SEPULCHRAL MOUNDS IN MEXICO, ETC., ETC. m 



"in discovering the burial places of the Caziques, and in opening their graves for 

 the sake of the golden ornaments which the inhabitants of olden times were accus- 

 tomed to bury with their chiefs. This employment he prosecuted with so much 

 vigor and success, that he collected in this manner over 100,000 dollars worth of 

 gold. — (Lockharfs Diaz, Vol. II., p. 322.) It will be observed that Diaz speaks of 

 these tombs as belonging to the people who inhabited the country in the olden 

 time, — probably the Toltecs, amongst which branch of the American family the 

 practice of mound-building seems to have been of universal prevalence. 



Sepulchral mounds are abundant in many parts of Central America. In the 

 vicinity of the ruins of Ichmul, in Yucatan, they are particularly numerous, 

 covering the plain for miles in every direction. Some of these are forty feet in 

 height. Several have been opened and found to contain chambers, enclosing 

 skeletons, placed in a sitting position, with small vessels of pottery at their feet. — 

 (Norman's Yucatan, p. 146.) In Honduras, says Herrara, were many tombs of the 

 inhabitants ; " some of which were large plain rooms, and others only like great 

 heaps of earth. In the territory of Zenu," continues this author, " abundance of 

 graves were found in a field near a temple, so ancient that large trees were growing 

 over them ; and within them was an immense quantity of gold, besides what the 

 Indians took, and what still is lost under ground. These graves were very mag- 

 nificent, adorned with broad stones and vaults, in which the dead body was laid, 

 and all their wealth, jewels, and arms, women and servants alive, with good stores 

 of provisions and pitchers of their liquors, which denoted the knowledge they had 

 of the immortality of the soul. The dead were buried sitting, clothed and well 

 armed." — (Herrara, Vol. IV., p. 221.) 



Mr. Stephens excavated a sepulchral mound in the vicinity of San Francisco, in 

 Yucatan. It was a square stone structure, with sides four feet high ; and the top 

 was rounded over with stones and earth. The interior was loose earth and stones, 

 with some layers of large flat stones, the whole very rough. After digging six 

 hours, he came to a flat stone of large size, beneath which was a skeleton. The 

 knees were bent against the stomach, the arms doubled from the elbow, and the 

 hands supporting the neck or head. With this skeleton was found a large vase, 

 the mouth of which was covered with a flat stone. It was empty, except some 

 httle, hard, black flakes at the bottom. Mr. Stephens conjectures that it may have 

 contained some liquid, or the heart of the skeleton. — (Trav. in Yucatan, Vol. I., 

 p. 277.) 



In South America, and particularly in Peru, the custom of erecting mounds over 

 the dead was of general prevalence. The sepulchral tumuli of Peru were called 

 huacas or guacas. They exhibit many features in common with the burial mounds 

 of the Mississippi valley, and establish that funeral customs, in many respects 

 similar to those practised by the race of the mounds, prevailed among the ancient 

 inhabitants of that country. Their form is generally that of a simple cone ; some- 

 times they are slightly elliptical, and occasionally rectangular. Their usual height 

 is said to be not far from forty to fifty feet, though some are mentioned which are 

 upwards of one hundred feet in altitude. They are scattered in great profusion over 

 the country ; but, according to UUoa, are " most abundant within the jurisdiction 



