LOCATION AND ENVIRONMENT. 5 
Seven species of the cat family are present. Of these, the jaguar (Felis 
onca goldmant Mearns), the ocelot (Felis pardalis Linneus), and others 
were hunted by the ancient Maya for their skins, which were worn by the 
rulers and principal nobles as cloaks.1 
Other smaller mammals occur in the region, as well as a large number of 
birds, many of which formed part of the food-supply in ancient times, but 
the clearing of the forest and the cultivation of the valley have now driven 
the game deeper into the mountains. 
The ornithology of the region is particularly varied; of the birds hunted 
and trapped for food, the following were the most important: The chachalaca 
(Ortalis vetula Wagler), the curassow (Crax globicera Linneus), the cojolito 
(Penelope purpurascens Wagler), doves (Claravis pretiosa Ferrari-Perez and 
Chemepelia passerina neglecta Carriker), and pigeons (Chlorenas flavirostris 
Wagler). | 
Feathers formed an essential part of ancient Maya costume as depicted 
on the monuments, being especially used in the head-dresses and cloaks of the 
rulers, priests, and nobles. Many species have gorgeous plumage, the follow- 
ing, however, being the most beautiful: the Yucatan turkey (4griocharis 
ocellata Chapman), also highly prized as an article of diet, the macaw (dra 
macao Linneus), the quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno De la Llave), toucans 
(Ramphastos piscivorus Linneus and Pteroglossus torquatus Gmelin), and 
parrots (Amazona oratrix Ridgeway). 
In closing this brief description of the environment, one other important 
feature should be noted, namely, the occurrence of unlimited quantities of 
excellent building material in the immediate vicinity of the ruins. The 
native rock, outcroppings of which are found throughout the valley, was 
peculiarly adapted for use by primitive artisans, especially those having no 
metal tools.? It was easily quarried, easily transported, easily dressed, and 
easily sculptured. 


1)n the monuments human figures are sometimes represented with such jaguar-skin cloaks. On the outer 
wall of the sanctuary of the Temple of the Cross at Palenque, for example, a human figure blowing through a pipe 
is shown with a jaguar skin thrown over his shoulders (Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. tv, plate 72). The principal 
figure on the justly famous vase of Chama, a priest or ruler painted black, also has a jaguar-skin cloak (Dieseldorff, 
1904, plate 48). ‘The head of a jaguar appears as the head-dress of the figure on Stela 20 at Yaxchilan (Maler, 1903, 
plate 78). The beauty of the skin, and possibly veneration of the animal itself, doubtless made its pelt highly 
prized as an article of clothing. 
Landa also mentions the custom: “Some of them, nobles such as the lords and captains, had helmets of wood, 
but these were very few in number, and with these arms they went to war clothed with feathers and the skins of 
tigers (7. ¢., jaguars) and lions.” (Landa, 1881, p. 85.) 
2Tt is generally held that the Maya of the Old Empire (the builders of Copan, Quirigua, Tikal, Naranjo, Seibal, 
Yaxchilan, Piedras Negras, Palenque, and other of the southern cities) did not know the use of metal, or at least of 
metal tools, and that all the intricate carvings of this region were done with tools of stone, such as basalt, diorite, 
or flint, which are harder than the materials sculptured, limestone, sandstone, and andesite. At Copan a number 
of small stone chisels or ax-heads made from these harder materials have been found. These are of different 
lengths, 5 to 15 cm., but of the same general form: slightly wedge-shaped, flattened, with a cutting edge at one end 
and a blunt nose at the other. Judging from the hardness of the materials from which they are made, and 
from their size and shape as well, they would appear to have been adequate for this purpose. Holmes, who made a 
special study of this point while at Copan in 1916, believes the finer work, the finish, was done by abrading tools, 
possibly such as these. He also found a number of rudely chipped implements, which would have served in the 
preliminary dressing of the stone scattered over the site, but he believes their number to be entirely inadequate to 
the performance of the vast work accomplished, especially the quarrying. 
