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ee 
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alain Ge oS) 8 Ges 
A demon space-filler, probably a highly elaborated 
glyph 
on the left shoulder of the southern 
front, and, as read by Morley, corre- 
sponds with the year 525 of the Chris- 
tian era. Certain groups of the Maya 
race, including the people of Quirigua, 
had at that time made such advance in 
culture as to justify the claim that they 
had attained the state known as civili- 
zation. Glyphic writing was well ad- 
vanced, and students are pretty well 
agreed that a phonetic method of rec- 
ord, the achievement of which best 
marks the close of the barbarian and 
the beginning of the civilized state, was 
an accomplished fact—not the per- 
fected symbols for elementary sounds, 
perhaps, but symbols rather for words 
and syllables. In many of the arts the 
Maya had made remarkable progress— 
in architecture, sculpture, the cutting of 
gems, pottery, the textile art, and met- 
allurgy, they could compare favorably 
with the several countries of central and 
western Europe at corresponding peri- 
ods down to the year 525 A.p. 
The Future-—The great stone struc- 
tures of Quirigua crumbled beneath the 
attacks of destructive climatic agencies, 
aided possibly by earthquakes and 
other natural forces, and were deserted 
by an impoverished and disheartened 
people; and it was not long before the 
shattered walls were deeply buried be- 
neath the débris of the superstructures 
and covered by the quick- growing ~ 
tropical vegetation. The monolithic 
sculptures scattered about the courts 
and plazas remained entirely hidden 
MmOomenvicw pve une thick veil: that 
nature had spread over them. Today 
all are brought to light again and stand 
exposed in the open, the delight of 
students and the marvel of the visiting 
world. In this condition they are un- 
fortunately subject to the attacks of 
wind and rain, the wear by repeated 
cleaning, and injury by vandal hands. 
Nature, after disaster had fallen on the 
city, spread over the ruins a mantle of 
protection, but today the explorer has 
exposed them to further ruin. No wall, 
howsoever strong, will stand exposure 
in the open in this climate for a single 
generation. The restored walls of the 
principal building of Quirigua, from 
four to six feet in thickness and not 
exceeding twelve feet in height, laid 
up in 1910 with Portland cement, are 
today in a state of ruin as complete 
as the original walls were when first 
brought to light by the School of Amer- 
ican Archaeology. In this state they 
A demon space-filler, probably a highly elaborated 
glyph 
[ 48 |] 
