HEWERS OF STONE 



1009 



unearthed and brought to light the most 

 interesting antiquities now treasured in 

 the great museums of the world, and the 

 many wonderful remains of the aborig- 

 inal races in this valley, and which now 

 attract every visitor to the city of Mex- 

 ico — these explorers went through, not 

 merely days, but centuries of dust. 



The drive itself is not uninteresting, 

 for the long valley has some picturesque 

 scenery, and at the primitive town of 

 Tlacolula the journey was broken for a 

 brief rest and light refreshments, and 

 which prepared us for the remaining 

 eight miles, which were soon covered. 

 Here we reached the end of this beauti- 

 ful valley, and about a mile from the 

 base of the mountains that here rise on 

 three sides, forming an amphitheater, is 

 the site of ancient Mitla. According to 

 Dr Seler it was the burial city of the 

 Zapotec kings and priests, for it was the 

 custom of these people, as well as of 

 some of the kindred tribes, to bury their 

 dead chiefs in caves, and the extensive 

 caves in the mountains about may have 

 led them to the choice of this site. 



THK MARVELOUS RUINS AT MITLA 



The insignificant and squalid village 

 that we find here is in striking contrast 

 with the civilization that reared these 

 remarkable structures, although the in- 

 habitants are said to be the descendants 

 of the ancient Zapotecans. 



Just why this location was chosen 

 may be seen in its surroundings, the 

 character of its mountain fastnesses, 

 and its remoteness from other nations, 

 and especially because of its water sup- 

 ply, the caves, and the abundant source 

 of the choicest or most easily worked 

 building materials. 



Eet us look upon these extensive 

 ruins and study their architectural 

 beauty, and then endeavor to transport 

 ourselves into the distant past so as to 

 become contemporary eye-witnesses of 

 the workmen in the construction of 

 these buildings. We must remember, 

 v\Ahen speaking of these ruins at Mitla, 

 that they were built long after the stone 

 in Europe had been superseded by the 



use of iron, for the Stone Age in Europe 

 was probably several thousand years 

 earlier than in Mexico. It would be a 

 mistake, and we would fail in our full 

 appreciation of these Mitlan ruins if in 

 mind we were to transport these struc- 

 tures from the valley of Oaxaca to the 

 valley of the Nile, or to Greece and 

 Sicily, or to the colossal ruins of Rome 

 and Baalbek, and then make the com- 

 parison with the great architectural 

 achievements of the ancient Egyptians, 

 Greeks, and Romans. Neither should 

 we speak without reserve and qualifica- 

 tion, as some are wont to do when in- 

 dulging in most extravagant language, 

 to express their admiration and wonder 

 at what these races accomplished in 

 Mexico, for these builders had their 

 limitations. They would have builded 

 far better had they been conversant with 

 the architecture of Europe, and they 

 would have made use of the arch and 

 employed very different ^tools, but they 

 used the knowledge and mechanical arts 

 that they had, and when we keep this in 

 mind we will be amazed at the wonder- 

 ful works that they accomplished. 



In fact, as we picture that age and 

 the actual conditions of their civiliza- 

 tion, it is difficult for us to understand 

 how they built so well and reared struc- 

 tures that are still the admiration of the 

 world. Whilst there are no contempo- 

 raneous records of the unknown build- 

 ers to describe the character of their 

 work and buildings, and how they cut 

 the stones from the mountains and fash- 

 ioned them in shape, fortunately modern 

 explorers have discovered two quarries 

 in the mountain, the one about three and 

 the other six miles distant, where the 

 ancient stone-cutters in great numbers 

 once stood at their tedious and laborious 

 work. There on the mountain range, 

 without dynamite or any of our im- 

 proved mechanical devices for tunneling 

 or leveling the mountains, or cutting in 

 form and polishing enormous blocks of 

 granite, the swarthy Indian labored with 

 the most primitive tools of the Stone 

 Age, without steel chisel, hammers, and 

 crowbars to overcome the resistance of 



