HOLMES] ABORIGINAL AMEEICAN ANTIQUITIES PART I 125 



riall^v to the history of these movements or to the ehicidation of the 

 events which led to Aztec domination. Tlie Quemada in Zacatecas 

 is the most northern of the well-known groups of architectural re- 

 mains of middle Mexico. It is not likely that others of equal impor- 

 tance remain to be discovered. Earthenware of fine make and re- 

 markable artistic excellence has been obtained by Hrdlicka well north 

 in the State of Durango. 



Among the explorers of the region who have contributed informa- 

 tion relating to the antiquities are Palmer, McGee, Batres, Lumholtz, 

 Hrdlicka, and Archives of La Mission Scientifque, vol. iii, Paris, 

 18G7. The earlier explorers are given in Bancroft, Native Races, 

 vol. IV. 



13. The Middle ]\1exicax Area 



Passing to the south beyond the limits of the arid region into 

 middle Mexico we begin with the valley of the Eio (Irande de Santi- 

 ago on the Pacific side and the Rio Panuco on the Atlantic side to 

 encounter traces of a more advanced culture, represented by ruined 

 stone-built jnieblos of remarkable type and other works and artifacts 

 characteristic of middle Mexico. For present purposes it is conven- 

 ient to include in the middle Mexican area a broad zone, limited on 

 the north as above indicated, and on the south by a somewhat arbi- 

 trary line separating middle and southern Mexico, and extending 

 from the Pacific to the Gulf across the States of Guerrero, Oaxaca, 

 and Vera Cruz. This area is occupied in large part to-day by the 

 several stocks of people encountered and con(}uered by the Si^anish 

 invaders 100 j^ears ago. Although the ancient remains of the area 

 must, in considerable measure, be attributed to the tribes or nations 

 known historically, it is known traditiontJly that successive waves 

 of ])opulation swept tlie region in prehistoric times, thus complicat- 

 ing the culture traces and making the task of separat- 



Historic Tribes- j.i • i £ ■ iii-n ^ 



and cuuure ^^^t^ "^"^ various classcs of remains ethnologically and 



chronologically a most difficult one. The Nahuatlan 

 stock, of which the Aztec is the best-known branch, held do- 

 minion over much of the area on the arrival of the Spanish and 

 ordinarily is given credit for the lion's share of the archeological 

 remains, especially in the valley of Mexico. Of the other stocks the 

 Tarascan, west of the valley, and the Huastecan and Totonacan on 

 the east slope and Gulf shore, had developed cultures of much in- 

 dividuality and perhaps not inferior to that of the Aztecan, while the 

 Otomian stock on the north has been usually ranked, seemingly with 

 much justice, as hardly more than savage. 



The Aztec were preceded in the valley by other groups of peo- 

 ple, probably of kindred origin, the best known being the Toltec, to 



