Chaffee I 

 THE ARCHAIC HORIZON 



IN 1910 an actual stratification of human products 

 was found in the environs <>f Mexico City in which 

 three principal culture horizons could readily be 

 discerned. A collection made at this time is on exhibi- 

 tion in the American Museum of Natural History. In 

 part this stratification verified theories of culture^ succes- 

 sion already held by students working in this field. 

 Since that time careful research in several localities has 

 been carried on under the International School of 

 Archaeology and many authenticated specimens from 

 the three layers have been brought together. The low- 

 est layer, characterized by crude figurines of a peculiar 

 style, was soon found to correspond to an art long known 

 as Tarascan. This art had been referred to the Tarascan 

 Indians of the state of Michoacan. notwithstanding the 

 fact that the most noteworthy specimens came from 

 outside the Tarascan area. 



It now seems likely that the archaic art was the com- 

 mon product of all the tribes then living on the Mexican 

 highlands but that the Xahuan tribes led in its develop- 

 ment and dissemination. It is most common in regions 

 inhabited by the Xahuan tribes and seems to have been 

 carried southward by certain of these tribes who mi- 

 grated to Guatemala, Salvador, and Nicaragua. In 

 these southern Xahuan areas the archaic art, at lea>t so 

 far a- the human figurines are concerned, is often in- 

 distinguishable from that of the north. Beyond Nica- 

 ragua it i- possible to follow the stream of this ancient 

 art well into South America, but these southernmost 

 occurrences arc accompanied by changes in form and 

 technique. 



