fewkes] archeological objects 277 



Ruins near Champayan Lagoon 



Seven leagues north of Altamira, in the jurisdiction of that city, a 

 small range of mountains extends in a general north and south direc- 

 tion, ending in the neighborhood of the Champayan lagoon. Con- 

 siderable ruins, called moradores, are reported in this locality. These 

 consist of artificial mounds arranged in straight lines, and are said to 

 be covered with rectangular blocks of stone showing artificial work- 

 ing, indicating the remains of a large settlement. Prieto, who has 

 described these mounds, has also given in his article representations 

 of several characteristic objects of stone and clay from the same 

 locality. 



The mounds of Topila and Palacho lie south of Panuco near the 

 right bank of the river. These ruins are so extensive that there is 

 no doubt the settlements were large and important. Seler, whose 

 brief account is about all that has been published concerning them, 

 speaks of a quadrangular plaza with a temple mound on one side and 

 smaller pyramids on the other. He is led to believe that there were 

 passageways at opposite ends of this plaza arranged so as to lead into 

 a ball court. 



He speaks also of stones found at the corners of the pyramids in 

 Palacho, and describes and figures worked plinths from both these 

 ruins. In examining the representation of these latter, one is struck 

 with their resemblance to so-called pillar stones of the ball courts of 

 the prehistoric Porto Ricans, to which reference is made in preceding 

 pages. The carving upon the stylated stones from the mainland is 

 much finer and the symbolism upon the insular specimens quite differ- 

 ent, but the possibility that both stood near similar ball courts gives 

 them additional interest from a comparative point of view. 



ARCHEOLOGICAL OBJECTS 



The areheological specimens found on or near the mounds next claim 

 our attention. These are highly characteristic and naturally closely 

 connected with those from the Totonac. The most striking are pecul- 

 iar stone idols and characteristic pottery, some of the foi-mer standing 

 in the streets or public places, where they have been set up for pres- 

 ervation. There are several stone idols in Tampico, these having been 

 brought to the city from different localities in the neighborhood. Two 

 of these are figured by Doctor Seler," but as the present author's photo- 

 graph of the second one illustrates a few additional points, there is here 

 (figure fit) published a new figure of this interesting idol. The locality 

 in which this object was found is given by Doctor Seler as "Cerro 



aGesammelte Abhandlungen, band i, 20, 21. 



