ga.nn] maya. indians of yucatan and british honduras 125 

 Mound No. 29 



Mound No. 29, situated close to the seashore, near Corozal, was of 

 imusual construction, bemg built throughout of marl dust. It was 

 a low, flat moimd, 2 feet ui height by 25 feet in diameter. Nothmg 

 of hiunan origin was found in it with the exception of a few rough 

 potsherds. On reachmg the ground level two circular well-like holes, 

 2 feet hi diameter, were discovered, about 15 feet apart. At the to'p 

 both opeauigs were covered with large blocks of limestone, on removing 

 which it was fomid that each hole was filled with marl dust, enclosing 

 m both cases a smgle male human skeleton. The knees had been forci- 

 bly' flexed on the thighs, and the thighs on the pelvis, wdiile the back 

 had been bent till the head, which rested on the folded amis, ahiiost 

 touched the symphysis pubis. E\^idently the body had been doubled 

 up at the tune of burial, so as to fit tightly into the cavity, and had 

 been further compressed by ramming down large stones on top of 

 the marl dust with which it was surrounded.' The bones m one 

 of the graves were in an excellent state of preservation, as may be 

 seen from plate 21, h; they are those of a young adult male, prob- 

 ably somewhat more than 5 feet hi height, of poor muscular develop- 

 ment. The teeth are excellent; the skull is decidedly brachicephalic, 

 the measurements bemg: Length, 15.4 cm.; breadth, 17.5 cm.; 

 circumference, 52 cm.; cephalic index, 113. Beneath this skele- 

 ton were found an unfijiished flmt arrowhead, four fragTiients of 

 small obsidian knives, and the broken fragments of a small, round, 

 unpolished chocolate-colored bowl. 



The bones m the other cist, though placed apparently under pre- 

 cisely the same conditions as the one first opened, were found to be 

 so frial)le that they crumbled into fragments when an effort was 

 made to remove them Beneath them were found only fragments of 

 obsidian Iviiives. 



Mound No. 30 



Mound No. 30, situated close to Corozal, was completely dug down, 

 and was found to contam multiple burials. The momid was 8 feet ui 

 height, roughly circular, and 40 feet in diameter. It was capped by a 

 layer of reddish-brown earth, 6 niches to 1 foot in thickness, beneath 

 which were alternate layers of soft cement, each about 1 foot thick, and 

 of small limestone rubble about 2 feet thick. Scattered over the sur- 

 face of the mound, jijst beneath the earth capphig, were found a nimi- 

 ber of fragments of clay figurines. The best preserved of these were 

 three human faces, an arm with the hand holdmg a smaU bird, a bird's 

 head, an alligator's head, and a plaited cotton breastplate. At 

 depths varying from 2 to 3 feet, six interments were found; of these 



' " Que en muriendo la persona, para sepultar el cuerpo le doblan las piernas y ponen la cara sobre las 

 rodillas . . . abren en tierra un hoyo redondo."— Cogolludo, op. cit., Bk. xn, Chap, vn, p. 699. 



