THE MIDDLE CIVILIZATIONS 1 5 1 



these eyes are made more conspicuous by the use of 

 black bituminous paint. The eyeball is developed at 

 the end of the series. 



The smiling or laughing faces have a much higher 

 technique and are perhaps the finest examples of clay 

 modeling from the New World. These heads have 

 tubular extensions at the back and were possibly set 

 into temple walls. The faces and foreheads are broad- 

 ened in accordance with the esthetic type of a forehead 

 flattening people. While the faces vary so much in 

 minor details as to create the impression that they are 

 portraits of actual persons they are alike in method of 

 modeling. Nearly all are laughing or smiling in a very 

 contagious fashion. Sometimes the tip of the tongue is 

 caught between the teeth,~sometimes the corners of the 

 mouth are pulled down as if the smile were reluctant, 

 and there are other individual variations in the expres- 

 sions of lively and unrestrained mirth. 



Perhaps the most famous objects found in Totonacan 

 territory are the so-called " stone collars" or "sacri- 

 ficial yokes." In size and shape these resemble horse 

 collars, but in contrast to somewhat similar objects from 

 Porto Rico they are usually open while the latter are 

 closed. Nothing is really known concerning their use 

 but there has been no lack of fanciful surmises. The 

 most popular explanation is that the yokes were placed 

 over the necks of victims about to be sacrificed. It is 

 evident that the yokes were intended to be placed in a 

 horizontal position because there is a plain lower surface 

 and the ends are frequently carved with faces that are 

 right side up only when the plain side is down. These 

 yokes represent the richest and most elaborate works of 

 art in the entire region since they are carved in the most 

 finished manner from single blocks of exceedingly hard 

 stone. 



