Notes on Mexican archaeology,

CORNELL
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

 
Che Anibersity of Chicago
DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY

BULLETIN I

Notes on Mexican Archzeology

By
FREDERICK STARR

CHICAGO
The Anibersity of Chicage Press

1894
The Anibversity of Chicago
DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY

BULLETIN I

Notes on Mexican Archzeology

By
FREDERICK STARR

CHICAGO
The Aniversity of Chicago Press

1894
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NOTES ON MEXICAN ARCHAAOLOGY.

For my recent trip to Mexico no definite scientific work had been
planned. The trip was one of recreation. Opportunity presented
itself, however, to do two or three bits of work which it may be
worth while to make known.

THE PAINTED HOUSE AT SAN JUAN DE TEOTIHUACAN.

Within sight of the station, between it and the old church of
San Juan adjoining the land on which is the hut of the Indian,
José Maria Barius, we found excavations in progress which have
uncovered the ruins of an interesting and ancient house. Barius is
a dealer in curiosities, which he picks up in the neighborhood, and
a maker of modern pottery, imitating ancient pieces. He is a man
of unusual intelligence, and well informed in regard to the whole
district. It was he who was conducting the excavations, and so far
as I could learn he was doing it as a matter of personal interest and
not for any scientific organization or society. The house uncovered
he called the casa pintada—‘ the painted house.” Charnay, when
pursuing his investigations at San Juan, uncovered a house of sev-
eral rooms, the walls of which were plastered plainly; Batres, who
is the Conservator of Mexican Antiquities appointed by the gov-
ernment, later uncovered a house of several rooms, the walls of
which were painted with curious and interesting designs. These he
has described and figured in a government report. The house
uncovered by Barius, to which we here refer, is more interesting
and, in the character of its decorations, more important than either
of these earlier discoveries.

We visited the locality on several occasions and watched the
progress of the excavation. As the Indian seemed to be doing the
work unpaid, apparently in hope of discovering relics of mercantile
importance, the work was slow and desultory.

3
At the time of our last visit the floor of some five rooms had
been uncovered.’ These in their position, form, and relative size are
shown in the accompanying ground plan. The floors in every case
are fairly smooth and laid in white cement; the walls are thickest
at base and slope slightly upward. They are composed of clay
mixed with. stone fragments. They are smooth finished with

a thin coat of plaster, which is painted Indian red. Upon: this
plaster coating in all the rooms but £ there were or are elabo-
rate paintings, representing human beings in fine garments and
with elaborate head-dresses. The walls left standing vary from a
few inches to two feet eight inches in height. (A wall uncovered
just before our latest visit must have been higher.) The colors used
in painting are green, red, pink, and orange-brownish, and when
first applied and fresh must have been handsome. The workman-
ship is good, the figures boldly drawn and carefully colored. The
outlines were made in dark red, at times, the same shade as

Since the above was put into type we have learned that Barius has uncovered
an additional room, 7. It lies to the south of C and west of &. Its relations are
- not easily described. It lies at a lower level than any of the other rooms, and is
divided into two sections of unequal size; the smaller, lower, eastern one is some
7 or 8 inches below the other. There is no wall between / and C, but the south-
ern side of C is a step down, which measures 22 inches in height at the western
end and 31 inches at the east. In this wall, some 2 feet 114 inches from its west:
ern end, is a space 2 feet 10 inches wide and more than Io inches deep, making,
probably, a landing place in stepping from room C to room # A similar space,
opposite this, in the south wall, suggests that a room like C lies to the south.
Room ¥ measures 9 feet 5% inches at the north; on the south a pier wall sep:
aratesjthe two sections of the room — the western higher section is 6 feet 3 inches
wide, the other is 2 feet 2% inches wide. The length along the west wall is 7 feet
10% inches; along the east wall, 6 feet 6 inches. It appears as if a broad, low
niche or passage, about 1334 inches high; had been excavated in’ or built under
the partition wall between B and #, The sill step from the western section of
the room down into the eastern one is 4 feet 1 inch wide and begins at the north
end of the pier wall separating the two sections of the room, and ending about 15
inches from the north wall of the room. The floors are coated with white cement,
but a broad band of dark red paint borders the step. The walls are decorated
with designs in dark red, pink, and black. True fret patterns, large and bold,
are made in these colors on the south wall of the smaller section and on the west
wall of the larger one. On the north wall of the smaller section is a curious,
badly faded design in green, yellow, and red. The upper part of the walls at the
east and west ends of this room no doubt bore painted figures; it is preserved only
at one place, in the. partition wall between #8 and F, and there traces of such
designs occur. Many points of interest could be determined by a very little exca-
vation, but at present the Government has put a stop to all operations here.

4
the background; the central portions of the designs were then
filled in with their respective colors.

In the ground plan here presented (/Zg. z) we have marked the
various rooms by letters to which we shall refer in the description
following.

Room 4, apparently the largest, and perhaps the central room
of the cluster, has a width from east to west of 17 feet 3% inches
on the south, of 17 feet 4 inches on the north. In the building
there are no actually square angles; the walls vary in thickness
from point to point, and measures taken on the two sides of a room
are seldom the same. These variations are too minute to be shown
in a plan so small as that here published. From north to south the
room measures from 14 feet 1 inch on the east to 14 feet 4 inches

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Fic. 1.

on the west. Through the west wall is a doorway 2 feet 4 inches’
wide, leading to room C. A second doorway passes through the
south wall leading to room &, and is 4 feet 4 inches wide on the
side of room A. The west wall of room 4 and the same wall of
room # is of unusual thickness, being 2 feet 7 inches thick at the
north side of the doorway through it and 2 feet 6 inches thick at
the south side of the same doorway. Upon the walls of this room
room there were paintings.

The most important figure which remains on the walls of room 4
is to the east of the doorway leading to room B. (See inset, Fig. 2.)
Here we have a full-length figure of a warrior carrying a shield and
object behind it, and weapons. For details, see 7Zg. 7, which is much
like this, but less perfect. The weapons terminate at the lower end in
round balls. The center one of these balls is painted green, the other
two are pink. The shafts near the balls at first are green, then pink ;
above the shield green, then yellow; the expanded parts are green,
as are the upper ends. The shield in this figure and the three long

5
weapons are carried in the left hand; the right hand grasps a
curious dagger, painted yellow and held vertically. Great ear
ornaments are plainly shown in this figure, and the long hair care-
fully drawn backward on the head, and we see the head-dress
ending in a great crest of feathers, the central parts of which are
painted green. The face of this figure could be seen when wet,
but it disappearéd so rapidly on drying that it was difficult to

 

Fic. 3.

trace it. But in character it was similar to those shown in the
designs from room #. Curious scrolls in pink color, proceed
forward from the mouth of this figure.

The passage from room A to #is peculiar. The floor of the
latter room is about six inches lower than the floor of A. A step
the width of the doorway on the side of A extends only to the
middle of the wall, which on the side of # is expanded to a wider
aperture than on the side of 4. This will be plain by referring to

the ground plan.
6
# is a narrow room from north to south, but from east to west is
longer than room 4. The measures were 19 feet 7 inches along
the north wall,.17 feet 1% inches on the south side; on this side
2 feet and 3 inches were taken from the breadth by a jog.
There is no wall, properly speaking, to the south, but the floor ends
squarely along a straight edge, and probably a step would be shown
here by further excavation. Near this straight edge are two square
pillars, the position of which are plainly shown in the ground plan,
and which measure about 1 foot 5 inches and 1 foot 6 inches along

 

Fic. 4.

their northern side. The wall between rooms 4 and # and # and
D vary in thickness from 1 foot 3 inches to 1 foot 914 inches. The
paintings in this room are found on the north wall, one on each
side of the doorway.

These represent skirted figures, both with elaborate head-dresses
of feathers. In both the faces are well preserved and painted
yellow. In Fig. 37 the eye is red; the ear ornaments, the band
below the neck, and the two broad bands of the cloak, with the
little disks upon the cape, are all in green; the legs and the square

7
objects attached to the garments are in yellow. The framework of
the head-dress is green. The feathers are red, edged with green.

In Fig. g two sacred objects are represented as carried by
the figure. The face, the curious curved line from the face, part of
the head-dress frame-work, the legs, the border of the broad
pendant sacred object were all in yellow. The broad bands at the
bottom of the skirt and cape, the disks above the latter, the ear
ornaments, and the framework of the head-dress, as well as the
edges of the feathers, are green. The spots upon the broad,
pendant sacred object are in yellow.

Room C. No walls of this room remain standing except the par-
tition wall between it and room 4 so far as can be seen. The
cemented pavement extends westward along the dotted line shown

 

Fic. 5.

in the plan to a distance of 20 feet 2 inches. On the north there is
no limit shown by the excavations. On the west there is a square
line, but no wall. At certain points, as shown in the plan, there
are buttresses against the walls, and on the south a free square
pillar. ,

One painting was traced from the wall south of the doorway
from room A, and south of the buttress at that point. This is
reproduced in /ig.5. It is askirted figure. The head is gone.
Both hands are present and carry two, probably sacred, objects.
The coloring is practically the same as in ##g. 6. /igs.6 and 7
represent designs which had been cut out of the walls by Barius and
both probably came from this room, Fig. 6 certainly did so and was
taken from the face of the buttress on the east side of the room,
north of the doorway toroom A. The floor of this room is con-
tinuous with the floor of 4 at the same level.

Figure 6, represents the lower part of a figure which carries in
8
the hands two probably sacred objects. The figure wears a sort of
skirt reaching nearly to the knees, below which loose leg coverings
reach nearly to the ankles; the feet wear sandals. Three colors

 

Fic. 6.

only are used in this design: pink, white (which perhaps in this
case is but a faded pink), and yellow. As usual, the outlines of the
figure are done in deeper red. The legs, parts of the sandals, the

 

Fic. 7.

hand, most of the sacred objects, and the shield-like object on the
skirt are in pink. The curious line of pointed oval projections
from the broad pendant, sloping, religious object are in white, as

9
also is the space about the hand and the uppermost portion of the
sandals. The diagonal band across the shield-like object, the
broad, straight band below it, and portions of the sandals are in
yellow.

Figure 7 represents the lower portion of another human figure:
Apparently a warrior, it lacks the skirt-like garment of the last, and
carries on the right arm, which is concealed behind it, a nearly cir-
cular shield. Three weapons are carried by this figure, and
although the head is lacking the person plainly wears a feather
head-dress, parts of which are still preserved. The colors of this.
design are green, yellow, pink, and dark Indian red. The green
occurs in the shield, the outer band of which is divided into four
segments, which, beginning at the top, are green, yellow, green,
and pink. The band between these is pink, while the central por-
tion of the shield is dark red. The shafts of the weapons are
painted pink the most of their length, but yellow for a space just

  
   

  

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below the broader portion; these expanded parts are green. A
curious shield-like object is behind the figure. The circular por-
tion of it consists of an outer ring of green, a second ring of pink
and an inner disk of pink, while the parts above and below are:
yellow. The space between the shield and this object is divided
into rectangular areas which are alternately dark red and pink,
while the objects below and above are pink. The legs of the
figure and the greater portion of the sandals are pink. The

feathers of the head-dress are green bordered by pink.
Room J. The figures in this room were uncovered at about the
time of our visit, hence the paint was fresh and the colors bright.

The room itself is long and narrow, and connected by a doorway
10

 
with room &. The floor is continuous with the floor of B, of the
same level, therefore lower than the floor in rooms A and C. The
thickness of the wall between 4 and Z on the one side and D on
the other was 1 foot 93% inches.

The most remarkable paintings of the series are in this room.
Upon the west wall were four figures quite alike. These represent
individuals carrying in their two hands the curious objects already
referred to. The details of the dresses are more fully brought out
than in the other figures, the colors yellow, whitish, rose red and
dark red. The parts of the figures represented in black were dark
red in the original painting, the legs, the exposed part of the' feet,

 

Fic. 9.

the hands, and the exposed portions of the arms were yellow. Two
only of the four are well enough preserved for reproduction ; they
are the second and third, north of the doorway from &. The for-
mer is reproduced in fig. §. The other is shown in fig. 9.
It represents a person bearing two curious objects, apparently of a
sacred nature, and comparable tothe great figure on the south wall of
room JD. This figure, like all those that are connected with such
objects, isskirted, and presumably shows us aworshiper or priest. The
colors of the skirt are pink and green, the latter occurring in the lower
portion as aground tint; the leg is yellow and the sandals green, pink,
and yellow; the hand is yellow. The curious object, consisting of a
central rounded mass, with two similar rectangular sides held in the
right hand, was colored pink, excepting the three central circular

bands surrounding pink disks; these were green. The upper por-
II
tion, like an irregular vase neck of this same object, was also green.
The curious broad, slanting pendant object at the forward end of
the design is bordered with a band of green. The groundwork is’
pink, the large oval spots green, the smaller ones dark red.

The most elaborate painting in the whole building is on the
southern wall of this room. It was uncovered too late for us to
trace it personally, and we had the work done by another.’ Our’
artist appears to have omitted connecting lines, as they were of the

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same shade as the groundwork on which the paintings were exe-
cuted. The result is a slight variation in character from our own
tracings. Two figures are represented very similar in all respects.
They face an altar which stands between them. The faces, hands,
and legs are painted yellow. The head-dresses of feathers are
large and in white or pale pink. Star-shaped ornaments are numer-
ous and in white. A great coil of yellow proceeds from the mouth
of each personage; the objects above these coils are pink. In the
right hand is clasped a pendant object. The left is extended, and
from it hangs the usual large, broad object in pink, white, and red.
12
The altar consists of a base in rose and red, with a streak of yellow.
The upper part is an ornamented disk in pink, red, white, and
yellow. This whole design was bordered at the sides by
ornamental bands. Parts of this border are shown in Figs. 27
and 72. A surface of some 8 feet wide and 2 feet 8 inches high
was occupied by the designs and frames. As the tracings here were
made by another on three separate pieces of paper, we are not sure
that the distances between the three parts and their relation to each
other are exactly shown in /7g. Zo.

Room & Room £& stands, as the excavations are, apart from
all the others. It is a simple rectangular room, measuring 14 feet
134 inches on the east side and 14 feet upon the west, 11 feet 2
itches on the north, and 11 feet 3 inches on the south. The only
doorway plainly shown is on the east. It is 3 feet across, and the
wall at this point, the only one where its thickness could be taken,
measured 1 foot 5 inches in thickness. The walls of this room
differed from those of the others, being made of largish pieces of
red volcanic rock, with little cement material. The plaster laid
over this had been painted Indian red, but bears no designs. The
floor of this room seems to be about on a level with the floor of B
and D, but no measure was made to determine the fact. The walls
of the original room have been used as the foundation upon which
recent walls of stone have been erected.

MITLA.

On page 281 of “ Mexico” Bandelier says: ‘The northern wall
of the inner court of A 37 bears very interesting designs, but owing
to the absence of the cura and the consequent closing of the curacy
I could not copy them.” While we were at Mitla we made an
effort to secure tracings of these designs. We found such paint-
ings not only on the north wall, but also upon the east and west
walls of this court. In every case they were in long, narrow
recesses in the wall at a height of several feet above the floor.
These recesses were but a few inches in height, several feet in
length, and some inches deep. The back of these was covered with
a thin layer of white plaster, upon which were painted the designs
in Indian red. In the reproductions, Plates i, 7, it, iw, the
black represents this dark red color, while the lighter parts repre-

1See Fig. 10 at end of text.

13
sent white. The paintings in the east recess are nearly gone;
those in the north one are broken and much injured; those in the
west are, perhaps, the best preserved, but very dirty, and underneath
a shed where it is not easy to get light enough upon them for copy-
ing. They will, however, outlast the others. We confined our
attention to the northern paintings, tracing with much difficulty as
many as we could in our limited time. The designs represent
human beings with great head-dresses standing before altars. They
appear to wear masks or curious veils. Particular attention may be
called to the long-nosed figure. (Cf. Fewkes, American Anthro-
pologist, July, 1894, pp. 260-274.) Seler refers to these paintings
in a paper read in 1890 at Paris, but I do not know that he has
published his drawings of them. (Congrés Internat. des American-
istes, 8th Mtg., 1890.)

MONTE ALBAN.

We should say nothing in regard to Monte Alban were it not
for the fact that materials from that point are so likely to be scat-
tered and lost from sight. We made no effort to do mapping of
the place, but used what time we had in an endeavor to secure
“squeezes” of the carvings which we shall mention. On account
of the rainy weather our efforts were unsuccessful.

Bandelier, Mexico, Plate 26, Fig. 13, gives a rough plotting of
the earth-works of most importance. While it seems to us that his
compass points are wrong, we shall assume the figure to be correct.
It practically represents an open space or plaza, surrounded more
or less completely upon three sides by earthworks and mounds. To
the north end of the plaza (as figured) is a great pyramid, rectangu-
lar at base. At the corner marked d, partly embedded in the
earth, is a carved stone, a parallelopiped in form, projecting some
2 feet 2 inches above the ground. The material is coarse, little
adapted to preserve carvings. The front face measures 1 foot 8
inches in width, the upper surface as exposed is 2 feet 5 inches
long. On the former is a human face and head-dress, fairly pre-
served. There are also carvings on the two sides, but they are in
bad condition. Close beside this stone, to the left, nearly buried
in the soil, is another carved stone, which well deserves excavation.
Only its upper edge is exposed, and that for a distance of 3 feet
and more. The great pyramid, at whose corner these two stones
lie, rises to a broad and level platform bounded along ¢ d by a low

14
embankment. From the middle of this platform rises a square
pyramid. A passageway opens on its north side about midway and
leads downward at an angle into the pyramid. At the northwest
corner (as plotted) is a small pyramid. A passage extends into this
pyramid downward until below the central part of the mound, then
upward and out upon the other side. A similar passage crosses
this. The upper middle part of the pyramid has caved in where
these various passages meet at the center. To what degree these
passages were original it was not easy, in the few moments we could
spare, to determine. The section of the pyramid displayed by the
caving in of its upper portion showed a construction of variable
layers of mud, stone laid in mud, pebbles, adobe, and plaster.

In the middle of the plaza proper is a small pyramid, from the
middle of the north face of which a passage carefully walled with
stone leads to the center. The side walls are well built of stones
flatly laid. The roof consists of flat stones in pairs, resting at their
lower ends upon the side walls and meeting at an angle above.
This passage was 2 feet 9 or 1o inches wide, the side walls 3 feet 10
inches high. The top of the arch was 4 feet 5 inches above the
floor, and the passage perhaps some 16 feet in length. Along the
eastern side of the plaza (as plotted) was a series of mounds, in one of
which is a passage opening to the north. This mound was the object
which brought us to Monte Alban. The passage leading into it has
slabs of stone upon each side and in the roof. The line of stones
extends beyond the present pyramid, and some of the stones out-
side are uncovered; two of these are sculptured. Each bears a
large, boldly made, plain, and severe human head. The outer one
is badly weathered, but the other is in good condition. Besides
the head, this stone bears in the upper right hand corner a symbol.
From here for several feet a bank of earth interrupts the line of
stones. Excavation would probably bring to light other carvings.
Then comes the wall of the passage within the pyramid proper.
There are three carved stones in the left wall. The outer one is
badly weathered, but appears to bear a human figure; the second
bears a monkey, finely carved; the third a good figure of a human
being. As these slabs stand in the passage the figures are not eréct.
The feet lie towards the opening, and the faces of the first and
second look upward. Two great roof stones are in place. Both
are carved. The outer one is indistinct, and the inner shows a
figure which is, perhaps, a monkey. ‘These roofing stones are 4

15
feet.2 inches wide. The front one is 2 feet 5 inches long, and the
one behind is 1 foot 10 inches. The stones in the wall measure as
follows: those outside the passage, the first 3 feet 2 inches, the
second 3 feet 16 inches; those in the passage, the first 3 feet 9
inches, the second 1 foot 10 inches, the third 2 feet 11 inches. All
of these are slabs set on edge, and measuring perhaps, about 2 feet
‘in height.

NOTE.

The outline drawings are reduced to about one-sixth. Their position is reversed
as result of reproduction process. The plates represent Mitla paintings full size.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

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