SCHEr.LHAsl 



DRESS AND ORNAMENTATION OF LEG 



605 



manuscripts). It takes the form of d in all the manuscripts, and 

 it appears in similar shape and almost as often as an arm ornament. 

 To judge by the manuscripts, it nuist have been in general use as a 

 national article of ornament. Hence it is the more amazing that we 

 nowhere encounter it among the reliefs nor on any of the figures in 

 the Yucatan collection.. A leg ornament appears, it is true, quite fre- 

 quently among the former, but never in the shai)e which we regu- 

 larly find in the manuscripts. Compare e (from a doorpost at 

 Kabah, after Stephens), and / (mural decoration at Chichen, after 

 the same). Such coverings for the entire lower leg are wholly absent 

 from the Yucatan collection. 



Besides the above-mentioned leg ornament, single instances of an- 

 other kind appear in the manuscripts, shaped like g. It is found only 

 on the figure of the death god and evidently forms one of his attri- 

 butes (see Die Gottergestalten der Mayahandschriften, page 9). Its 

 purpose is readily grasped. It consists of rattles or bells, buckled to 

 the leg in order to produce a rhythmic sound during the dance, as 

 is still the custom among North American tribes. 



a I 



r s t u 



Fio. 119. Leg and wrist ornaments. 



Lastly, we have a few instances, for example, Troano codex, page 

 17*, of a simple anklet like a and h, figure 119; also in one ])lace 

 (Dresden codex, page 50) as a leg decoration below the knee, <■. 



Similar objects occur in the Yucatan collection, as on the before- 

 mentioned figure of the priest, d^ and on another figure, e. These 

 simple leg rings are also frequent in the reliefs at Palenque. A i-icli 

 covering for the whole lower leg is also not unusual there, /. 



A foot ring, apparently made of the feather work that is held in 

 such high esteem in Central Amei-ica, occurs on a figure in a carving 

 on a beam of sapota wood at Kabah, //, after Stephens. Similar ex- 

 amples are frequent at Palen<iue. 



