570 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 19 35 



Seeking evidence as to their use, I examined the whole of the 

 mountainside below the southern group, where some of these stones, 

 and a quantity of obsidian chips had been observed. The first third 

 of the descent toward the valley floor was strewn with fragments of 

 pottery, chips of obsidian, and roughly chipped flint and obsidian 

 spearheads. Below, I ceased to find these but came upon numerous 

 sandstone balls. The remainder of the descent yielded nothing, as 

 it was covered with a thick layer of broken rock which had fallen in 

 recent times, apparently, from the cliff above. 



THE CAVES 



A description of Tenampua would not be complete without refer- 

 ence to the caves. All sorts of legends and superstitions are con- 

 nected with them. He who enters must expect to encounter ghosts, 

 coyotes, demons, spells ; nothing is too dreadful to be found there. 



Squier knew of two, situated near the northwest corner of the 

 plateau. The locations are clearly visible from a distance, since 

 each is surrounded by a tangle of junglelike growth, contrasting with 

 the uniform and temperate-zone appearance of the grass and pines 

 which characterize this region. Cutting our way through the thorn 

 acacias and lianas which surround the entrance to the more north- 

 erly cave, Jorge and I came upon a large hole in the ground. It was 

 more or less circular in outline, 6 meters across and 5 meters deep. 

 It had the appearance of being artificial. The bottom was filled with 

 semidecayed leaves and broken rock, which had almost covered an 

 opening at the north side. It is believed, locally, that this opening 

 marks the entrance to a tunnel which leads through the mountain; 

 thence under the valley floor ; to come out finally in a distant range of 

 mountains, at a ruined site known as Chapuluca or Chapulistagua. 



After clearing away the fallen leaves and rock we found the pas- 

 sage completely blocked. Slabs of stone had fallen from the roof. 

 An opening 2I/2 meters wide and li/4 deep was cleared (this measure- 

 ment is not the true height, as we did not remove all the debris from 

 the floor) (pi. 5, fig. 2). Numbers of frightened bats flew out into 

 the dazzling daylight, and circled around our heads or hung on the 

 branches of the trees awaiting the first opportunity to return to their 

 ancient home. Three meters of passageway were cleared of rock. 

 T]ien the direction changed. So far, the tunnel had run in a north- 

 erly direction and slightly downward. Now, it narrowed suddenly 

 to a width of no more than a meter and turned sharply to run ver- 

 tically into the earth. The work became all but impossible. " Un- 

 comfortable " Jorge expressed it, cramped and crouching on his 

 knees, digging out the rocks one by one with a hand trowel. The 



