NO. 2 



SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, I918 



83 



The general appearance of ruined buildings or mounds, locally 

 called " cuves " (fig. 90), situated along the Panuco River, Mexico, 

 recalls that of Louisiana mounds, but unlike them, as a rule, they 

 were faced with stone work, absent in all the mounds of the Missis- 

 sippi X'alley. On top of the Mexican mounds there stood a stone 

 superstructure or temple, but the mounds show no indication of 

 walls within, as is the case with artificial stone heaps in Colorado, 



Fig. 94. — Stone slab from the Cerro Cehadiila, U. S. 

 National Museum. Courtesy of Drs. Adrian, Staul), 

 and Mr. Muir. 



Ctah, Arizona, and Xew Mexico. These remains and pottery ob- 

 jects (figs. 91, 92) found near them are ascribed to the ancient 

 Huaxtec Indians. 



The figurines (fig. 93) made of burnt clay that have been exhumed 

 from these mounds recall in a distant way the clay heads found in 

 the Antilles, but more closely resemble those of the mainland. The 

 ancient pottery of the inhabitants of the valley of the Panuco is allied 



