126 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 60 



which people are ascribed the most important architectural remains 

 of ancient Mexico. These include the ruins of San Juan Teotihuacan 

 and Cholula. The former, situated within the northern rim of the 

 valle}^, was a place of much importance, possibly the greatest of the 

 American cities. The buildings proper are now in an advanced state 

 of ruin, the sites being marked by many almost shapeless mounds; 

 the only commanding features being the pyramids of the sun and 

 moon. The latter, in the State of Puebia, is to-day represented by the 

 greatest of the American pyramids, now a somewhat featureless 

 mound '200 feet in height and 1,400 feet square at the base. Like 

 nearly all of the American ]5yramids it was crowned originally by a 

 temple. It is now occupied by a Catholic cathedral. 



The minor relics of these and other sites attributed to the Toltec 



are of much scientific and esthetic interest. Our 

 Toitoc Remains knowledge of tliis people is extremely shadow}^, the 



large body of tradition relating to them not yet 

 having been sufficiently analyzed to determine its true value. It is 

 held by some authorities that the Toltec were of kindred stock with 

 the Nahua and that they were pushed to the south into Central 

 America by the intrusion of that people, their descendants being 

 known to-day as the Maya or Maya-Quiche. It is further held that 

 the Huasteca of the State of Vera Cruz are a remnant of that people 

 holding a small part of their original patrimony. 



The Aztec, who followed the Toltec in the Valley of Mexico, have 



left us but meager traces of their architectural 

 Aztec Culture achievements, their chief city, Tenochtitlan, having 



been obliterated by the building of the Spanish City 

 of Mexico, but many important works of sculpture and especially a 

 VN'ide range of minor works in stone and clay are preserved. Among 

 the more important sculptures brought to light within the limits of 

 the City of Mexico are the great calendar stone, the Tizoc votive disk, 

 often called the sacrificial stone, and the colossal composite image of 

 a deity, probably the feathered serpent goddess Coatlicue, embody- 

 ing various strange symbols and mythological conceptions strongly 

 suggestive of the sanguinary character of the Aztec religion. 



Excavations in the valley have brought to light traces of succes- 

 sive culture-l)earing strata rich in minor artifacts of many classes, 

 among which are tasteful and even elaborate works in clay, alabaster, 

 obsidian, jade, and other hard stones, gold, silver, and copper. It is 

 assumed that these remains represent in the order of their superpo- 

 sition successive occupancies of the valley, but up to the present 

 time little systematic work has been done tending to solve the 

 chronologic problems. Noteworthy advance had been made in 

 pictographic and glyphic writing and a number of codexes of the 



