170 MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA 
and slightly dished, the head projects from the center 
of one end and the tail swings in a curve from the other 
end to one of the feet. 
At Mercedes remarkable stone slabs were found dur- 
ing the excavations conducted by Mr. Minor C. Keith. 
These are now on exhibition in the American Museum 
of Natural History. The sculptures in relief on these 
slabs are by all odds the finest from the Isthmian area. 
Human beings, crocodiles, monkeys and birds are all 
Ht 
Fig. 62. Highly Conventionalized Crocodile Motive. The prin- 
cipal features of the head as well as the outline of the leg survive in 
highly modified form. From the southern end of Lake Nicaragua. 
used to decorate these carefully and laboriously made 
pieces whose use Is entirely unknown. Statues in the 
full round have also been unearthed in quantity at Mer- 
cedes which gives every evidence of having been a large 
city with a long career. 
We may be reasonably sure that the stone slabs date 
from a fairly late epoch because an undoubted “‘Chac- 
mool”’ exhibiting the same style of carving has been dis- 
covered here. The “‘Chacmool,” a half reclining figure 
with the knees drawn up, the body supported in part 
upon the elbows and a bowl for incense or other offer- 
