846 



BUKEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 28 



meters. It is flanked by two pillars, which are covered with stucco 

 and richly ornamented. At the bottom there is a sort of fluting; 

 above this a grecque in relief, like those in the palaces at Mitla, and 

 at the top a picture of the sun, only the lower part of which is still 

 preserved. All are painted in color, and the colors are still tolerably 

 fresh. In the place where the idol stood, in the rear room, Rodri- 

 guez found remains of a substructure {a on the plan, plate xl) 

 among w^hich were two sculptured fragments, one of them, according 

 to his account, containing a bas-relief, of what character is not stated, 

 painted in a deep red color; the other, the relief picture of a Mexi- 

 can royal crown (xiuh-uitzolli). Both pieces are now preserved in 



Fig. 85. View of the interior of Tepoxtlan, after Saville. 



the cabildo of Tepoxtlan, in a room transformed into a museum. 

 The most interesting feature of the inner apartment are the benches, 

 ornamented on the front with carved stones. These run round a part 

 of the front room and along the rear and both lateral walls of 

 the back room {c on the plan, ])late xl). They display at the upper 

 part a narrow, somewhat projecting frieze, on which, it seems, the 

 tAventy characters for the days are represented. Beneath this (see 

 figure 85), on each lateral wall, there are placed four large slabs, 

 with sj^mbols in relief, apparently relating to the four cardinal 

 points. On the south side we see what seem to be the four prehis- 

 toric ages; on the north side the gods corresponding to the four 



