HEWETT— WORK AT QUIRIGUA 



Referring again to the two buildings of the lower level that have 

 been excavated, we find their superstructures partially imbedded in 

 the substructures of the upper and later temples. We connect with 

 these the lesser monuments, which were made of gray, volcanic stone. 

 The bases of these lower temples lie from three and a half to four feet 

 below the upper culture level. We have thus established two different 

 strata of culture at Quirigua: the one approximately one meter below 

 the present surface, the other rather more than two meters below. 

 On the evidence of the inscriptions, we establish the period of the 

 later Quirigua at from fifteen to eighteen hundred years ago. We 

 must assign to the older level an age of from three thousand to thirty- 

 six hundred years, if the silting up of the Motagua valley gives an 

 approximately accurate basis for measuring time. 



We may now consider another series of observations made during 

 the last season, the results of which remain to be tested by extensive 

 trenching. This was by sinking shafts in various quarters of the 

 plazas at Quirigua, which were put down in several places with nearly 

 uniform results. They show the following: 



i. At a depth of a meter below the present surface is a culture 

 stratum containing potsherds, charcoal, and red sandstone building 

 blocks belonging to the later city. Then comes approximately a yard 

 of silt containing little or no cultural material and showing something 

 like uniform deposition. 



2. At a depth of not quite seven feet below the surface is another 

 culture stratum containing potsherds, charcoal, and building material 

 of gray, volcanic stone belonging to the period of the older or second 

 level of buildings and the lesser monuments. As the strata conform 

 in the different shafts put down, we assume that we have here en- 

 countered the level of the older city. 



3. Going through another stratum of silt to a depth of ten to 

 twelve feet below the present surface, we come to a third level of 

 culture, lying at least six feet below the present normal level of the 

 Motagua river. It contains an abundance of potsherds, charcoal, and 

 flaked stone, and has yielded no evidence of building material or of 

 inscriptions. The potsherds are different from anything found in the 

 upper levels. There are thus indicated three levels of culture — periods 

 of high development separated by long intervals devoid of the evi- 

 dences of sedentary life (fig. 1). 



If the observations above described are confirmed and the method 

 of calculation is reliable, we have found at Quirigua cultural remains 

 dating back five or six thousand years. It will establish a substratum 

 for the great Maya civilization with evidence of long cultural undula- 



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