MAYA ART 61 



photographs showing iiKiny of thcMii in niituro, there are down the middle 

 of tlie room a series of groups of local breeding birds with th(Mr nests. These 

 tlie forerunners of our "Habitat Groups," were the first of their kind made 

 for tlie Museum. [See diiidc Lrnjlct No. 22.] 



SOUTHWEST WING 

 Ancient Moxumknts of Mexico and Central America 



Continuing west, past tlie collection of local birds we enter the Southwest 

 Wing, devoted to ancient monuments of Mexico and Central America. The 

 reproductions illustrate chiefly the sculptures of the Maya and Nahua Indians 

 made before the time of Columbus and are the gift of the Duke of Loubat. 



At the left of the entrance are cases of pottery, jade and heavy stone 

 work from Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. For skill in free hand 

 modeling and painting the pottery ranks high. 



Opposite this exliibit are examples of original stone sculptures of the 

 Maya, mosth^ excavated at Copan in western Honduras. 

 Beautiful pottery and finely wrought jades are also shown 

 from other sites. The ]\Iaya were perhaps the most highly civilized people 

 in the New World. They built many cities of stone and erected many fine 

 pillar-like sculptures which are called stel?e. The subject-matter on these 

 monuments deals with priest-like beings who carry serpents and other 

 ceremonial objects in their hands. There are also long hieroglyphic in- 

 scriptions containing dates in the wonderful Maya calendar. Maya 

 history contains two brilliant periods. That of the south, extending from 

 160 A.D. to 600 A.D., was chiefl}^ remarkable for its sculptures. The 

 principal cities were Copan, Quirigua, Tikal, Yaxchilan and Palenque. 

 The second period fell between 950 A.D., and 1250 A.D., and centered in 

 northern Yucatan. The chief cities were Chichen Itza, Uxmal and Labna, 

 and the finest works of art were architectural. 



Passing to the end of the hall and then returning toward the east en- 

 trance, we see, on either side of the aisle, reproductions of 

 the stelae and altars of Copan arranged in order from the 

 oldest and crudest forms to the latest and finest examples of carving, cover- 

 ing a stretch of nearly 300 years. The early stelse have hieroglyphs carved 

 in very low relief and with sharp corners, w'hile the hieroglyphs on the 

 later monuments are cut deeper and in more rounded relief. In the early 

 stelae human figures are carved in an awkward block-like manner, w^ith 

 protruding eyes and angular limbs. The two lofty stelae in the center are 

 from Quirigua and date from about 550 A.D. From this city also comes 



