NO. 6 SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, I914 53 



Judd was directed to superintend this latter phase of the expedition's 

 activities, and, with the aid of a small corps of able assistants, 

 completed casts from six of the colossal stelae before the brief " dry 

 season " came to an end. The task of reproduction was greatly 

 facilitated by the use of glue or gelatine, a medium never before 

 employed in the torrid zone. With this material, negative impres- 

 sions of the carvings and inscriptions were obtained from the 

 monuments ; from these impressions, plaster duplicates of the origi- 

 nals were readily constructed. The results far surpassed those 

 which had previouly been secured with other processes. The 19 14 



Fig. 54.— Plaster cast of a " Death's Head " 

 from one of the Quirigua stelae. 



reports of the School of American Archaeology consider, in detail, 

 the results of its Guatemala expedition. 



At the conclusion of the Quirigua work, Mr. Judd journeyed to 

 Guatemala City and from there by Indian foot paths to the mountain 

 valleys that lie between the capital city and the Mexican border. 

 His object in making this trip was to gain, in the few days at his 

 disposal, a hasty view of present anthropological possibilities among 

 the several Indian tribes who inhabit the region. Although each 

 village has its distinctive ethnological features, but little remains, in 

 the remnants of the Quiche, Cachiquel, and Tzutuhil tribes, to indi- 

 cate the strength and magnificence of the Quiche empire which Pedro 

 de Alvarado destroyed in 1523, at the beginning of his conquest of 

 Guatemala. 



