holmes] aboriginal AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES PART I 131 



It is much to be regretted that the minor relics of the region have 

 not been ade(|uately collected. The masterl}^ products of the handi- 

 crafts might be thought to imply the emploA'ment of implements and 

 utensils of very highly developed types, but so far as the evidence 

 goes these do not appear to be greatly superior to those of many of 

 the more primitive j^eoples of the continent. The carving of artifacts 

 devoted to sacred and ceremonial purposes and to ornament display 

 decided skill and taste. The la})idary expended his energies on vari- 

 ous personal ornaments and talismanie trinkets, many of which were 

 of jade. Although metal was scarce in the region, the goldsmith pro- 

 duced many articles of exceptional merit. Few traces of the textile 

 art have been spared but, judging by the sculptural and pictorial 

 representations, the costumes of the people were among the most 

 elaborate that the world has ever knov»n. 



It is not easy to reach a satisfactory conclusion respecting the in- 

 fluences wdiich led to the remarkable cultural de- 

 Cuiture History velopmcnt of this region and of the Maya race, and 

 no particular light is thrown upon the subject by the 

 preserved chronicles. There are, indeed, certain features of the an- 

 tiquities, especially in architecture, which suggest the introduction of 

 foreign elements and resultant accelerated and exceptional develop- 

 ment. This idea is somewhat enforced by the comparative absence of 

 traces of earlier and more primitive stages of culture. This is true 

 especially of Yucatan. However, according to the native chronicles, 

 the Maya race did not occupy Yucatan until about the fifth century 

 of our era. The more southern centers of Maya culture had at 

 this period passed their culminating stage. When tlie time comes 

 for the final comparison of the cultures of the several characteriza- 

 tion areas of the continent it will appear without (luestion that this 

 area leads all others in progress toward the civilized state. A cul- 

 ture curve or profile drawn from the Arctic to the Antarctic 

 through the two continents would have its apex in the center of 

 the Mayan area. To the north there would occur a slight sagging 

 in the Tehiiantepec region, a rising to a second but slightly in- 

 ferior apex in the Valley of Mexico, and a gradual descent with 

 undulations to the Arctic. On the south the curve would descend 

 rapidly in the Isthmian region and rise gradually to another but 

 secondary culmination in the land of the Inca, descending thence 

 gradually to Tierra del Fuego. 



Among the scientific explorers of the archeological remains of the 

 area are Waldeck, Stevens, Le Plongeon, Charnay, Seler, Maler, 

 Thompson, Holmes, Hewett, Tozzer, Saville, Maudslay, Morley. 

 Spinden, Breton, Gordon, Bowditch, Owen, Kingsborough, Habel, 

 Lehmann-Xitsche, and Huntington. For a bibliography of early 

 explorers see Bancroft's Native Races, vol. iv. 



