PALENQUE. 19 



At the north end of the Western Court is a low chamber, the roof of which 

 (supported in front by two piers) connects the foundations of Houses C and D. (See 

 Plate XXV., b.) 



This small chamber was nearly filled up with round stones and with broken pieces 

 of the plaster ornaments from the buildings, which had evidently been placed there 

 purposely. Amongst this debris was a fragment of one of the so-called sacrificial 

 stone collars, which was unfortunately lost on the way home, but it can be seen in the 

 photograph on Plate XL VII., b. When the contents of this chamber were removed the 

 remains of three skeletons were found on the floor, so much destroyed that it was only 

 possible to preserve some portions of the skulls *. From the presence of the plaster 

 ornaments in the chamber it would appear probable that the interment and the filling 

 in had been made after the surrounding buildings had in part fallen into ruin. 



House D. (Plates XXX. to XXXVII.) 



This house stands on the northern half of the western edge of the Palace Mound. 

 The foundation on which it is built is composed of small roughly-squared stones, and 

 on the eastern face (which forms one side of the western court) it has been adorned 

 with designs in stucco, of which only the outline and a few fragments of moulding 

 remain. There is no stairway leading up from the western court to the floor of the 

 house. 



House D (see Plan on Plate XXX.) is in its main features similar in structure to 

 those already described, but at the north end it runs into the long northern house of 

 which so little remains standing. There is no trace of ornament on the wall-surfaces 

 between the three doorways which open from the eastern corridor towards the western 

 court. In the outer wall of the western corridor there are six doorways. The north 

 pier of the northern doorway, which may have been continuous with the end wall of 

 the north house, has been destroyed ; it was probably ornamented with a hieroglyphic 

 inscription. The next five piers to the southward were all decorated with the groups 

 of figures, in stucco, given on Plates XXXII. to XXXVII. On the last pier to the 

 southward is the hieroglyphic inscription, part of which is shown on Plate XXXIV. 

 The decoration on the frieze between the two projecting cornices has been almost 

 totally destroyed. 



Across the main wall of the building there is a crack, probably a continuation of that 



passing across House A, occasioned by the giving way of the foundation of the whole 



north side of the Palace Mound. There is a large gable-roofed doorway through the 



south end of the main wall, the top of which is flush with the top of the roof of the 



* It is hoped that these skulls may be figured later on. 



biol. cextk.-amer., ArchaGol., Vol. IV, September 1896. e 



