The Fundamental Principles of Old and New World Civilizations Part 17

If we add this to the acc.u.mulation of evidence I have presented, showing that in Mexico and Yucatan the ocelot was a.s.sociated with the north, the color red, the underworld, the nocturnal cult and with bearded priests, we must admit that there is hope that, some day, we may be as familiar with the life and customs of the ancient Americans as we are now with those of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans.

Strange animal effigies in stone have been found at Quirigua: one (B) somewhat resembles a dragon and exhibits complex glyphs; another (G) has been named an armadillo and has 28=16 glyphs carved on its lower and 220=40 on its upper sides.

A circular slab deserves special mention: in its centre is a seated figure. Forming a band around the edge, to the right of the figure are 6 glyphs and 6 others are to his left=12 in all. Above him to his left are 5 and to his left are 3 glyphs. This peculiar distribution of 20 glyphs is of peculiar interest.

The crowning glory of Quirigua, however, is the gigantic block of stone, completely covered with intricate carvings and glyphs, which is known as the "Great Turtle," and of which splendid casts, made from Mr. Maudslay's moulds, are now exhibited in the South Kensington Museum, London, and in the American Museum of Natural History, New York. Of the many features of this remarkable monument, which can be studied in Mr. Maudslay's forthcoming part XI of the Biologia Centrali-Americana, the seated figure, occupying a prominent place and obviously representing the central ruler, deserves special mention. In his right hand he holds a peculiar sceptre similar to that held by the personage on Stela E. His left hand is concealed under a carved face, a detail which recalls the Santa Lucia bas-reliefs.

Palenque and its group of sister cities now claim our notice. Of the latter Men-che particularly arrests our attention on account of its name, the second part of which means tree and by extension, tribe. The word _men_ is of particular interest, for it is not only the name of a dog in the Maya Calendar but signifies precisely the same as the Mexican word toltecatl, namely, master-builder, artificer or artisan, an adept in manufacture. The habitual form of employing the word would be ah-men, meaning he who is a master builder, etc.; while men-ah or men-yah signifies work or production of manual labor. The first part of the Nahuatl word aman-teca, signifying artisan, artificer, seems to be a corrupt rendering of the Maya ah-men. That Men-che, which is also known as Lorillard City, was a centre of the highest development of native-sculpture and art seems proven by the truly admirable and exquisitely fine workmans.h.i.+p of the bas-reliefs obtained there by Mr.

Maudslay, and now exhibited at the British Museum. In execution and finish they undoubtedly surpa.s.s any specimens of ancient American art I have ever seen.

A search for the possible derivation of the word men leads to mehen, the name for "sons or nephews in the male line," mehen-ob, the descendants, mehen-tzilaan=genealogy and parentage (a word which sheds some light on the meaning of the ancient capital Tzilan in Yucatan). Mehen is also employed as meaning something little, small or minute.

From the above data it may be inferred that Men-che may have originally signified "the tree or tribe of the sons or nephews in the male line," and that these people may have so identified themselves with the arts of building and working in precious metals and stone, etc., that their t.i.tle was used as a designation for these industries. It is certainly remarkable that, situated at an easy distance on the same river Usumacinto, there is the great ruined city of Palenque(66) (p.r.o.nounced by the natives Pa-lem-ke) which seems also to have originally terminated in che=tree or tribe and to be derived from palil, pal or palal=va.s.sal, servant, subject, also small child. Let us see how far the monuments of Palenque justify and support this translation of its name.

Referring the reader to Mr. Maudslay's Biologia, and to Mr. Holmes'

Archaeological Studies, Pt. II, and other well-known works on the ruins of Palenque, I shall confine myself to a cursory examination of the four princ.i.p.al isolated pyramid-temples, known, respectively, as the temples of the Inscriptions, of the Sun, of the Cross and of the Cross No. 2.

Although the orientation of these edifices is not accurate they may be roughly said to face the cardinal points as follows:-

The temple "of the Inscriptions" faces the north, that "of the Sun" the east, whilst the temple "of the Cross" faces the south and that "of Cross 2," the west. Dr. Brinton has already shown that the well-known symbol on the famous "Tablet of the Cross" is not a cross, but the conventional symbol for "tree" of the type I have ill.u.s.trated in the preceding fig. 53.

As Cross No. 2 unquestionably belongs to the same category, it results that these two temples would be more correctly designated as "of the Tree"

and that they furnish us with an interesting parallel of the Peruvian quisuar can-cha, or "place of the tree," where the Inca erected two trees which typified his father and mother and were "as the root and stems of the Incas." The Palenque "trees," moreover, closely resemble those on the Mexican Fejervary chart (fig. 52) inasmuch as, in each case, the tree is surmounted by a bird and is flanked by two human figures.

It has already been shown in the preceding pages that in ancient America the tree was generally employed as a symbol for tribe and that the Maya word for tree=che occurs as an affix signifying tribe or people not only in Qui-che, Man-che (the latter a tribe inhabiting the region of Menche and Palenque) etc., but also in the names of tribes inhabiting the southern regions of North America.

a.s.suming, therefore, upon convincing and substantial evidence which will be further corroborated, that the "Tablet of the Cross" represents a tree, the symbol of tribal life, the next step is to interpret the bird perched upon it and generally acknowledged to be a quetzal (p.r.o.nounced kay-tzal) as the totem of the tribe, which also probably expresses its name. The tree is represented as a.s.sociated with serpent symbolism and as growing from a vase=ho-och placed on a monstrous head=ho-ol, the idea conveyed being that it flourished in the centre or middle, while the head signifies, as has been shown, the capital and also the chief. On the vase is carved a symbol to which I draw special attention, as it recurs on the right hand end of the carved band below the tree, is met with in Maya calculiform glyphs and is also frequently employed in ancient Mexico. It represents the corolla of a four-petalled flower which obviously symbolized the Four-in-One, which permeated the native civilizations.

The word for "flower" being nic in Maya and xochitl (p.r.o.nounced hoochitl) in Nahuatl, it must be admitted that the symbol of a vase with a flower seems to afford an instance of a bilingual rebus, as the Maya hooch is identical in sound to the Nahuatl xoch-itl. Even without this, however, the meaning of the tree and serpent, the bird, the vase, the quadripart.i.te flower, and the head, would have been generally and equally intelligible to native tribes, being familiar symbols constantly employed in metaphorical speech.

Mr. Maudslay has pointed out and ill.u.s.trated in his work (Biologia, pl.

92, pt. X) that the side branches of the "cross" simulate bearded serpents' heads, whilst their recurved upper jaws are covered with what resemble buds of flowers, seeds or beads. The Palenque "cross" is indeed characterized by being profusely decorated with "bead or seed-like ornaments and appendages" some of which resemble beads or seeds, figured in some instances, like those on the Copan swastika, the meaning of which seems supplied by the previously cited Zuni text. It does not appear to be a mere matter of chance that the following Maya words, culled from the dictionaries, are so closely connected: yax-che=a sort of ceiba tree, the emblem of celestial life of the Mayas; yax-chumil and yax-pa-ibe=adjectives primitive, original; adverb firstly, at the beginning; yaxil, verb=to make something new, to commence, begin; yaxil-tun=bead or pearl; yax-mehen-tzil=eldest son.

According to this incontrovertible evidence we find that the sacred tree of life of the Mayas was designated by the word yax, signifying first, original, new, etc.; that the same root enters into the composition of the word for eldest son and finally for "bead." The latter curious agreement is accentuated by the well-known fact that the Mexicans employed in metaphorical speech the word cuzcatl=bead made of some precious stone, to designate "father, mother, lord, captain, governor; those who are like a sheltering tree to the people" (Olmos, cap. VIII). A term of particular endearment for a son was "gold-bead" (teocuitla-cuzcatl). Olmos moreover records no less than eight metaphorical designations for a "Tree, or first father, origin of generation, lord or governor," and appellations for twenty-nine "Relatives who issue from one stem or trunk."

Collectively, the evidence set forth in the preceding pages identifies the image on the famous "Tablet of the Cross," as a symbolical representation of the "Tree of Life of the Eldest Sons," chiefs or n.o.bility of a tribe, whose totemic bird was the quetzal.(67) Before completing the description of this tablet, the a.n.a.logous representation of a tree on the "Temple of the Cross 2" should be examined. This is generally known as the foliated Cross and like its counterpart it issues from a vase with a quadriform emblem, and a monstrous head. Its branches are composed of conventionalized maize plants on which human heads and faces occupy the places of the corn-cobs whilst their hanging hair simulates the ta.s.sels of the ripe corn. The maize-leaves are decorated with groups of seed-like beads amongst which distinct representations of maize seeds are discernible. These form, indeed, the leading motif of the seed decorations and indicate that the "appendages" to the groups of seed-like beads on the Copan swastika were but conventionalized maize-seeds. The branches of the maize-tree are surmounted by a conventionally ornamented head from which hangs a necklace of beads with a medallion consisting of a face surrounded by a beaded frame. Above the head the totemic quetzal bird is repeated under almost precisely the same form but in a reversed position. It is interesting to note that the Maya name for maize is ixim, which added to the che=tree, yields ixim-che, a word which actually occurs as the local name of the ancient capital of Guatemala, named "Iximche-tecpan." To this curious fact should be also added that "ix" is the prefix employed to designate the feminine gender and that Ix-chel is "the name of the Maya G.o.ddess of medicine and of child-birth."

An extremely interesting composite symbol is carved under the feet of the personage standing next to the "maize-tree," to the right of the spectator. It consists of the realistically carved large convolute sea-sh.e.l.l such as const.i.tuted the Mexican symbol of parturition. An almost grotesque human figure is represented as issuing from it and holding in its hand a maize plant which bends upwards and curves over the sh.e.l.l. Its leaves are drawn with maize-seeds on and amongst them, in the same conventional way that has been noticed on the central tree, and human heads again simulate the corn-cob. An acquaintance with Mexican and Zuni symbolism enables us to grasp the significance of this composite symbol which figuratively expresses the common birth and growth of the substance of plant and human life. The personage who stands over this symbol, facing the tree and the tail of the bird which surmounts it, holds a curiously decorated emblem in his hand, of which more anon. A small twig bearing three terminal leaves issues from his head. Behind him are 4 perpendicular columns with 17 glyphs in each; whilst a detached series, consisting of 13 smaller glyphs, is carved in front and above him.

At the opposite side of the tree, facing the almost unrecognizable head of the bird, a personage stands on an elaborately carved monstrous head, covered with a maize-plant. He is wearing a necklace and medallion like that on the tree itself. His head is surmounted by a high cap bearing a conventionalized flower-bud. A belt in the form of a serpent with open jaws, encircles his waist and he is holding aloft in his hands, a miniature, human, seated figure with folded arms, a bead necklace and an indescribable head-dress and masked face. His att.i.tude indicates that, by offering this figure, he is performing some rite. On the other hand, a conventionalized sign for water seems to be issuing from the bird's head and descending upon the figure whilst puffs of breath and seeds issuing from its beak seem to be directed towards the tiny effigy of a human being.

Reverting now to the "Tablet of the Cross I," we find precisely a.n.a.logous figures at its sides, only in reversed positions. To the right of the spectator stands the priest with a tall hat surmounted by the flower-bud, somewhat resembling a fleur-de-lis. The small human figure he is offering is rec.u.mbent and is being held out so as to come in contact with the pendant issuing from the bird's head.

The figure on the opposite side, with the head-dress and twig with three leaves, is facing the central tree and holding a staff which, in this case although combined with other emblems, clearly appears to represent a young maize plant, with its roots below, and growing shoot with leaves above. As on the other tablets there are columns of glyphs behind each figure, whilst the personage holding the maize-plant is a.s.sociated with a detached group, in two portions, consisting of 10+4 glyphs, and is standing on a large glyph a.s.sociated with a numeral.

Having thus cursorily brought out some special points observable on both "Cross Tablets," let us now glance at the tablet in the "Temple of the Sun." On this we again find columns of glyphs and a personage at each side of a central figure. The same peculiarities and differences of costume are observable here as on the preceding tablets; but each personage holds a small, grotesque human figure with a long nose, and each stands on the back of a human being, that to the left of the spectator especially appearing to be a conquered enemy.(68)

Two over-burdened-looking seated figures, one of which is clothed in a spotted ocelot's skin, occupy the centre and support, on their bowed shoulders, a curious emblem terminating in open serpents' jaws. The large head (of a jaguar?) is in the centre and above this issue two puffs of breath with seeds, forming a double recurved figure so identical in shape and detail to a single branch of the Copan swastika that one might imagine it was carved by the same hand. On this tablet, instead of a tree, the centre is occupied by a s.h.i.+eld, exhibiting a face and having tufts of feathers at its four rounded corners. This rests on two crossed lances with decorated handles surmounted by large points.

In this connection it is interesting and important to note that, in ancient Mexico, lands conquered and acquired in warfare were termed "mil chimalli," literally, "field of the s.h.i.+eld," a metaphor which was also probably known to the Mayas.

Glancing next at the "Temple of Inscriptions," the fourth of the large detached temples of Palenque, we find that its interior is characterized by the most extensive mural inscriptions found in America, consisting entirely of hieroglyphics. Four exterior free pillars, however, "contain on their outer faces, modelled in bold relief, life-sized figures of women holding children in their arms" (Holmes).

Having brought out the particular point that, in each of the four temples described, adults are represented in the act of carrying or offering children or diminutive and strangely grotesque conventionalized effigies of human beings, I would note that the only a.n.a.logous grotesque figures with long noses, I know of, are those on the sceptres held in the hand by the seated personage on the "Great Turtle" and by the individual carved on Stela E at Quirigua. It is noteworthy that the left hand of the latter personage holds a s.h.i.+eld displaying a face and recalling that carved on the tablet of the Palenque "Temple of the Sun." a.n.a.logous grotesque figures also surround the personage carved on Stela F at Copan. These facts indicate that the Quirigua "Great Turtle," the stelae at Quirigua and Copan and the Palenque tablets, were erected by people sharing the same cult and ritual observance, one feature of which was the carrying of diminutive human effigies, with exaggerated and almost grotesque noses.

A clue to the significance of this rite is supplied by the text of the Codex Telleriano-Remensis (Kingsborough, vol. V, p. 134) relating to the Mexican 20-day period Iz-calli, the last of the year. "It was the feast of Fire, because at this season the trees became warmed and began to bud. In it was celebrated the festival Pil-quixtia, meaning 'human life or nature which had always escaped destruction although the world itself had been destroyed several times.' "

"Izcalli signifies as much as liveliness, and in this 20-day period all mothers lifted their children by their heads and holding them aloft called out, Izcalli, Izcalli, as though they said 'aviva'=live, live.... This was the period of production ... thanks were rendered to the nature which is the cause of the production.... Every four years they feasted for 8 days in memory of the three times that the world was destroyed. They name this 'four times Lord,' because this escaped destruction, although all was destroyed. They designated the festival as that of 'renovation' and said that when it and the fast came to an end the bodies of men became like those of children. Therefore, in order to figure [or symbolize] this festival, adults led certain children by the hand, in the sacred dance."

Slightly incoherent though this text may be, it furnishes a most valuable supplement to the descriptions of the same festival by other authorities.

As this is exhaustively treated in my forthcoming text to the "Life of the Indians " in which all available authorities are quoted and collated, I shall confine myself here to some facts which bear a special relation to the subject of this paper. In Mexico another name for the festival period Izcalli, was Xilomaniztli=the birth or sprouting of the young maize.

According to Duran, izcalli signified "the creating or bringing up" and in order to make the growth of children coincide with that of the young maize, parents, during this period, stretched the limbs and every part of the bodies of all infants of tender age.

Another observance which was held at this time was in antic.i.p.ation of the New Year and consisted in the raising and planting of high poles or wands with branches, in the courtyards of the temples and in the streets. These typified the new life; "the budding and rejoicing of the trees." Another New Year custom was that of carrying budding branches or young shoots of maize in the hand, on a particular day named Xiuh-Tzitzquilo, literally, "the taking of the year in one's hands." The explanation of this metaphor is given by Duran who states that "the natives consider that the year, with its months and days, is like a branch with its twigs and leaves."

A pa.s.sing mention must be moreover made of the two movable festivals celebrated by the Mexicans, in which they scattered broken egg-sh.e.l.ls on the roads and streets as a rite of thanksgiving for "the life bestowed upon the chicken in the sh.e.l.l" by the divine power. In the image of this festival contained in the "Life of the Indians," the egg-sh.e.l.ls are represented at the foot of a tree bearing seven blossoms; the seated divinity in front of this wears a bird-mask and carries a staff with a heart in his hand. These festivals were named respectively, seven flowers and one flower.

Briefly summarizing the foregoing data, we find it proven that, deeply impressed with the wonderful renewal of life in nature, the ancient Mexicans rendered periodical thanksgiving for this in its various forms.

The budding tree, the young shoots of the maize, all seedlings, the broken egg-sh.e.l.ls from which the young chickens had emerged, were adopted as emblems of the renewal of life. The child was likewise looked upon as the renewal of the human race and every four years a thanksgiving festival "of renovation" was solemnized in which children took a special part. In my work on the Calendar system I shall show how far this festival "of new birth" coincided with astronomical phenomena. From Landa we learn that in the Maya months "Chen or Yax," on a day designated by the priest, a festival was celebrated named Ocna: "the renovation of the temple in honour of the Chacs, the G.o.ds of the maize-fields." This was held each year ... all idols and incense-burners were renewed and if necessary the building was rebuilt or renovated and, "in commemoration of this, an inscription in the native characters was fixed to the walls."

Referring to other chapters of Landa's work we find that, as in Mexico, the Yucatec children received a "child's name" at birth which was changed when, having accomplished the third year, they were "reborn" and received a new name, _i. e._ the combined name of their father and mother. On attaining p.u.b.erty they obtained an individual name which they preserved during life-time. A knowledge of the social organization of these people enables one to grasp the full importance and significance of these changes of name, which were accompanied by ritual observances and betokened the enrolment of the children into their respective cla.s.ses and sub-cla.s.ses and a consequent reorganization of certain departments of the State. It appears that in ancient times the ceremonial of the "new birth," or re-naming of the children, took place every four years, simultaneously with the thanksgiving feast for the "continuation of the human race."

A careful a.n.a.lysis of native words and metaphors tends to show, moreover, that the children born within each four-year-period were collectively regarded as "a fresh growth upon the tribal tree." In Mexico the word for leaf=atlapalli, was employed as a metaphor for the lower cla.s.s, whilst in Peru the male and female descendants of the Incas were represented by gold and silver fruits upon the trees of their male and female ancestry. The collection of such scattered sc.r.a.ps of testimony enables us to reconstruct the drift of native thought and realize that the registration of individuals was a.s.sociated with the conception of a tribal tree bearing four branches and covered with blossoms, fruits and leaves which faded and fell but were replaced by fresh growths.

We learn from Duran that so careful a record was kept of the population, by the Mexican priesthood, "that not even a newborn babe could escape detection." The reason for this strict vigilance is clear, for the welfare of the community and the harmonious working of the complex machinery of state depended upon the constant renewal of vacancies caused by deaths in each department of industry and government.

After this excursion into the realm of native thought let us now return to the Palenque tablets, placed in detached temples which approximately face the four cardinal points. On the tablet of the "Temple of the Cross" we have a tribal tree with symbols of the Middle and of the Four Quarters and of duality. A priest with a flower on his head presents a diminutive human figure to the totemic bird perched on the tree. Another, with a leafy branch on his head-dress, holds a conventional sceptre simulating a young growing shoot of maize. Behind each figure are rows of glyphs and in the upper corner to the left of the spectator is the septenary series headed by the initial-sign.

In the "Temple of Cross II" we have a variant of the identical representation in which the maize plant and the sea sh.e.l.l are prominent.

If I may hazard a suggestion of the meaning of these two tablets, I should say that they appear to be tribal registers most probably relating to the increase and decrease of the male and female population in all divisions and cla.s.ses, during a fixed period of time. Both seem to commemorate the "renovation" or "new growth" of the tribal tree in a mode which would have been as intelligible to a Mexican, for instance, as to a Maya. The fact that the "Temple of the Sun" and that of the "Inscriptions" obviously held a.n.a.logous registers, points to the alternative possibilities (1) that each temple was destined to preserve the register of the population and social organization, etc., of one of the four quarters of the capital and state, according to years; (2) that the trees in the "Cross temples" figured the male and female lineages of the ruling caste, whilst the tablet in the "Temple of the Sun" recorded the numbers of conquered people reduced to slavery and the "Temple of Inscriptions" preserved the register of female children or of va.s.sals; (3) that each of the four temples preserved a complete register of the entire state and had been erected consecutively at the conclusion or beginning of eras, the difference observable in the central motif conveying the salient feature or event marking each special epoch and recording, according to years, the organization of the state during its course.

In the face of this possibility as well as the probability that each glyph was painted and implied a year, it is interesting to note that, including the initial glyph, the "Tablet of the Cross" exhibits 108 glyphs on the side to the left and 124 on the side to the right of the spectator=a total of 232; the "Tablet of the Cross II" exhibits 76 to the left and 83 to the right=159; and that in the "Temple of the Sun," 70 to the left, 159 to the right and 12 in the middle=241. The "Temple of Inscriptions" exhibits the initial series (see Maudslay, Biologia, pt. X, pl. 82) and entire walls covered with glyphs, some of which, as on the tablets enumerated above, are accompanied by numerals whilst others are not.

In a future publication I shall submit ill.u.s.trations of these monuments with the ripened results of my investigations concerning them. For my present purpose it suffices to have produced substantial proofs that the ancient dwellers in Palenque employed the same metaphors, the same cursive method of registration and held the same fundamental principles of organization that have been shown to underlie the civilizations of Peru, Guatemala, Yucatan, and Mexico and still survive amongst the Zunis and more northern tribes. It is obvious that, at Palenque and the neighboring Menche and Ixkun, an integral civilization, based on these principles, had existed for an incalculable length of time. Strangely enough it seems to form so close a link between Maya and Mexican culture that it almost seems justifiable to surmise that both Maya and Nahuatl languages were spoken in these ancient ruined cities.

Proceeding mentally northwards we will not linger at the ruins of Mitla, the name of which seems to indicate that it had lain to the north of a great ancient centre of government, since Mictlan in Nahuatl and Mitnal in Maya both designate the region of the underworld and the north.

Reaching the ultimate stage of our mental exploration of the American Continent we now transport ourselves to the Valley of Mexico and, on the site of the ancient capital of Montezuma and his coadjutor, face the three great monolithic monuments which are popularly known as the Calendar Stone, the Stone of Tizoc and Huitzilopochtli. In 1886, at the Buffalo Meeting of the American a.s.sociation for the Advancement of Science, I presented a "Preliminary Note of an a.n.a.lysis of the Mexican Codices and Graven Inscriptions," in which the opinion was advanced that the "Calendar Stone" was identical with the "circular elaborately carved tablets which, according to Padre Duran, were erected in each market-place in ancient Mexico, and were held in great veneration. They were frequently consulted and by them the market-days were regulated."

"All writers concur in stating that the market was held on each fifth day, when all adults were obliged by law to resort to the appointed market-place. The entire produce and manufacture of the state were brought there, even from great distances, severe penalties being incurred by those who bartered the products of agriculture or manual labor on the highway or elsewhere. On the broad, straight, cemented roads which led from the four quarters to the heart of the capital, 'resting places' for the wayfarers and carriers were provided at fixed intervals. The enormous concourse of people, the variety of produce exhibited in the market-places of Montezuma's capital filled the conquerors with wonder and admiration. From Cortes, Bernal Diaz, Sahagun and others we learn that the market was a special charge of the supreme chief of Mexico; that appointed officers presided in state over it whilst others moved among the throng superintending the traffic. Standard measures were kept and rigorous punishment awaited those who sold by false measure or bartered stolen property."

After making the preceding statements I advanced the opinion "that the periodical market-day was the most important regulator of the Mexican social organization and that the monolith generally known as the Calendar-stone was the Market-stone of the City of Mexico. It bears the record of fixed market days; and I venture to suggest that from these the formation of the Mexican Calendar system originated. The stone shows the existence of communal property and of an equal division of general contributions into certain portions...."

I concluded the above communication with the statement: "Before publis.h.i.+ng my final results I shall submit them to a searching and prolonged investigation. An examination of the originals of many of the Codices reproduced in Lord Kingsborough's 'Mexican Antiquities' will be necessary to determine important points and during the forthcoming year my line of researches will be in this direction." In my youthful enthusiasm and inexperience I little foresaw, when I wrote the above sentences, that I should spend thirteen years in diligent research before I felt ready to express my ripened conclusions concerning the Calendar-stone. Although the results I am about to submit are final they are necessarily incomplete, their full presentation with adequate ill.u.s.trations being included in my forthcoming special work on the Social and Calendaric system of ancient America. For the present I have limited myself to the reproduction of the outline drawing of the monolith made by the late Dionysio Abadiano of Mexico and published in his somewhat fanciful work on this subject.(69) No one, however, had studied the Calendar-stone more carefully than he; and, besides being extremely accurate in outline, his drawing has the merit of including the eight deep circular holes which were drilled at regular intervals outside of the worked border of the stone as well as the groups of smaller circular and shallow depressions which Senor Abadiano discovered on the outer unworked portion of the monolithic block. Without discussing here the question whether the eight drill holes were intended to support a species of gnomon, as Leon y Gama first maintained, or merely served for the guidance of those who carved this marvel of accurate workmans.h.i.+p and symmetrical design, I shall merely point out that, although the group of circular depressions in the block, in the lower corner to the left of the spectator, offers a certain resemblance to the form of the constellation of Ursa Major, this may be merely the result of chance.

Facing the problem of the meaning and purpose of the "Calendar-stone,"

after thirteen years of a.s.siduous study, I find that the interpretation I suggested in 1886, is substantially strengthened and corroborated by freshly acc.u.mulated evidence. The difference is that I now lay less stress upon the phonetic elements and values of the symbols, although, as I shall set forth in the special publication alluded to, no study of the monument can be considered complete unless these be carefully a.n.a.lyzed and understood. The one great stride in advance that I think I have made is the recognition that the monolith is an image of the Great Plan or Scheme of Organization which has been expounded in the preceding pages and which permeated every branch of native thought.

The monument represents the high-water mark reached in the evolution of a set of ideas, which were suggested to primitive man by long-continued observation of the phenomena of Nature and by the momentous recognition of the