gaxn] MAVA INDIANS OF YUCATAN AND BRITISH HONDURAS 105 



polished ; on the inner surface of the rim are repealled twice, outlined 

 in hhick hues, the bird and the curious mythological animal seen in 

 figure 52, b, c. (g) A basin-shaped vessel^ painted a deep reddish- 

 brown and finely polished throughout, with a very attractive and 

 intricate device of mterlacing diamond-shaped figures around 

 the inside of the rim. (h) A vessel closely sunilar to the pre- 

 ceding, but smaller and not so well polished. It was broken 

 into a number of pieces when found, (i) A small round pot, 

 with flaring rim, of common red ware, showing no attempt at 

 decoration, (j) Scattered throughout the sand, in the midst of 

 these pots, were found 35 very small, flat, circular disks or beads, 

 averaging about one-twelfth inch in thickness. Some were of 

 greenstone, others of a reddish-yellow stone mottled with white. 

 All were well polished. 



On removmg the sand to a depth of 12 feet the bottom of the^ 

 chamber was reached. The floor, which was composed of hard 

 mortar, measured 4 by 3 feet, as the chamber was somewhat funnel- 

 shaped, narrowmg as it descended. On the bottom of the chamber 

 were found a number of small oyster and cockle shells, with frag- 

 ments of human bones. Among these was an inferior maxilla in 

 fairly good state of preservation; from the facts that the tooth 

 sockets had disappeared, that there was considerable atrophy along 

 the alveolar processes and widening of the angle between the hori- 

 zontal and vertical sections of the bone, it had probably belonged 

 to a person of advanced age. 



Mound No. 16 



Mound No. 16 was situated about 2 miles due north of the last- 

 described mound, close to the north bank of the Rio Hondo, within 

 the territory of Quintana Roo. It was discovered by an Indian, 

 who had cut a piece of virgin bush with the object of making a 

 milpa. The mound was 35 feet in height by 250 feet in circumfer- 

 ence at the base; in shape it resembled a truncated cone, the flat- 

 tened summit of which measured 30 feet in one direction by 6 feet 

 in the other. The mound was composed throughout of rough 

 blocks of limestone, the interstices of which were filled in with Ume- 

 stone dust and an unusually large quantity of light-brown earth. 

 Excavation was commenced at the top of the momid; for the first 

 6 feet nothing except a few potsherds was found. Scattered through 

 the next 2 feet of the mound the followmg objects were brought 

 to light; these were mmgled indiscriminately with the limestone 

 blocks of which the mound was built, quite miprotected by cyst 

 or chamber: (a) A basin-shaped vessel 20 cm. in diameter, 10 cm. 

 in height (pi. 17), covered by a round conical lid with a semicircular 

 handle. Both basin and cover are painted black and polished, inside 



