THE MIDDLE CIVILIZATIONS 171 



stand for speech. Divinities are sometimes shown at 

 the tops of the sculptured slabs in the mouths of rep- 

 tiles and to these divinities the priests standing below 

 make offerings. 



A peculiar type of pottery centered in southern 

 Guatemala and western Salvador from which region it 

 was distributed far and wide by trade. Although a few 

 examples of this ware are found at Copan it is clear from 

 the designs that most of the pieces belong to a time 

 subsequent to the abandonment of this Mayan city. 

 Tin 4 ware has a semi-glaze which is the result of lead 

 in the clay. Because paint could not be applied to this 

 ware, the esthetic idea of shape was allowed to develop 

 itself without hindrance. 



The Chorotegan Culture. Passing south from 

 the Mayan area we find in Salvador and Central 

 Honduras archaeological objects that can hardly be 

 distinguished from the classical products of Copan. 

 Still farther south remains are found of a rich and in 

 many ways peculiar art — consisting almost entirely of 

 pottery and minor stone carvings — that centers about 

 the southern end of Lake Nicaragua and the Gulf of 

 Xicoya. It may be ascribed principally to tribes speak- 

 ing the Chiapanecan language and it may be fittingly 

 called Chorotegan after one of the principal tribes. 



Close analysis shows that many of the decorative 

 motives in Chorotegan art were developed from those 

 of the Mayas. The serpent and the monkey furnish 

 the majority of the designs that are surely Mayan but 

 each of these is carried so far away from the original 

 that only an expert can see the connections. The arms 

 and le<£> of the monkeys are lengthened and given an 

 extra number of joints while the heads degenerate into 

 circles. The tongues of the serpents are elongated and 



