32 G 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Sept. 14, 1912 
carved a human face, with perforations for a 
string at top of forehead and tip of chin. On 
the center of the lower tablet was a small metate 
of diorite, nine inches by five inches with a 
turtle-shaped head. A slight depression in the 
center shows that it had been used for grind¬ 
ing paints or herbs, and undoubtedly was the 
paint-mixing dish of the chieftain whose remains 
had been buried there. 
A diorite cylinder, finely carved, was also 
found, and may have been used either as an 
amulet across the breast, or may contain some 
hidden message for the spirit world, as do some 
of the clay cylinders of Babylon and the Nile 
Valley. I have found it impossible so far to 
decipher the hieroglyphics on this cylinder. 
Most elaborately had this tomb been pre¬ 
pared by its primitive builders. Twelve shells, 
each almost exactly three inches in diameter, 
were found in two rows, close to the metate, 
each shell containing fifty fiat, circular shell 
beads, making a total of 600 beads. These prob¬ 
ably were used for money, as they are of the 
same type as the shell “wampum’’ of the Indian 
tribes of the United States. The twelve large 
shells fell to pieces on being removed from their 
resting place, but the wampum held in perfect 
condition, and is, I imagine, about as good as 
when first made. Quite evidently the idea of 
the chieftain’s friends was to provide him with 
plenty of funds for his journey into the shadow 
world which they believed to lie beyond the con¬ 
fines of Guerrero. 
Fourteen small perforated shells, three-quar¬ 
ters of an inch long, and four shell beads, or 
amulets, three inches long, with holes drilled 
through the entire length, and thirty-one shell 
beads or amulets with holes at each end, were 
also discovered. Among other things found in 
the tomb were one oval shell amulet, two inches 
long; two perforators or stone drills, eight green¬ 
ish diorite amulets, three inches long, perforated 
at each end; twenty-six square shell buttons, per¬ 
forated through ridges on the back side, show¬ 
ing that these people knew the principle of the 
button and the buttonhole, a knowledge probably 
possessed by no other Indian tribe on the North 
American continent; two conch shells, one eight 
inches and the other five inches in length (one 
of these contained the small bones of a very 
young child, and the other was filled with tiny 
beads) ; an irregular fragment of black obsidian, 
from which arrow and spear heads were made. 
This was to provide the dead man with the 
means for making his weapons' on the other 
shore. 
By far the most interesting objects found 
on the tablet, however, were two shell bracelets 
or armlets, one of which is shown in the photo 
reproduced herewith. 1 hese shells, only one of 
which is perfect, were five inches in diameter 
and are covered with carefully made engravings, 
mostly of monkeys and other animals. Different 
savants who have studied these artifacts believe 
that these carved bracelets will be of the greatest 
aid in deciphering the age and meaning of the 
other hieroglyphics. 
After careful investigation, comparison and 
study, I have arrived at the conclusion that the 
two large, carved tablets are meant to tell some 
story, that what they tell may be grouped under 
two heads, both being stela or mortuary tablets 
as follows; • 
Tablet of Life.—The straight lines at the top 
were made to represent the hair of a living 
figure. The eye sockets contain the residue of 
a sulphur-like pitch, which, if it had been used 
as a fire offering at the time of the death of 
the man whose tomb this was, would account for 
the destruction of the upper part of the face. 
The open mouth, showing two rows of teeth and 
the seven rays depicted below the chin, would 
indicate the living being, the rays coming from 
the mouth showing speech. Two snakes dart¬ 
ing out from just below the eyes, probably also 
indicate life, though possibly life leaving the 
body, as the snakes appear to be very much alive. 
The four key-like characters on this figure prob¬ 
ably represent arms and legs, and the holes in 
the upper key characters may be meant for eyes, 
with the sunlike circles above for eyebrows. 
Tablet of Death.—This tablet has the same 
carving at the top as the first, but lacks the hair, 
and want of hair was one of the indications of 
death in the carvings of all the prehistoric tribes 
of Mexico. Two double-fanged snakes are ap¬ 
proaching the eyes of this figure, evidently pre¬ 
paring to strike. The snake figures strongly in 
all the carvings of the Indians of Mexico, and 
has many meanings, so that its combination in 
this may mean any one of several ideas. The 
mouth of the figure is closed, another indication 
INCENSE BURNER, MADE OF DIORITE, OR MEXICAN JADE, FOUND IN TOMB AT PATAMB0. 
