June 9, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



833 



different books will l:© no less difficult than the 

 simple translation of the Maya text. 

 Mecent Progress in the Study of Maya Art: Her- 

 bert J. Spinden. 



The historical arrangement of sculptures at 

 Copan has now been reduced to great certainty, 

 and there is hardly a monument that after exami- 

 nation of the carving can not be dated within 

 twenty years. Mr. S. G. Morley has succeeded in 

 deciphering most of the inscriptions, and there is 

 entire agreement between the dates and the sty- 

 listic sequence. At cities that flourished in the 

 Great Period (455-600 A.D.) the criterion of se- 

 quence is seen mostly in the progressive elabora- 

 tion of designs by flamboyant details. It is neces- 

 sary to treat homogeneous material. At Quirigua 

 the faces carved on the tops of the bowlder altars 

 furnish an interesting series. At Naranjo the 

 ceremonial bar passes from comparative simplicity 

 to extreme complexity, and the change is in ac- 

 cordance with the inscribed dates. Piedras 

 Negras proved to be the most interesting of the 

 sites visited by Mr. Morley and the writer in 

 1914. The monuments give an especially full ac- 

 count of the Middle Period and extend well into 

 the Great Period. Pour monuments, represent- 

 ing the same subject, with considerable intervals 

 of time, show a remarkable increase in design 

 elaboration. 



In spite of provincialism that appears in some 

 sites we are now able to strike the general levels 

 of artistic development in practically all Maya 

 cities of the First Empire (200-600 A.D.). Pro- 

 gressive changes in the construction and orna- 

 mentation of buildings is seen very clearly at 

 Yaxohilan. The most interesting problems are 

 those of roof-comb support and the origin of the 

 sanctuary. Several Yaxohilan temples have dated 

 lintels which bring the sequence in architecture in 

 touch with sequence in sculpture. 

 On the Origin and Distribution of Agriculture in 

 America: Herbert J. Spinden. 

 Without agriculture none of the high civiliza- 

 tions of the New "World would have been pos- 

 sible. Agriculture was independently developed 

 in America because the plants under domestica- 

 tion are different from those of the Old World. 

 It probably had one point of actual origin and 

 that was in the region where maize grew wild. 

 This region was pretty clearly the highlands of 

 Mexico and Central America. Maize, with beans 

 and squashes, are found throughout the area of 

 agriculture. Secondary centers in which special 

 plants were brought under cultivation are se«n in 



Peru, the lower Amazon valley, etc. In the re- 

 gion north of Mexico all cultivated plants (except 

 tobacco) were introduced, and none is indigenous; 

 therefore the pueblo and mound cultures are not 

 strictly autoethonous. 



Pottery and weaving are practically dependent 

 on agriculture. The earliest pottery of Mexico — 

 that of the so-called Archaic culture — seems to 

 have developed soon after the rise of agriculture 

 and to have been carried well into South America 

 with the same cultural stream that carried agri- 

 culture. A peculiar technique can be traced with- 

 out change to the Isthmian region, and with pro- 

 gressive modifications, under which the original 

 features can still be seen, it can be traced to 

 southern Colombia and well into Venezuela. 

 M4sum6 of Becent Excavations in Northern Yuca- 

 tan: Edward H. Thompson. 



A r&umS of the excavations conducted in and 

 about northern Yucatan up to the time of the 

 first Peabody Expedition of Harvard University 

 to explore the Cave of Soltun and the ancient 

 group of Sabnfi. 



iSabna, the first ruin group on the peninsula of 

 Yucatan to be scientifically excavated and sur- 

 veyed. Detailed methods described, and some of 

 the interesting results obtained. 



Kichmook, the second ruin group on the penin- 

 sula to be systematically excavated and scientifi- 

 cally studied. 



Excavation, conducted subsequently to those 

 above named, in the ancient sites of Chichen Itza, 

 Mayapan, Acanceh, Tiho, etc. 

 The Maya Zodiac of Santa Bita: Stansbukt 



Hagar. 



A number of years ago Dr. Thomas Cann exca- 

 vated on the estate of Santa Bita, near Corozal, 

 in British Honduras, a rectangular building, the 

 walls of which were covered with stucco paintings 

 of the pre-Cortesian period. Those on the north 

 will present a continuous series of Munan figures 

 associated with conventional symbols of glyphs, 

 and some of them holding a rope. The whole may 

 be interpreted as a picture of the cosmos with the 

 sky and stars above, the earth below, and the 

 waters under all. The figures and symbols repeat 

 the zodiacal sequence found in the constellations 

 of Tezozomoc, Sahagun and Duran, the Maya day- 

 signs, the paintings at Mitla and Acanceh, the 

 various pictorial sequences in the codices. They 

 seem, therefore, to represent the asterisms, deities 

 and day-signs of the Maya zodiac in a correct and 

 continuous sequence, the rope being that of the 

 ecliptic or zodiac. A Nahua element is prominent 



