ARCHAEOLOGY. 



bone, and stone were common, as well as pot- 

 tery, which was unknown to the Indians of 

 Northwest Canada on the arrival of white 

 immigrants. One mound had a floor of burned 

 clay and bowlders, similar to the sacrificial 

 mounds and altars of Ohio. Ornaments were 

 found made of sea-shells, which must have 

 been carried 1,200 miles. 



The Maya Inscriptions. Dr. Augustus Le 

 Plongeon, who has spent several years in ar- 

 chfflological research in the ruined cities of Yu- 

 catan, believes that he has discovered the key 

 to the Maya hieroglyphics, and that he is able 

 to give correct interpretations, having definite 

 historical significance, to the figures, carvings, 

 and inscriptions which are found on the monu- 

 ments. In a paper which she read before the 

 New York Academy of Science, Mrs. Le Plon- 

 geon described the " Governor's House " at 

 Uxmal, with twenty rooms, and another build- 

 ing near it, having 102 rooms, with ceilings 

 composed of stones overlapping so as to form 

 a triangular area, and their elaborate ornamen- 

 tation of mastodons' heads and feathered ser- 

 pents. One series of designs was interpreted 

 as recording the history of the foundation of 

 the city, with the names of the founders. 

 Traces of paint were found in one of the courts, 

 and impressions of hands that had been dipped 

 in red paint and pressed against the walls as a 

 religious invocation. In a building at Chichen- 

 Itza were observed several figures in profile 

 of men having long beards ; and in another 

 building in the same city mural paintings 

 representing religious ceremonies, domestic 

 scenes, and battles, the figures of which for 

 skill in execution were compared with the 

 best works of ancient Egyptian art. A mau- 

 soleum was adorned with sculptures of macaws 

 and leopards, and a leopard- sphinx, and con- 

 tained a large statue, two funerary urns, and 

 articles in jade, chalcedony, and greenstone. 

 The statue was drawn out from the tomb, but 

 was afterward taken possession of by the Mex- 

 ican Government. 



Dr. Daniel G. Brinton relates in the " Ameri- 

 can Antiquarian " that Mrs. Zelia Nuttall Pi- 

 nart, who is acquainted with the Nahuatl lan- 



Siage, has succeeded in reading the ancient 

 exican picture-writing: and he adds to his 

 announcement that "the results she has ob- 

 tained cast an entirely new light on ancient 

 Mexican history and social life, and her con- 

 clusions, if established, will deal a severe blow 

 at most of the prevailing theories regarding 

 the government, religion, and mythology of 

 the Aztec and allied tribes." 



The Rains of Qairigua. Mr. A. P. Maudsley 

 has published an account of his excavations of 

 the ruins of Quirigua, which are situated on 

 the river IContagna, in Central America. They 

 consist of numerous square or oblong mounds 

 and terraces, varying from six totforty feet in 

 height, usually faced with worked stone, and 

 ascended by flights of stone steps. The most 

 interesting objects are thirteen large monoliths 



arranged irregularly around a kind of plaza. 

 Six of these are tall stones, from three to five 

 feet square, and standing from fourteen to 

 twenty feet out of the ground; the other five 

 are shaped so as to resemble huge turtles or 

 armadillos. All the monuments are covered 

 with elaborate carvings, including huge human 

 figures on the tall monuments ; tables of hiero- 

 glyphics ; and squares or cartouches of picture- 

 writing, in which grotesque figures of men and 

 animals appear prominently. The human fig- 

 ures are conventipnal, the picture-writing de- 

 signs relatively free. Usually most of the de- 

 signs, even in what appears to be purely 

 conventional scroll-work, may be found, on 

 careful examination, to be derived from the 

 representation of a face. No figures derived 

 from leaves or flowers have been observed, but 

 a plaited ribbon is occasionally employed, and 

 free use is made of plumes of feathers; and 

 these are often very gracefully arranged and 

 beautifully carved. The fifteen monuments 

 are divided into two groups, in one of which 

 the human figures are all of men, and in the 

 other all of women. Mr. Maudsley calls at- 

 tention to the fact, as showing an advanced and 

 peaceful condition of existence in the people 

 who built this city, 

 that representa- 

 tions of weapons 

 of war are entirely 

 absent from all the 

 monuments. Casts 

 of many of the 

 objects described 

 have been placed 

 in the Archaeologi- 

 cal Museum at 

 Cambridge, Eng- 

 land. 



The Monuments of 

 Copan. Mr. Mauds- 

 ley has made a sys- 

 tematic examina- 

 tion, with surveys 

 and measurements, 

 of the principal 

 ruins of the city of 

 Copan, which were 

 described by Ste- 

 phens in 1840. He 

 believes that the 

 nature of the struc- 

 tures has been in 

 some points mis- 

 taken; that the so- 

 called pyramids are 

 the raised founda- 

 tions that support- 

 ed roofed build- 

 ings, and that these 

 were approached 

 by steep flights of 

 steps; that the long heaps of stones which 

 were taken to be the ruins of city walls are, 

 in fact, the remains of single-chambered stone- 



INSCRIPTION FROM COPAN. 



