HOLMES ANNIVERSARY VOLUME 



village, it follows that this statuette may be regarded as an individual 

 portrait. And if real portraits were made of cripples, why not of 

 normal persons? 



In the Peabody Museum of Harvard University there are several 

 Maya figurines that are unusual in treatment and subject matter. 

 One represents a seated woman with a child resting in her lap. The 

 face of the woman gives evidence of the artist's exceptional skill in 

 shaping. On the cheeks are designs in low relief that probably repre- 

 sent tattooing or scarification. Now such designs are often looked 

 upon as personal property. Whether this was true among the Maya 

 the writer has no means of knowing. At least the presence on other 

 clay heads, as well as on some of the more important stone sculp- 

 tures, of designs that seemingly reproduce permanently bodily deco- 

 ration, may indicate that individuals are being drawn to life. 



An example of clay modeling that shows great freedom and skill 

 is given in plate vn, b. It was found in the State of Chiapas, Mexico. 

 The face has much individuality with its half-closed eyes, high cheek- 

 bones, large open mouth, and pointed beard. The body and dress 

 seem to have been built up, rapidly and without retouching, out of 

 lumps and strips of soft clay. The extended apron rests upon the 

 ground and permits the figure securely to stand erect. We now leave 

 the humble art of making pots and effigies in clay with our original 

 question answered affirmatively, but in a doubtful and hesitating 

 manner. 



Mexican Art at Chicken Itza. — At Chichen Itza in northern Yuca- 

 tan the temples in connection with the great Ball Court are more 

 Mexican than Maya in decoration and probably date from the 13th 

 century of the Christian era when Mexican overlords ruled in this 

 ancient Maya capital. In the North Temple of the Ball Court and 

 in the Lower Chamber of the Temple of the Jaguars the walls are 

 decorated with low-relief sculptures showing processions of priests 

 and warriors bearing weapons and other objects. Let us direct our 

 attention to the human figures on the walls of the latter structure. 

 These are lined up in five tiers and approach each other toward the 

 center. A great plumed serpent occupies the width of two tiers, the 

 second and third from the bottom, and above this is a warrior backed 

 by a serpent, while in the fifth tier is an elaborate Sun Disc. The 

 personages nearest these divine representations are most elaborately 

 attired, even to the point of wearing masks, and they appear through 

 the universal device of the "speech scroll" to be uttering prayers. 

 Identifying hieroglyphs are placed over the heads of many but not all 

 the human figures in the five tiers, and there are also considerable 



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