carved met ate found in one of 

 the mounds of the Southeastern Group. This specimen, represented 

 in figure 4, is made of basalt. Though one leg was broken at the time 



