THE AZTECS 293 
and the ruins a considerable number of potsherds are 
plowed up in the field. 
Aztecan Influence in Central America. The 
influence from the late Mexican cultures can be traced 
far to the south. In Salvador the cults of Tlaloc, Xipe 
Totec, and other Aztecan gods were fully developed. 
The occurrence of the “Chacmool”’ in Salvador has al- 
ready been pointed out and it may be added that the 
Mexican ball game, tlachtli, seems also to have been 
known here. 
Decorative motives that show affiliations to those of 
the Aztecs and their immediate predecessors are found 
as far south as Costa Rica but the strain is thin and not 
to be compared with the evidences of culture connec- 
tion over wide territories that are found on earlier 
horizons. 
CONCLUSION 
This survey of ancient history in Mexico and Central 
America makes clear a fact that doubtless will be found 
to hold true of archeology in other parts of the world. 
The earliest culture was by far the most homogeneous 
and widespread which probably means that it lasted for 
a long time and modified slowly. At the same time it 
must be remembered that owing to the connection of 
this archaic art with agriculture, the initial spread may 
have beenrapid. The Mayan culture that followed was 
specialized to a humid lowland environment and while 
the influence that it exerted over the life of other nat- 
tions was very great the exact characters of the Mayan 
civilization were not reproduced elsewhere. The cycle 
of this civilization was comparatively short and that of 
the civilizations that followed were even shorter. 
