THE MIDDLE CIVILIZATIONS 



L63 



mostly mortised and the columns are crowned by true 

 capitals. These architectural features at Tula find their 



closest counterpart at the Mayan city of Chichen Itza 

 in northern Yucatan, The tlachtli or ball court occurs 

 at Tula and the groundplans of complicated " palaces" 

 can also he made out. 



Cholula. The sacred city of Cholula, in the en- 

 virons at Puebla, is chiefly famous for its great pyramid. 

 This structure is more or less irregular in shape but the 



Fig. 56. Pottery Plates from Cholula with Decorations in Several 

 ( kriors. The pottery of Cholula ranks high in design and color. 



base averages more than a thousand feet on the side and 

 the total height, now somewhat reduced, was probably 

 close to two hundred feet above the plain. Compared 

 with the Pyramid of Cheops, it covers nearly twice as 

 much ground and has a much greater volume, but lacks 

 of course, in height. As already noted, the pyramids of 

 the New World are simply foundations for temples and 

 thus always have flat tops. The great mound of Cholu- 

 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 



