GANN] MAYA INDIANS OF YUCATAN AND BRITISH HONDURAS 79 



tightly (loAYii ill the little liolo ^vlli(■]l liad been made to receive it. 

 On eacli side of the skull tlie femora were found, in a nearly vertical 

 position, condyles downiward, and between the femora many frag- 

 ments of other bones were brought to light, including the tibiie, arm 

 bones, and vertebrae Resting upon the limestone flag which covered 

 tlie skull lay a large, rudely made chert hammerstone, 8 inches long 

 by 4 inches broad, which had probably been used in chippmg out 

 the semicircular groove to fit the neck. Near the center of this mound, 

 2 feet below the surface, two very neatly made flint hammerstones 

 were found. The dmiensions of this skull were: Length, 14.22 cm.; 

 breadth, 16.76 cm.; circumference, 48.26 cm.; cephalic index, 123. 

 -The base of the skull was so much damaged that the height could 

 not be ascertained. The extreme breadth in comparison with the 

 length, givmg it a remarkably brachioephalio appearance, was possi- 

 bly, to some extent at least, the result of post-mortem compression 

 from before backward withm the little cavity which contained it. 



Mound No. 7 



Mound No. 7, situated very close to No. 6 A, was oval in shape, 

 measuring 30 yards by 10 yards at the base, and 8 feet high along 

 the summit. It was built tliroughout of largo blocks of limestone, 

 limestone dust, and a small proportion of earth. It rested upon the 

 natural limestone formation, into which^ near the western end of the 

 mound, a shallow oval pit 18 inches in length by 10 inches in depth 

 had been dug. In this was found a somewhat imperfect skull, resting 

 with the foramen magnum uppermost. The other bones, wliich were 

 distributed irregularly around the hole, were in a poor state of preser- 

 vation. Upon one side of the skull lay a small shallow bowl, with 

 four hollow legs, each contammg a pellet of dry clay loose in its 

 interior; and upon the other side a small three-legged vase. Both of 

 these were of rather crude pottery, painted dark-red throughout and 

 polished. Two other excavations similar to this were found m the lime- 

 stone beneath this mound, each contammg fragments of a skull in a 

 very advanced state of decay, surrounded by fragments of the other 

 bones. No additional pottery or other objects were found beside 

 them. The two momids last described are the only ones in which 

 this peculiar method of interment appears to have been employed. 

 The procedure seems to have been somewhat as follows : First, the 

 earth capping. was removed from the limestone rock, over the area to 

 be occupied by the mound ; next, shallow oval pits were dug in the 

 rock into which the skulls were wedged ; each body was bent, and the 

 thighs were flexed on the abdomen, so that the knees touched the 

 rock on each side of the head ; finally, the mound was built up of 

 Umestone dust, earth, and blocks of limestone around the body, in 

 this position. 



