PYRAMID AND TEMPLE AT TUSAPAN. 199 



TUS AP AN. 



About fifteen leagues west from Papantla, in a small plain at the 

 feet of the eastern Cordillera of Mexico, are the remains of Tusa- 

 pan, which is supposed to have been a city of the Totonacs. The 

 vestiges of this little Indian city are almost obliterated, and the only 

 very significant relics are the pyramidal edifice exhibited in the an- 

 nexed plate, and a singular fountain, a drawing of which is given 

 in the work of M. Nebel. 



The pyramid, built of stones of unequal size, extends thirty feet 

 on each of its sides at the base, and the summit of its single story 

 is reached by a flight of stairs. Upon the platform of this base a 

 square tower is erected, which is entered by a door whose posts and 

 lintel, as well as the friezes of the edifice, have been elaborately 

 carved. In front of the door, within the tower, stands the pedestal 

 of the ancient divinity, but the idol itself has been destroyed. The 

 interior of this apartment is twelve feet square, and its ceiling, like 

 the external roof, terminates in a point. 



Around the pyramid are scattered masses of stones, sculptured 

 into the images of men and various animals ; and from the inferior 

 manner in which the carving on these objects is executed, we may 

 judge that this religious temple was not the most celebrated archi- 

 tectural or artistic work of the ancient inhabitants, 

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