HOLMES] ABORIGINAL AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES PART I 49 



elements which entered into its composition or the forces which 

 carried it forward to its exceptional position. The environments in- 

 volved are so diversihed and extensive that little can 

 MayrcSture '" ^® ^'^^^ regarding the part they have taken in giving 

 character to the culture beyond that whicli is made 

 apparent locally by a study of the anti(iuities. Tlie particular fac- 

 tors which have given Chichen Itza and Palenque,. for example, some 

 of the most striking characteristics of their material culture may be 

 readily observed. The climate of Chichen, although subtropical, is 

 comparatively dry, while that of Palenque is characterized by a 

 rainy season of the most typical kind. In Chichen, as a consequence, 

 the roofs of the buildings are flat, while those of Palenque are sloped 

 to turn the rains, and from the crest or coml) which this form of 

 roof implies there has arisen an ornamental feature of most remark- 

 able kind. The geological formations of the plains of Yucatan fur- 

 nish soft massive limestone for building, while the formations at 

 Palenque are hard limestcmes which cleave into shiblike forms. In 

 Chichen the architect, employing the massive stone, reached results 

 impossible in Palenque, The use of large stones in building was 

 usual in Chichen and the colonnades of a single group of buildings 

 include upward of COO columns, round and square, of massive stone. 

 In Palenque the architect built his columns of rough stone and faced 

 them with stucco, while slabs of limestone of large superficial area 

 were used in carving the many important altar panels and glyphic 

 inscriptions. In Chichen the decorative relief sculptures carved in 

 "stone are rigid and expressionless, while those of Palenque modeled 

 in stucco are remarkable for spirit and for freedom in form and line. 

 Doubtless environmental differences have similarly affected the vari- 

 ous minor arts of these people. 



The subjective — the dynamic force in culture evolution — the ever- 

 present desire for betterment, manifests itself in two distinct ways: 

 (1) By direct effort, as in the pursuit of activities designed to supply 

 bodily comforts, to gain influence over environment, and to gratify 

 esthetic longings; and ('2) by indirect methods, as in appeals for 

 assistance to the powers assumed to hold all favors at their disposal. 

 Strangely enough, it is this indirect method, this appeal to the gods, 

 the organized and sustained effort of the cults to promote welfare 

 by this means, that has brought about, directly or indirectly, all that 

 is greatest in human achievement, material and immaterial. 



There can be little question that the wonderful achievements of the 

 ancient city builders of Middle America were due to religious propa- 

 gandism, that the enthusiasm engendered by supposedly inspired 

 leadership enlisted the energies of a comparatively primitive people 

 in the erection of the vast establishments now in complete ruin. It 



