54 MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA 
concerned with the serpent, but except for a few wind- 
ing serpents in relief, this motive is not seen on the 
pottery of the Archaic Period. 
Stone Sculptures of the Archaic Period. The 
earliest stone sculptures are recognized first by resem- 
blance to the ceramic art just described and second by a 
quality which they possess of being archaic in an abso- 
lute sense. The greater difficulty of working stone as 
compared with clay and the longer time required in the 
process makes stone art less subject to caprice than 
ceramic art. Perhaps the most primitive examples of 
stone sculpture are boulders rudely carved in a sem- 
blance of the human form with features either sunken 
or in relief. The arms and legs are ordinarily flexed so 
that the elbows meet over the knees. The eyes and 
mouths in the most carefully finished pieces protrude, 
but the face has little or no modeling. Many celts are 
Fig. 18. Series showing the Modification of a Celt into a Stone 
Amulet. 
modified into figures by grooves, and faces are frequently 
represented on roughly conical or disk-shaped stones. 
We know very little from actual excavations concern- 
ing houses of the Archaic Period. It is likely that they 
were small and impermanent, possibly resembling the 
modern huts. The pyramidal mound as a foundation 
