The Ruins of Gojpan. CO 



been produced under similar conditions of knowledge, senti- 

 ment, and skill. They certainly could not have belonged to a 

 barbarous age, because they evince a considerable command of 

 mechanical powers, and show an advanced though highly con- 

 ventional style of art. 



Messrs. Smith, Beck, and Beck have recently made a 

 valuable addition to the means of study at the disposal of 

 archaeologists, by publishing a highly interesting series of 

 stereoscopic slides, from photographs taken by Mr. Albert Sal- 

 vin, of the ruins of Oopan, Honduras. They comprise richly 

 sculptured stones, that no doubt formed portions of consider- 

 able buildings, bearing in their hieroglyphic ornamentation a 

 strong likeness to our Tia Huanaco plate. A careful inspection 

 of the series will show that the artistic skill possessed by the 

 unknown workers in an unknown age was very considerable ; 

 and we cannot doubt that some system of mythology, and some 

 facts of curious history lie hid in allegorical representations, 

 which we have no key to unlock. 



Mr. Salvor's series of slides are well worth study, and 

 though we are not disposed to waste time in mere conjectures, 

 we cannot relinquish the hope that the clue to this American 

 mystery may yet be found out. We shall not attempt a 

 detailed description of these remarkable objects; but they 

 all belong to the Tia Huanaco type ; and we agree with Mr. 

 Salvin in considering that they were associated with the 

 mythology of the people by whom they were wrought. The 

 stone in which they are executed, is a close-grain porphyry, and 

 the preservation of the sculpture has enabled the photographic 

 apparatus to produce excellent and highly interesting copies, 

 on which the labours of the archaeologist may not be exerted 

 in vain. 



No. 7 of the scries represents a very remarkable monolith, 

 12 feet high. A face, powerfully sculptured upon it, looks 

 much more like a portrait than a conventional figure; the' 

 features bear some resemblance to the Mongolian type. No. 

 20 is an admirable, though conventional, jaguar's head, 

 equalling in force of expression any analogous European 

 work. No. 13 is a circular stone, supposed to be sacrificial. 

 It has a rounded surface, and a border of twisted or cable 

 pattern. There are in all twenty-four slides, accompanied by 

 a descriptive pamphlet. 



