THE PROBLEMS OF ARCHEOLOGY 535 



mala. But when this whole territory has been more thoroughly 

 explored, with the care to which European investigators are accus- 

 tomed, we shall get a far more complete idea of the mutual rela- 

 tions of the tribes; and then for the first time it will be possible 

 to write the ancient history of Mexico. 



The region comprising Mexico and Central America is that in 

 which American archeology is best able to rise above the stand- 

 point of merely antiquarian investigation, and to attempt higher 

 tasks. The question is yet unsolved whether the first appearance 

 of what we call decoration is to be taken as a significant marking, 

 as an inscription, so to speak, which is intended to place the ob- 

 ject in relation with another being or object, real or imaginary; or 

 whether a purely artistic impulse guided the hand of the first man 

 who painted or carved an ornament of any kind, or worked itself 

 out in the technique of weaving and plaiting. But we may take 

 it as certain that we shall have to go back to a very early period, a 

 stage of development not far removed from the general beginning, 

 in order to trace the transition from merely useful tools to ornamented 

 ones, the development from a simple marking, significant according 

 to its meaning, to real ornament which owes its origin to a delight in 

 form and color. There is a particular charm in trying to discover 

 these first beginnings of primitive art. But in the Mexican-Cen- 

 tral-American region this initial stage has long been passed. We 

 meet here with productions, which, even if they are not to be placed 

 beside the classical work of Greek artists, are yet, in conception, 

 in the tasteful distribution of ornament, and in form, entitled to 

 the designation of works of art. I need only remind you, for ex- 

 ample, of the graceful arabesques of the borders on the sculptured 

 walls of the temple of Chich'en Itza, and of the hieroglyphic pic- 

 tures, put together in a small space with such perfect art, of the 

 stelae, altar-tablets, and other reliefs of Copan, Quirigud, Palenque, 

 and the ruined sites of Usumacinta, which the works of Mauds- 

 lay and Teobert Maler have taught us to know. That the purely 

 esthetic way of looking at things is beginning to gain ground in 

 American archeology also is evidenced, for example, by the latest 

 work of Hermann Strebel; and it is undoubtedly to be expected 

 that before long this branch of science will have more work put 

 on it, and that by its means some valuable results for the histor- 

 ical classification of the monuments will be attained. 



The special traits of the old Mexican and Central American 

 civilization, and the spread of Mexican elements of population, 

 may be traced as far as the beautiful Lake Nicaragua. If we fol- 

 low the indications of the flora and fauna, South America begins 

 with the mountain ranges of Costa Rica; and thus far also ex- 

 tend the ethnological relations which go north from Colombia 



