XlAl BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNULOGY 



and to tlie coiTolative idea tliat alioriginal monnds and earth- 

 works wei\! eontined to tliat region; and althougli the 

 researclics of a quarter-century liave shown tliat ancient 

 mounds are scattered over tlie entire liabitaljle portions of 

 North America, the original idea is kept alive to an injurious 

 extent b)" the early literature. The still-existing need for 

 counteracting this erroneous impression led to the acceptance 

 of Dr (lann's paper and the ;ipj)roval of his title. Actually 

 the nuinnds of Honduras as described by Dr Gann are more 

 nearly analogous to those of the pueblo region and of Mexico 

 than to those of the Mississippi valley, for most of them are 

 d(ibris heaps entombing ruined structures of stone and other 

 durable material, like the former, rather than sites of perish- 

 able houses or simple tumuli, like the latter — though some of 

 the Honduran mounds partake of the character of the more 

 northerly tumuli. 



The contents of the mounds as described and illustrated in 

 the accompanying pages and plates are noteworthy in that 

 they demonstrate the extension of a culture corresponding 

 fairly with that of Mexico into a little-known region. The 

 relics are especially signiticant as connecting links between 

 different archseologic districts; the molded and painted stucco- 

 work resembles that of Yucatan, the fictile figurines resemble 

 those of the pueblo country, while both symbolic and indus- 

 trial de\'ices are evidently akin to those of numerous iiatiA'e 

 tribes throughout the southwestern third, at least, of North 

 America. 



Mayan Calendar Systems 



No production of aboriginal American culture has attracted 

 more attention among the scholars of the world than the cal- 

 endar systems of Mexico, Yucatan, Peru, and certain other 

 districts; and numei'ous, and often voluminous, publications 

 have been based on these interesting productions. Several 

 contributions to the subject have been issued in the reports 

 and otlier publications of the Bureau; and, in view of the 

 recent ajipearance of extended treatises on the subject, a review 

 of some of the more salient points seems timely. Such a 



