158 MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA 
These colors would not stand the kiln and they were 
applied after the vessel had been burned. According 
to one method, the outside of the vessel was covered 
with a fine coating of plaster upon which the design 
was painted exactly as in fresco. According to a second 
method the effect of cloitsonné was cleverly achieved. 
This technique is most characteristic of the region 
northwest of the Valley of Mexico and will be described 
later. Incised or engraved designs are commonly met 
with on pottery vessels at Teotihuacan. 
Tula. The ancient city of Tula or Tollan, the 
Place of the Reeds, is situated about fifty miles north of 
Mexico City. Building stone of good quality was avail- 
able at this site and in consequence sculptures are more 
plentiful than at Teotihuacan. Particularly famous are 
the great sculptured columns which represent feathered 
serpents and gigantic human figures. The drums are 
mostly mortised and the columns are crowned by true 
‘apitals. These architectural features at Tula find their 
closest counterpart at the Mayan city of Chichen Itza 
in northern Yucatan. The tlachtli or ball court occurs 
at Tula and the groundplans of complicated “‘palaces”’ 
can also be made out. 
Cholula. The sacred city of Cholula, in the en- 
virons of Puebla, is chiefly famous for its great pyramid. 
This structure is more or less irregular in shape but the 
base averages more than a thousand feet on the side and 
the total height, now somewhat reduced, was probably 
close to two hundred feet above the plain. Compared 
with the Pyramid of Cheops, it covers nearly twice as 
much ground and has a much greater volume, but lacks 
of course, in height. As already noted, the pyramids of 
the New World are simply foundations for temples and 
thus always have flat tops. The great mound of Cholu- 
