HOLMES ANNIVERSARY VOLUME 



The lowest of the three strata has been called 'Archaic". 1 It is 

 found about 3 to 3.5 meters beneath the present level of the Valley. 

 This same culture is noted on the surface on many of the low hills 

 surrounding the Valley, a fact that has given rise to much speculation. 

 It was at first thought that the archaic type found beneath the surface 

 in the bed of the Valley had been washed there from the surrounding 

 hills. Much weight was given to this idea by the fact that many of 

 the archaic figurines are badly water-worn. During later excavations 

 many specimens were found showing no trace of water action and 

 several show remains of white paint. There is strong reason to sup- 

 pose, therefore, that the archaic type was left by people living in the 

 Valley in pre-Toltec times. 



The archaic type has also been found in Vera Cruz, Puebla, and 

 near the Panuco river 2 on the east; in Michoacan, Colima, Morelos, 

 western Jalisco, and Tepic on the west; and in Guatemala, Honduras, 

 Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. We have then a fairly uniform 

 culture three meters or more below the surface of the Valley of 

 Mexico, on the surface on several hills surrounding the Valley, and a 

 similar culture in many other places in Mexico and Central America. 



Another feature common over the greater part of Mexico and 

 northern Central America is a calendar of 20 days, 18 months, and 5 

 additional days, together with other similar features. We have then 

 two common factors throughout the area: a calendar, and the archaic 

 type of figurine and pottery. The Mayas have been recognized as 

 the people who developed the calendar to a point not reached in any 

 other part of Middle America. They are usually now considered, 

 furthermore, to have been the originators as well. The Toltecs, the 

 Zapotecs, and other people probably borrowed it from them. 



The time has not yet come when we can prove this from a study 

 of the archeology, as we know practically nothing of the stratification 

 of the Maya area and the country to the south. 3 It may be shown 

 that the archaic people were the originators of the calendar and that 

 it was they who distributed it in their wanderings southward. It 

 may also be shown by later investigations that each of the distinct 

 cultures of Mexico and Central America developed out of the 

 archaic, each in its own habitat and each along distinct lines. The 

 language of the people of this early migration has not been definitely 



1 This culture has also been called "Tipo de cerro" and "Tipo de montana". "Archaic" has been 

 suggested by the writer as a more fitting term. 



* Seler, 1915. The Peabody Museum has a head of a figurine, clearly of the Archaic type, from 

 the vicinity of Tampico. 



3 Evidences of distinct cultural strata are suggested in the results of the investigations of the 

 Peabody Museum in the Ulua valley. 



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