Latest Work of the School of American 

 Archaeology at Quirigua 



By Edgar L. Hewett 



|HE last season in Guatemala was more productive than 

 that of former years, owing to the fact that no dead work 

 remained to be done. The preparatory work at Quirigua 

 was in some respects the most difficult that has been en- 

 countered at any important archeological site. The clear- 

 ing off of the tropical jungle occupied nearly two seasons. The finish 

 of that work without harm to buildings or monuments brought great 

 relief (pi. I, n). The last season, that of 1914, was devoted entirely 

 to excavation, exploration, the making of replicas of the monuments, 

 and the study of special problems. 



During the season one additional building was entirely uncovered 

 and another about two-thirds laid bare. The latter (pi. in) belongs 

 to the upper level of buildings and appears to be contemporaneous 

 with the large one on the same level (pi. iv) excavated during a 

 previous season. It is built of the red sandstone like all the larger 

 temples and the majority of the greater monuments. 



The smaller temple was constructed of building material different 

 from that of the larger ones. Here we find little of the red sandstone. 

 The material is largely a gray volcanic rock containing black particles. 

 This stone is plentifully interspersed with blocks of fine, compact, 

 white marble. Search for the origin of the stone in this building has 

 not disclosed the source of the gray volcanic material. It is the 

 same as that used in the construction of the small, low temple 

 excavated in 1912 (pi. iv), of the monument known as the Dragon, 

 and of the two lesser monuments, the Great Seal and the Tiger Head. 

 The marble may have come from the quarries about fifty miles farther 

 up the Rio Motagua. 



It will be remembered by those who have followed the reports of 

 the excavations at Quirigua that the two monuments last named are 

 covered with inscriptions of a very archaic style and that students of 

 Central American inscriptions have not been able to place them in the 

 chronological series. The Dragon appears to belong in style of sculp- 

 ture with the rest of the larger monuments at Quirigua, though on the 

 evidence of the glyphs Mr Bowditch places it earlier than the others. 



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