136 BUREAU OF AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY [bdt.l. 64 



the bone were two objects of copper, one a finger ring constructed 

 of thin flat bands two-fifths inch apart, joined by double scrolls; 

 this is very much worn, either from use or from oxidi^iation, conse- 

 quent on long exposure in the damp soil. The second copper 

 object (fig. 83) was probably used as a gorget, or for attachment to 

 a headdress, as at the back is seen a cruciform grille, evidently 

 intended to hold it in place. This object is in the form of a human 

 face, the lower part with its large mouth, thick prominent lips, and 

 flattened nose, exhibitmg marked negroid characteristics, which, 

 the upper part with its bulging prominent forehead contradicts. 

 The headdress is ornamented with three spikes passing along the 

 sagittal suture from front to back, while under the chm is a projec- 

 tion probably mtended to represent a short beard. The ring and 

 ornament are both strongly suggestive of Spanish influence, as the 

 face with its thick lips, flattened nose, and bulging 

 forehead is totally unlike any type with which the 

 Maya were likely to come in contact, unless, indeed, 

 it were the Carib, who even at this early date had 

 possibly formed small settlements as far north as the 

 southern coast of British Honduras. If the objects 

 were of Spanish origin they were probably obtained 

 from some Spanish settlement farther north, possibly 

 Bakhalal, as there was no settlement between that 

 town and the coast of Guatemala till many years after 

 the conquest. That the cult of Itzamna was still flour- 

 FiG. 83.-copper ob- isliuig is showu by the effigy of the god incised on the 

 jectfoimdin Mound Jeer bone, and according to Villagutierre, the In- 

 dians of this neighborhood up to the end of the 

 seventeenth century were closely allied to the Itzaex,^ who still 

 freely practiced their ancient religious rites. 



Mound No. 40 



Mound No. 40, situated near Pueblo Nuevo, on the Rio Hondo, 

 consisted of a ridge about 10 feet high by 40 feet in length. On the 

 summit of the ridge near its center, covered only by a layer of humus, 

 was found a small rough three-legged vase 3 inches high, contain- 

 ing a single long, pohshed, greenstone bead. The upper part of 

 the ridge was found to consist of blocks of limestone, fimestone dust, 

 and rubble, on removing wliich to a depth of about 4 feet the ruins 

 of a building were broyght to hght (fig. 84). The bones were in so 

 poor a state of preservation that it was difficult to determine the exact 



1 Speaking of the boundaries of the territory of the Itzaex, Villagutierre (op. cit., p. 489), gives the sea 

 as its eastern limit. All the tribes between the lagoon of Itza and the sea were evidently not subject to 

 the Itzaex, however, as he mentions (Lib. ix, cap. in, p. 554) a number of tribes inhabiting this area with 

 whom they were at war, and states (Lib. vi. Cap. iv p. 352) that the Mopanes and Tipu Indians were not 

 subject to the Canek of Itza. 



