GANN] SYMBOLISM OF EFFIGIES 685 
is colored blue, the mouth red, the eyes white, and the eyebrows black. 
This ornament of a human figure supporting itself on the forearms 
while the legs are held above the head is not an uncommon one, as I 
have two vases similarly ornamented, one found in a mound on the 
Chetumal bay, the other in a mound near Rio Hondo. It is also 
seen as a bas-relief on stone over a doorway at Tulum, on the coast 
of Yucatan, and is scratched on the stucco among a number of other 
figures at Mount Molony, on the borders of Guatemala and British 
Honduras. The last of the contents of the urn is shown in figure 2, 
plate xxxmr. There were four of these figures, all precisely alike. 
Each is 4 inches in height, and represents a mar in a squatting posi- 
tion, holding in front of him, with both hands, a veil, which conceals 
him from forehead to feet. The body is colored white and the arms 
red. Across the forehead is a red stripe, and the veil is colored with 
alternate red and white vertical bands. The headdress differs from 
that usually associated with the ancient inhabitants of Central Amer- 
ica and reminds one somewhat of representations of the ancient Egyp- 
tian headdress. 
No human bones were found associated with any of these animals, 
and it seems probable, judging from the excellent state of preservation 
in which the birds’ bones taken from mound 6 were found, that had 
there been a human interment, some trace of it would have been dis- 
covered. Mounds 5 and 6 were evidently built for the special purpose 
of containing the idols, urns, and animals which were found within 
them. In mound 2, on the other hand, the objects were placed on a 
preexisting platform which had supported a building, and were covered 
by a capping of earth and stones, the latter taken mostly from the build- 
ing. All the animals appear to symbolize death and destructiveness. 
The tiger, the alligator, and the shark must have been, in the bush, the 
river, and the sea, respectively, the most destructive animals known to 
the aboriginal inhabitants; and inthe one exceptional case of the turtle, 
which might be looked upon as a comparatively harmless animal, it is 
represented in the act of devouring a human being. 
A LOOKOUT MOUND 
Turning to the third class of mounds, we will take first the large cen- 
tral mound, 7, around which the others appear to be grouped. It is 
circular at the base, conical in shape, 57 feet in height, 471 feet in 
circumference, and is built of blocks of limestone held together with 
mortar. Indeed, so hard is it all over that the idea of excavating it 
had to be given up. On the south side of this mound, and, continous 
with it, is a circular earthwork 100 yards in diameter. The walls 
inclosing the circular space vary from 10 to 25 feet in height. They 
are higher toward the north, where they are continuous with the large 
mound, and lower toward the south, where an opening 30 feet wide 
