160 MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA 
la is a solid mass of adobe bricks of uniform size laid in 
adobe mortar. ‘The pyramid was evidently faced with 
a thick layer of cement of which a few patches still 
° ry : 4 
remain. ‘Two other large mounds exist at Cholula. One 
of these has been partially destroyed and now stands as 
a vertical mass of adobe bricks while the other is over- 
grown with brush and cactus. 
Unlike the other Toltecan cities Cholula was still in- 
habited and a place of religious importance when Cortez 
arrived in Mexico. But the figurines and pottery ves- 
sels that are found at this site belong for the most part 
to an epoch earlier than that of the Aztecs. Quetzal- 
coatl was the patron deity of Cholula and in the decor- 
ative art the serpent is finely conventionalized. A pot- 
tery shape frequently met with at Cholula is the flat 
plate bearing polychrome designs. 
The Frontier Cities of the Northwest. An im- 
portant culture area is located upon the northwestern 
limits of the area of high culture in ancient Mexico. 
The best known and most accessible ruin is La Quema- 
da, **The Burned” which is situated a day’s ride from 
the city of Zacatecas. This site was found in a de- 
serted and ruinous condition by the Spaniards in 1535 
and there is little doubt that it had been abandoned 
several centuries previous. La Quemada has been 
popularly associated with Chiconoztoc, “The Seven 
Caves,” a place famous in Aztecan mythology, but this 
association rests upon no scientific basis. It is simply 
an unauthoritative attempt to invest a forgotten city 
with a legendary interest. Chiconoztoc, where the 
Aztecs came out of the underworld might be compared 
with our own Garden of Eden.and its exact location is 
just as much an eternal riddle. La Quemada is a ter- 
raced hill resembling Monte Alban and Xochicalco. 
