658 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 



on the left side of the picture. The uplifted hand shows that he is 

 uttering the speech of ^^elconle. But I can not say Avhat the object 

 may be which he holds in his right hand, whether it is a badge of 

 office, or what it is. 



I now come to the bones Avhich both a and g hold in the left hand. 

 Forstemann's theory that by means of them " the banquets are very 

 realistically indicated" is anything but convincing, and I really 

 think it must be characterized as grotesque. For even the other 

 glyphs to which Mr Forstemann refers are of undetermined mean- 

 ing. I think that there can be no question here of anything l)ut an 

 implement or a cognizance. In the picture writings and the collec- 

 tions we chiefly find three kinds of implements made of bone. Bones 

 pointed at one end Avere used as daggers (punches, aAvls) and as 

 instruments of castigation. Bones Avith parallel incisions on the sur- 

 face could be used as rattles (Mexican omichicauaztli) by passing 

 OA'Cr them the prong of a deer's horn or a snail shell. Flutes Avere 

 also made of long bones, as in ancient Peru and among the Guiana 

 Caribs. Such bone flutes Avere dug up, for instance, at Progreso. Jiear 

 Merida, Yucatan, Avith ancient clay vessels and skeletons Avith mal- 

 formed skulls." The bone held by a and g can not haA^e been used as a 

 dagger on account of its form. AYe may assume that it Avas a musi- 

 cal instrument, a flute, or a rattle. 



As for the persons represented, the most striking thing about them 

 is that all, Avith the single exception of r/, farthest to the right, liaA^e 

 more or less marked indications of a beard. "We knoAV that Indians 

 in general haA^e a A'ery slight growth of beard, and among many, 

 indeed among most, tribes the law of beauty demanded that the face 

 and bod}^ should be kept as smooth as possible. TAveezers play an 

 important part among the antiquities and in modern ethnograph}^ 

 eA'ervAvhere in America, Of the Mayas of Yucatan in particular the 

 chronicler relates that they had no beards and that children even Avere 

 subjected to a prescribed treatment to prevent the groAvth of beards. '^ 

 The arriving chieftain, /, has a beard of singularly striking form. 

 Mr Dieseldorff recognizes it as the form of beard Avhich occurs in the 

 males of a species of monkey knoAvn to the Indians as batz, and there- 

 fore suggests that the figure in question Avears a monkey mask. I 

 Avill not deny that the shape of this beard may stand in distinct spe- 

 cific relation to the beard of a monkey, but I can not admit that / 

 Avears a monkey mask. The face of the monkey has certain distincth^ 

 characteristic features, Avhich are usually faithfully grasped and 

 reproduced by Indian artists; but these are wholly Avanting here. 



" Anales del Museo Nacional de Mexico, v. 3. p. 278. 



* " No criavan barbas, y decian que les quemavan lo.s rostros su.s luadres con pafios 

 calientes, siendo nifios, porque no les creciesen " (Landa). 



