GAXX] MAYA INDIANS OF YUCATAN AND BRITISH HONDURAS 83 



These underground chambers, or chultuns, seem to be fahly com- 

 mon throughout Yucatan. Considerable doubt exists as to the uses 

 to which they were put.^ It seems probable that those the walls of 

 which were plastered with an impervious, cement lining were intended 

 as water receptacles, since they could easily have been filled by 

 drainage from the thatched roofs of buildings in the \icinity, which 

 have long since completely disappeared. Though the southern part of 

 Yucatan, unhke the northern, is fairly well watered, plastered c^wZ/wns 

 are not infrequently found there, but alwa^'-s situated at consider- 

 able distances from a good permanent water supply, as a lagoon 

 or river. The uncemented chultuns would not hold water, and had 

 probably been used as storehouses for corn and other provisions. 

 Some of these chambers were undoubtedly used as burial places, as one 

 at Platon, on the Old River,^ was covered by a bm'ial mound, and itself 

 contained human bones ; but it is possible that their use for this purpose 

 may have been secondary only. The San Andres cJiultun is somewhat 

 puzzling, as it was certainly not a reservoir for water, nor were any 

 traces of human burial found within it. It had probably been used as 

 a storehouse for food, though it is difficult to understand the object 

 of the oblong shafts, leading into the open air, found at the side of the 

 smaller chamber, as they must have been quite useless for ventilating 

 purposes, not having any opening into the chamber itself through 

 which the air might circulate. 



Mound No. 9 



Mound No. 9, situated close to the chultun, with three openings, 

 was oval in shape with flattened summit, 44 feet in breadth, 66 feet 

 in length, and 14 feet high at its highest point. On removing the 

 summit of the mound to a depth of about 4 feet the floor of a builchng, 

 with parts of the walls, was exposed. The cap of the mound, covering 

 the ruins of the building, was composed of blocks of marl, clay, 

 rubble, and limestone. The lower part of the mound, upon which 

 the building stood, was constructed of large blocks of limestone mor- 

 tared together, forming a sohd block of masonry. The building was 

 in a very ruinous condition; as much of its ground plan as could be 



> Tozzer, in commenting on these chultuns at Nakum, says: " There is evidently no close connection, 

 as in Yucatan, between the water supply and these underground rooms. In fact they are frequently found 

 near sites where there is an abundant supply of water throughout the year. In almost no case do we find 

 any drainage into them. They are usually found on ground slightly higher than that of the surrounding 

 country. In this respect they differ from those in Yucatan. Another point against their use as storage for 

 water is shown in the fact that in several the rock from which they are excavated is porous, and the walls 

 do not seem in all cases to have been covered with an impervious layer of plaster. That they were used In 

 some cases for the storage of maize and other foods is possible, as they are generally dry and would be suitable 

 for such a purpose. That some were used for burial places is very probable." — Tozzer, A Preliminary 

 Study of the Prehistoric Ruins of Nakum, Guatemala, p. 191. 



2 Gann: On Exploration of Two Mounds in British Honduras, pp. 430-434; On the Contents of Some 

 Ancient Mounds in Central America, pp. 308-317. 



