266 



CERTAIN ANTIQUITIES OF EASTERN MEXICO [eth. ANN. 25 



SLING STONES 



The spherical objects shown in tigures 60 and 61, a number of which 

 are to be seen in the Dehesa collection, are weapons. Those shown in 

 the illustrations are either smooth or covered with protuberances, 

 spherical or more or less conical. Several have the shapes of stoppers 

 for bottles or flasks. The Indians call them chhnalles, a general name 

 for .shields or weapons. 



STONE IDOLS 



The ruins about Jalapa have yielded many stone idols, generally 

 made of lava, some of which show signs of Nahuatl, others of Totonac 

 culture. There are several of these in the 

 Dehesa collection and others also in private 

 possession. A stone idol in the patios of the 

 Hacienda Bruno, Jalapa Viejo, represents a 

 tine stone image of Quetzalcoatl (figure 62), 

 with body coiled and head upright, the j-awn- 

 ing mouth revealing a human face behind 

 trenchant teeth. On the head of this idol a 

 cluster of feathers is carved in low relief. 

 These arise from a ring and extend down the 

 back. The mouth has protruding fangs, or 

 a long tongue hanging from the front of the 

 jaw just below the chin of the inclosed human 

 face. 



"^•"' There is a large stone idol in one of the 



houses facing the church at Xico that is somewhat different from 

 any Aztec or Totonac image yet figured. Although the owner of 

 this image has daubed it with bright paint, which gives it a very 



IrUil from Jalapa 



