COPAN. 27 



access to what seems to have been an upper chamber (A.) ; only a small portion of the 

 surface of the wall and the cement of the floor of this chamber can now be traced. 

 The stairways were covered by parallel laid stone vaults— the spring of the vault is seen 

 in the Section and Plate XT., a. The most curious feature of this building is the 

 existence of chambers which have been purposely blocked up before the ruin commenced. 

 These are shaded in the Plan and Section. I cleared out the rough blocks of stone and 

 earth which filled up the lower chamber on the south side of the steps and found the 

 walls and cement floor almost perfect. The front wall was pierced 3 feet above the floor 

 by two narrow slits 6 inches wide, which appeared to extend to the top of the wall, 

 in which were found some fragments of rough pottery. It did not appear as if this 

 chamber had ever been roofed in. I did not remove the stones at the opening towards 

 the stairway, as these had been built up into a faced wall, and still supported some of 

 the roof-stones of the ruined vault over the steps. In the same way the steps leading 

 to the upper chamber (D) had been blocked up and the faced wall used as a support 

 for the vaulting. These more recently built walls and the spring of the vaults are 

 lightly shaded in the section. The only suggestion I can offer in explanation of this 

 state of things is that the builders were not satisfied with the stability of the parallel- 

 laid vaulting over such a large space, and had sacrificed the chambers in order to 

 strengthen the roof over the stairway. 



Projecting from the wall on each side of the steps, in the position marked X in the 

 plan, were two grotesquely carved heads, which probably supported a rope from which 

 a curtain was suspended. A photograph of the best preserved of these heads is given 

 on Plate XL, h. 



A large mass of broken sculptured stones lying near to or buried in the rubbish 

 surrounding this building shows how elaborate its exterior ornamentation must have 

 been. Amongst these remains are portions of a great human figure, which was 

 probably seated cross-legged over the doorway ; the head of this figure is shown in 

 Plate XL, c. 



Facing the north end of this building is another raised foundation [No. 21], which 

 must also have supported a stone-roofed structure. The flight of steps leading up from 

 the south side to the doorway in the centre can still be seen. Unfortunately, I had not 

 sufficient time to excavate and examine this building. 



To the west of this foundation, on the north side of the Eastern Court, is another 

 building [No. 22], of which a Plan is given on the next page. A very well-laid flight 

 of steps, formed of large blocks of stone, leads to a platform in front of the centre 

 doorway. This platform runs along the front of the building, and, at each end of 

 the temple, is carried out at right angles as far as the line of the commencement 

 of the steps. Two large grotesque faces and some handsome carved wing-stones extend 

 across this platform to the head of the steps on either side of the doorway. The door- 

 way itself is 9 feet wide and was probably covered with a vaulted roof. In front of the 



e2 



BOEEATJ OF 



AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY* 



1899 

 LIBEABY 



