holmes! aboriginal AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES— PART I 127 



early Spanish period are preserved in foreign libraries. Numerous 

 superb examples of mosaic work preserved by the conquerors of the 

 valley are now among the valued treasures of European libraries and 

 museums. 



A most noteworthy feature of the antiquities of the middle Mexi- 

 can region are the mines of obsidian, the most im- 

 Obsidian Mines portaut example of wliich is located near Pacliuca, 

 north of the Valley of Mexico. From this source the 

 raw material, more especially in the form of nuclei or cores, from 

 which flake knives were made in vast numbers, was obtained. 



In the State of Morelos, immediately southwest of the Valley of 

 Mexico, architectural remains of distinctive type are encountered, 

 the best known example of which crowns the fortified " Hill of 

 Flowers," Xochicalco. These and other kindred ruins lie within 

 the area occupied by the Nahua peoples, but are not with certainty 

 attributed to the Aztec. Archeological investigations in this sec- 

 tion of Mexico have been extremely limited, but a somewhat grad- 

 ual transition of culture traits into those of southern Mexico is 

 assumed. The Tarascans west of the valley, occupying histori- 

 cally the State of Michoacan and part of Guanajuato, were equal 

 in many departments of culture to the Aztec, although little prog- 

 ress had been made in architecture either by these people or by 

 earlier occupants of the region. 



To the east of the A^alle}^ of Mexico, in the Huastecan and Taras- 

 can areas, traces of culture development of most 

 Eastern Mexico striking character are thickly distributed over the 

 slopes of the plateau and down to the Gulf coast. 

 The most noteworthy structure encountered is the stepped and pan- 

 eled pyramid of Papantla in the State of Vera Cruz, possibly 

 referable to the Huastecan stock. The minor relics include some 

 remarkable works, among which are the dextrously carved collars or 

 yokes of diorite sometimes referred to as sacrificial collars. Beauti- 

 ful and equally problematical '' Palmas " carvings and the gargoyle- 

 like representations of the vulture and other creatures give a unique 

 character to the sculpture of the region. 



It appears from the character of the remains that this area must 



have been one of the earliest to witness advance to the higher planes 



of aboriginal culture, though as yet we have acquired only meager 



knowledge of the chronology of events and little comprehension of 



the causes which led to exceptional artistic develop- 



oidest Dated Relic meiit. The oldcst dated antiquity thus far collected 



is a small jade figurine, on the front of which is the 



date in glyphic characters, interpreted by Morley as corresponding 



to 100 B. C. Passing northward of the Eio Panuco few traces of 



38657°— 19— Bull. 60, pt i 10 



