RUINS NEAR YAXClH. 



RUINS NEAR YAXCHE. 



A few miles to the north of Ixkun the forest gives way to an open savanna country 

 studded with innumerable low, timber-covered hills, and here, about two miles to the 

 N.W. of the little hamlet of Yaxche, on the thickly wooded banks of a streamlet which 

 runs to join the Kio San Juan, we found a ruined town of considerable size. As no 

 signs of sculptured stones could be discovered among tbe fcrandation-mounds, we did 

 not attempt to clear away the thick undergrowth, but turned our attention to two 

 conical hills of natural formation standing up conspicuously about eight hundred 

 yards apart on either side of the stream. Both hills were overgrown with grass, and 

 each was crowned with a mound which we thought must contain the remains of a 

 building. We set to work to dig into the mound on the summit of the southern hill, 



and, as we expected, unearthed the remains of a small building facing north. The 

 walls were in some parts perfect to the height of six feet, and they appear to have 

 been built separately (as indicated by the shading in the Plan). The entrance-passage 

 and interior of the chamber were lined with small well- 

 wrought blocks of stone, but the material is so soft that 

 it could easily be cut with a knife. The floor had a 

 covering of cement, which was in good condition, and 

 the outside of the walls appear to have had a thick 

 coating of the same material. A stone lintel and a few 

 slabs, which may have been used for roofing, and some 

 fragments of rough pottery Avere met with in digging 

 out the debris. Along the back of the chamber was 

 a raised bench about two feet high, and in the face of 

 it was a niche about twenty inches by eighteen, which 

 was much smoke-stained and had probably been used 

 for burning offerings of copal. We also dug into the mound on the summit of the 



1 in. = 8 ft. 

 Plan of Temple. 



