'A'AJK'A'A'A'K'A'K'A'A'A I miLIIIUIIina Xiih'i m.i nn iiiiiiiiiii ■ i ■!>**«/ jnnTHML'.-inp I -. Field Museum II OF Natural History W-DA5 Field Museum of Natural History Anthropology, Vol. XVII, No. 3 MAP OF RUINS OF SOUTH CAYO DISTRICT, BRITISH HONDURAS, AND ADJACENT REGIONS Field Museum of Natural History Founded by Marshall Field, 1893 Publication 301 Anthropological Series Vol. XVII, No. 3 ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN THE SOUTHERN CAYO DISTRICT BRITISH HONDURAS BY J. Eric Thompson ASSISTANT CURATOR OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY First and Second Marshall Field Archaeological Expeditions to British Honduras 28 Plates in Photogravure, 21 Text-figures, and 1 Map Berthold Laufer CURATOR. DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY rA NATURAL ^i *^ HISTORY > FOUNDED BY MAWHAU FIELD CHICAGO, U. S. A. 1931 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY FIELD MUSEUM PRESS CONTENTS PAGE List of Illustrations 219 I. Location and Environment 223 II. General Description of the Ruins 233 Tzimin Kax 233 Cahal Cunil 238 Cahal Pichik 239 Hatzcap Ceel 248 III. Monuments and Votive Caches 261 Monuments 261 Altar 1 261 Altar 2 264 Uncarved Monuments 267 Votive Caches 269 No. 1 270 No. 2 274 No. 3 275 No. 4 276 No. 5 277 No. 6 277 No. 7 277 No. 8 278 No. 9 280 No. 10 281 Comparative Study of Caches 282 IV. Burials 284 Holmul I Period 284 Chultun A, Tzimin Kax 284 Chultun B, Tzimin Kax 286 Chultun C, Tzimin Kax 287 Vaulted Chamber I, Cahal Cunil 290 Burial III, Cahal Cunil 292 Summary of Holmul I Burials 294 Holmul V Period 295 Vaulted Chamber II, Tzimin Kax 295 Vaulted Chamber I, Tzimin Kax 303 Vaulted Chamber III, Tzimin Kax 304 217 218 Contents PAGE Burial VII, Tzimin Kax 313 Burial II, Cahal Cunil 316 Vaulted Chamber X, Tzimin Kax 317 Relationships of Holmul V Burials at Mountain Cow 318 Miscellaneous Burials 319 Chultun D, Tzimin Kax 319 Burial IV, Tzimin Kax 320 Vaulted Chamber IX, Tzimin Kax 321 Vaulted Chamber IV, Cahal Cunil 321 Burial VIII, Tzimin Kax 322 V. Sequence of Cultures 323 VI. General Summary and Conclusions 334 Appendix I . The So-called ' ' In-and-out' ' Style of Masonry at Lubaantun, British Honduras 338 Appendix II. Stela 26, Copan 344 Appendix III. Dates 25 and 26 of the Hieroglyphic Stair- way, Copan 347 Appendix IV. On the Origin of the 260-day Almanac .... 349 Appendix V. The Initial Series at Holactun, Yucatan . . . 354 Bibliography 357 Index 361 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PLATES XXV. 1. Typical Rain Forest, Mountain Cow District. 2. Ceremonial Plaza, Hatzcap Ceel before Excavation. XXVI. 1. Temple F, Hatzcap Ceel after Excavation. 2. Stairway of Pyramid D, Hatzcap Ceel. XXVII. Incensarios, Structure M, Hatzcap Ceel. XXVIII. Altar 1, Hatzcap Ceel. XXIX. Altar 2, Hatzcap Ceel. XXX. 1. Stelae Al, A2, and A3, Cahal Pichik. 2. Part of Contents of Votive Cache 1, Hatzcap Ceel. XXXI. Part of Contents of Votive Cache 1, Hatzcap Ceel. XXXII. Jade Objects from Votive Caches 1 and 8, XXXIII. Celt with Inscription from Votive Cache 1. XXXIV. Votive Cache Urns, Votive Caches 2, 3 and 8. XXXV. Figurines from Various Caches. XXXVI. Contents of Votive Cache 4, Cahal Pichik. XXXVII. Part of Contents of Votive Cache 5, Cahal Pichik. XXXVIII. Contents of Votive Cache 8, Camp 6. XXXIX. 1. Pyramid A, Camp 6. 2. Contents of Votive Cache 9, Camp 6. XL. Contents of Chultun A, Tzimin Kax. XLI. Contents of Chultun B, Tzimin Kax. XLII. Contents of Chultun C, Tzimin Kax. XLIII. Part of Contents of Chultun C, Tzimin Kax. XLIV. Pottery Vessels from Vaulted Chamber I, Cahal Cunil. XLV. Pottery Vessels from Vaulted Chamber II, Tzimin Kax. XLVI. Stone and Shell Objects from Vaulted Chamber II, Tzimin Kax. XLVII. Shell Objects and Teeth from Vaulted Chamber III, Tzimin Kax. XLVIII. Cylindrical Jar from Vaulted Chamber III, Tzimin Kax. 219 220 List of Illustrations XLIX. Shell and Stone Objects from Vaulted Chamber X, Tzimin Kax. L. Pottery Vessels from Chultun D, Tzimin Kax. LI. Bowl Resting on Floor 1, Plazuela I, Cahal Cunil. LII. 1. Stela 26, Copan. 2. Lower Part of Stela 26, Copan. TEXT-FIGURES PAGE 1. Map of Mountain Cow Water Hole and Surrounding Ruins 232 2. Cross-sections and Ground Plans, Tzimin Kax: a, Plazuela II; b, Plazuela 1 234 3. Cross-section and Ground Plan of Mound A, Plazuela II, Tzimin Kax 236 4. Ground Plan of Cahal Pichik 240 5. Restoration of Temple B, Cahal Pichik 242 6. Cross-sections of Supposed Ball Courts: a, Cahal Pichik; b, Hatzcap Ceel 246 7. Ground Plan of Hatzcap Ceel 250 8. Mirror and Burial Chamber, Hatzcap Ceel : a, Iron Pyrite Mirror from Votive Cache 2; b, Vaulted Burial Chamber, Pyramid N 255 9. Ground Plan of Camp 6 Ruins 279 10. Ground Plans and Cross-sections, Tzimin Kax: a, Vaulted Chamber II; b, Vaulted Chamber I. c, Pottery Vessels from Burial IV, Tzimin Kax. d, Vessel from Mound F, Cahal Pichik 297 11. Pottery Shapes, Vaulted Chamber II, Tzimin Kax 299 12. Pottery Shapes, Vaulted Chamber I, Tzimin Kax 305 13. Pottery Shapes, Vaulted Chamber III, Tzimin Kax 307 14. Objects from Vaulted Chamber III, Tzimin Kax, Holmul V Period: a, Polychrome Bowl; b, Restoration of Incen- sario; c, Glyphs from Jar on Plate XLVIII 311 15. Pottery Shapes and Flint, Tzimin Kax, Holmul V Period: a-c and f-g, Burial VII ; d-e, Vaulted Chamber X . . . . 315 16. Ground Plan and Cross-section of Plazuela I, Cahal Cunil 324 List of Illustrations 221 PAGE 17. Pottery from Cahal Cunil, Pre-Holmul I Period: a, Chultun E; b-e, Sherds Resting on Floor 1, Plazuela I 327 18. Sherds from Hollow under Plazuela II, Cahal Cunil 329 19. Sherds from Hollow under Plazuela II, Cahal Cunil 331 20. Front and Cross-section Drawing of Part of Face of Pyramid E, Lubaantun 339 21. Front and Cross-section Drawing of Part of Face of Pyramid D, Lubaantun , 342 ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN THE SOUTHERN CAYO DISTRICT BRITISH HONDURAS I. LOCATION AND ENVIRONMENT British Honduras is divided for administrative purposes into six districts. The Cayo District, one of these six and the scene of the investigations described in this publication, is situated on the western frontier of the colony, adjoining Guatemala. It occupies a block of territory, roughly oblong in shape and about equidistant from the northern and southern boundaries of the colony. The total area is about 1,830 square miles, and it forms the second largest district in the colony, being surpassed in this respect only by the Toledo District, which is about 300 square miles larger. Despite its size, the population of the Cayo District is small, being estimated in 1923 at less than 6,000, which gives an average only slightly above three persons to the square mile. In actual fact the whole population is concentrated in the northern half, mainly along the banks of the Belize River; and the southern third of the district, the area dealt with in this publication, has no per- manent population whatever. The capital of the district and the base for all expeditions into the southern area is the town of El Cayo, also known as San Ignacio Cayo. The population of the town fluctuates, as the number is swollen during the dry season by a large number of chewing gum bleeders engaged in the chicle industry, who at that time are not working. The average population cannot fall far short of 1,500, and in the middle of the dry season probably reaches 2,000. Racially El Cayo is very mixed. Spanish-Indian half-breeds, many of them immigrants from the neighboring republics, predominate. There are also many English-speaking mulattos, men of Spanish-Indian-Negro blood, Negro descendants of the slaves introduced during the eight- eenth and nineteenth centuries, a few Syrian and Chinese merchants, and a diminishing number of Maya Indians. The Spanish tongue predominates. The North European population consists of the resident doctor, Dr. T. Patterson and his family, and the District Commissioner, virtual ruler of the area, a position at present held by Mr. R. Wyatt. I should like to take this opportunity of recording my deep gratitude 223 224 Archaeological Investigations in British Honduras to Dr. and Mrs. Patterson for their kind help and hospitality offered me on many occasions. El Cayo, which is situated on the eastern branch of the Belize River about two miles above the fork, is reached from Belize by means of gasoline launches that ply up and down that river. The journey occupies anything from thirty-six hours to six days depending on the amount of water in the river. The launches, which are chiefly engaged in carrying chicle (raw chewing gum, the product of the sapodilla tree, Achras sapota) downstream, returning with pro- visions, gasoline, etc., average about fifty feet in length, and have a beam of some seven feet. They are of very light draught owing to the shallowness of the river in many parts. The distance from Belize by river is some 135 miles, but as the crow flies the distance does not exceed sixty-five miles. There is also a track overland, officially designated a road, but which is impassable for vehicular traffic. The area around El Cayo is rolling limestone country thickly covered with tropical rain forest, averaging a height of between five and six hundred feet above sea level. The actual scene of the excavations carried out by the First and Second Marshall Field Archaeological Expeditions to British Hon- duras lies some twenty-five miles south-southeast of El Cayo in a direct line. There is situated a small water hole, which sometimes dries up during the dry season, known as Mountain Cow Water Hole. During the dry season of 1928 when the First Marshall Field Expedition was in the field, the Mengel Lumber Company of Louis- ville, Kentucky, was carrying on logging operations in this area, cutting and transporting mahogany to the bacardier of Vaca on the eastern branch of the Belize River about fifteen miles by river above El Cayo. Bacardier is a local word used to denote the point at which the logs are placed in the river to await the floods that will carry them downstream to the coast. The word is, presumably, a corruption of the Spanish word embarcadero (a "quay" or "loading point"). The bacardier of Vaca was at that time connected with Camp 6, the headquarters of the Mengel Company's operations, by a lumber railroad some nine miles in length, which was used to bring the logs down to the river. Mr. Stuart Williams, the manager of the Mengel Company's operations in the southern Cayo District, very kindly placed his own organization at the disposal of the expedition, and thereby personnel Location and Environment 225 and stores were transported to Camp 6 and Mountain Cow Water Hole at a minimum expense and maximum comfort. It would be no exaggeration to say that the whole success of the expedition was due to the never-ending help of Mr. Williams and his colleagues, shown in a hundred different ways, from the loan of mules and tractors, at a time when they were badly needed for the operations of the Mengel Company, to the hospitality so cordially offered by both Mr. and Mrs. Williams. In 1929, however, when the Second Marshall Field Archaeological Expedition took the field, the Mengel Company had transferred its operations to Guatemala, working from a base below El Cayo, the railroad had been dismantled, and it was necessary to travel by land. A short description of the route followed to reach Mountain Cow Water Hole is given for the benefit of any future investigator. From El Cayo take the paved road to Benque Viejo, distant about nine miles from El Cayo. Benque Viejo is a pleasant little Latin American-Maya town of some 800 inhabitants situated about a mile from the Guatemala frontier. Teobert Maler (1908, p. 76) met with some troubles at Benque and is outspoken in his criticism, describing the "miserable traders" as "good-for-nothing, inconsid- erate persons" and the town as "this wretched Benque Viejo." However, Maler was in the habit of venting his vexations on places and their inhabitants where things went badly with him. In actual fact Benque Viejo is a prosperous town engaged in the chicle business, where it is possible to outfit for a trip into the bush, although at prices considerably higher than those current in Belize. Mules can be hired either at El Cayo or Benque Viejo. From Benque Viejo take the Arenal trail. About two miles from Benque Viejo the trail forks. The trail to the right goes to Arenal, that to the left to Water Hole. Water Hole is situated on the now derelict rail- road from Vaca to Camp 6. There is a good water supply, and excellent pasture for mules. The journey from Benque Viejo to Water Hole is about nine miles, and in the dry season it is easy to push on to Camp 6 the same day, another seven miles, following the old railroad track. Camp 6 has a good water supply, excellent pasture, and a frame house, once the headquarters of the Mengel Company and their predecessors, the Starky brothers. This house should be good for another four or five years. Camp 6 is situated in the middle of a valley, and is surrounded by low hills. The elevation is in the neighborhood of 1,200 feet. 226 Archaeological Investigations in British Honduras Next day Mountain Cow Water Hole should be reached without difficulty in the dry season. The trail follows the old railroad track south from Camp 6, a distance of five miles, to the old rail-head. Thence it bears away slightly to the right (south-southeast) across the high Starky Hill to Moho Tree, an old lumber camp, a farther four miles. At Moho Tree take the trail to the left leading south- southwest, a mile to Cohune Ridge. A couple of hundred yards beyond Cohune Ridge a trail branches off nearly at right angles to the left. This leads to Mountain Cow Water Hole, distant four and one-half miles. The total distance by trail from El Cayo to Mountain Cow Water Hole is about forty miles. Except in the rainy season there is no water supply at rail-head, Moho Tree, or Cohune Ridge. At Mountain Cow there is a fair-sized pond, which can be depended on at all times except in a very dry season. The pond is situated about twenty yards north of the center of the camp. The actual position of Mountain Cow camp was found by Mr. N. G. B. Guy of the Surveyor General Department to be latitude N. 16° 47', longitude W. 89°, which would place it about eleven miles east of the Guatemala frontier. The elevation, according to Mr. D. Stevenson of the Forestry Department, is 2,076 feet. Mountain Cow Water Hole was previously occupied as a ma- hogany camp, and the surrounding country is intersected by old tractor roads. In 1927 lumber operations ceased in this area, and when the Marshall Field Expedition arrived there early in 1928, the camp was already partly overgrown, many of the tractor passes were reverting to forest, and most of the huts had either collapsed, or were in a dangerous condition. "Mountain Cow" is the local Creole name for the tapir. The origin of the word is probably to be sought in Maya. The Maya word for the tapir was tzimin. On the introduction of the horse to the New World, the Mayas extended this word to cover the horse, since the tapir among the animals they knew most resembled the horse. Later, to avoid confusion, the termination die or kax was added to the tapir. By this time the horse was commoner than the tapir, and the word tzimin conveyed the picture of a horse more than that of a tapir. The words che or kax mean "wood" or "forest," so the word meant "horse of the forest." Translated into Spanish that became el caballo de la montana. The word was next translated into English, the word montana, however, being wrongly translated Location and Environment 227 "mountain." The horse became "cow" either in Spanish or in English, probably because the tapir resembles a cow more than it does a horse. The usual Spanish word, however, for the tapir is danta, and the modern Creole word was probably borrowed originally from Spanish- speaking Mayas. Mountain Cow Water Hole is situated in rolling limestone country thickly covered with tropical rain forest (Plate XXV). Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla), cedar (Cedrela mexicana), the sapodilla (Achras sapota), Santa Maria (Calophyllum antillanum), bullet tree (Bucida buceras), allspice tree (Pimento, officinalis), the breadnut (Brosimum alicastrum), the cohune (Attalea cohune), the ceiba (Bom- bax ceiba), the cabbage palm (Sabal mexicana), and a species of oak are the most outstanding trees. The forest is rich in orchids, aerial plants such as bromeliads, and the water-bearing liana. Game is abundant. Jaguars, ocelots, howling and spider monkeys, agoutis, coatis, armadillos, peccary, warree, a large and small variety of deer, tapirs, ant-eaters, opossums, kinkajous, and skunks are all found in this area. There are also a large number of bird species for a description of which the reader is referred to 0. L. Austin's "Birds of the Cayo District." There are no rivers within a radius of ten miles of Mountain Cow, consequently the ancient inhabitants of this region must either have dispensed with fish, or, more probably, made lengthy fishing trips. The rainfall during most of the season is heavy, and only during the months of February, March, April, and May can one count with any certainty on a spell of dry weather. Owing to its elevation the Mountain Cow region is salubrious and comparatively free of mosquitoes. The nights are cool, and the days not oppressively hot. The soil is rich, although somewhat shallow, but in the valleys is to be found deep soil as good as any in the whole peninsula. Some ten miles to the north, just beyond the Macal or eastern branch of the Belize River, the formation of the soil changes very abruptly from limestone to a poor sandy waste, on which thrive only pines and a few of the stunted varieties of hardy trees, as well as great stretches of coarse grass. Here are to be found outcroppings of granite, and, at a few points, surface beds of slate. Gold, too, has been found here in small quantities. To the east and southeast the Maya mountains are massed around the Victoria Peak (height, 3,700 feet) . To the west and southwest the 228 Archaeological Investigations in British Honduras rain forest undulates in diminishing crests down to the southern Peten region, thrusting out, however, a spur in the direction of San Luis. Except for a shortage of water the country is ideal for settlement, possessing the three main requisites for settlement by the Mayas, good soil, abundant game and a salubrious climate, owing to the high altitude of the site. In fact the sites grouped around Mountain Cow Water Hole are, as far as our present knowledge goes, the highest cities in the whole Maya zone of dated monuments, the only site to approach them in elevation being Copan, the altitude of which was calculated by Popenoe (1919, p. 126) at 1,900 feet. Other calculations, probably not so accurate, place the elevation at between 1,500 and 2,000 feet. On the other hand the site of Hatzcap Ceel, described in Chapter II, is considerably higher than Mountain Cow Water Hole, and may well be 2,250 feet above sea level. The inhabitants of this region must have been cut off from practi- cal communication with the cities to the south, such as Pusilha and Lubaantun, although the latter is only some forty miles in a straight line from Mountain Cow Water Hole; but the intervening country is very broken and mountainous, unsuitable in many parts for habita- tion and difficult to traverse. Communications with the north were probably maintained through the city situated at Camp 6 (p. 278), Minanha, and Benque Viejo. To the west and northwest the country is easily traversed to Ixkun, distant about thirty-three miles, and Ucanal, distant twenty- seven miles. All of these sites were contemporaneous with the cities of Hatzcap Ceel and Cahal Pichik. However, to anticipate, in pottery types at least the Mountain Cow sites are related to the cities in the Holmul-Uaxactun area. Probably more excavation will reveal that the whole of the Peten area north of Flores and the contiguous strip of western British Honduras form with minor regional differences one major ceramic zone. That trade was extensive is shown by the excavation of quantities of sea shells, pieces of coral, and painted pottery of certain types, flint, possibly from the Holmul beds, obsidian that was probably brought from the neighborhood of Zacapa in Guatemala, and jade, probably imported from southwest Mexico. Practically every hillside from between Arenal and Benque Viejo in the north, and the Mountain Cow area in the south, is terraced. Location and Environment 229 The terraces are faced with rough blocks of limestone, and vary in width according to the slope of the hill on which they are situated. They were, undoubtedly, erected to prevent denudation, irrigation in this area being impossible. Cook (1909, p. 17) is of the same opinion. Although I could find no positive evidence as to when they were erected, I should be inclined to place the period as the last three or four katuns of Cycle 9 and the first katuns of Cycle 10. Potsherds found on these terraces belong to this period; but this is, at the best, merely negative evidence, as only a superficial examina- tion could be made. However, as the population was surely greater at this time than in the earlier period, the assumption might be made that the earlier and scantier population would have cultivated the lower level lands, and only pressure of population led to the terracing and cultivation of the steeper high slopes. There is no information from historical sources as to what tribe was inhabiting this region at the time of the Spanish conquest of the peninsula. At that time the Mopans occupied the region directly to the west, and one can presume that the area around Mountain Cow, if inhabited at all during this period, was occupied either by the Mopans or a closely allied people. The Mopans, who at one time and another proved to be such a thorn in the side of the missionary fathers, were on a low cultural level. They spoke a dialect of Maya somewhat different from that of Yucatan (J. E. Thompson, 1929, p. 37), and appear to have been allies of, or on friendly terms with the Itzas of Tayasal during the seventeenth century. We can only conjecture what people occupied this area when Maya civilization was at its height. It has been generally assumed that the cities of the so-called "Old Empire" were occupied by Mayas, who spoke the Yucatecan dialect, and that they abandoned this region, migrating north into Yucatan during Cycle 9 and early in Cycle 10. A secondary migration to the highlands of Guatemala, according to Morley (1920, p. 459), took place at the same time and led to the erection of stelae at Quen Santo. Morley believes that these Mayas are the ancestors of the Quiche, Cakchiquel, and other highland tribes. In objection to this theory one might suggest that seven hundred years, or, according to Spinden's correlation, nine hundred years is much too short a period for the development of languages so dis- tinct as the Maya of Yucatan is from those of the Highlands of Guatemala. Furthermore, the Highlands of Guatemala were prob- ably occupied long before the rise of the Maya "Old Empire." 230 Archaeological Investigations in British Honduras Figurine heads and stone carvings found in the vicinity of Guatemala City certainly antedate Cycle 9. A migration of culture does not by any means imply that the bearers of that culture must have migrated as well — an assumption that is too frequently made. Furthermore, the evidence that Yucatan was not occupied at an early date is ridiculously inconclusive. It is based on Mercer's superficial examination of a few caves in Yucatan (Mercer, 1896). As traces were found only of an occupation that is presumed to be late, it was concluded that there had been no earlier occupation. At best this evidence is merely negative, and applies only to a small area, but it is nullified by the fact that caves do not appear to have been used as dwellings by the Mayas, except in times of stress, and most caves in the "Old Empire" region contain nothing more than a few sherds of domestic use, and sometimes incense burners, con- firming ethnological and literary evidence that they served as occa- sional places of worship. As a working hypothesis the following scheme is suggested. The sacred 260-day almanac and the fundamentals of Maya civilization were common to all the inhabitants of the Maya region. The area of the so-called "Old Empire" was occupied by Choi-speaking peoples. Some of these Chols passed up the east coast of Yucatan and popu- lated Ichpahtun, Tulum, Coba, Kucican, and Macanxoc before the close of the first half of Cycle 9. They emigrated from the Peten, and took with them the typical architecture and art of this region. In western Yucatan they probably came in contact with the Yuca- tecan Mayas, who were at this time by no means uncultured. There was no migration of people from the cities of the "Old Empire" to the Highlands of Guatemala, but there was a current of culture flowing in both directions. The "Old Empire" region was never actually abandoned. A decay set in, possibly due to revolt on the part of the rank and file against intrusive religious ideas introduced by the priesthood and a tyrannous system of slave labor. The priest class was destroyed, and the inhabitants reverted to their old agricultural life, abandoning the erection of vast pyramids, com- plex religious groups, and stelae. The old knowledge of mathematics disappeared, but the layman's religion and a simple priesthood survived. Disease and war may have reduced the population, but never entirely wiped it out. That happened in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when smallpox, hookworm, influenza, and a host of new European diseases ran like a prairie fire through the Choi population, and the recent Itza-Yucatecan immigrants. Mean- Location and Environment 231 while in Yucatan and in the Highlands of Guatemala the old order survived in slightly modified form until the arrival of the Spaniards. In Yucatan Mexican influences from the Vera Cruz area made them- selves felt. This skeletal reconstruction of Maya history is, of course, mainly hypothetical. At least it has the advantage of accounting for a popu- lation occupying the region of the Cycle 9 cities in the sixteenth century. It explains certain artistic, architectural, and religious differences between the "Old Empire," and the cities of western Yucatan, and deals satisfactorily with the linguistic differences between the Choi-Maya area and the Highlands of Guatemala, setting back the split from the common ancestral tongue at least fifteen hundred years, probably much longer. The theory that the inhabi- tants of the "Old Empire" regions were Chols is not new. It was first proposed by William Gates (p. 615) some ten years ago. Whether the original inhabitants of the Peten were Chols or not is of no great importance. Elsewhere (Thompson and Pollock) I deal at greater length with migrations of culture into Yucatan. The time has clearly not arrived when we shall be in a position to sketch anything but a tentative outline of these movements. On this theory the cities of the Mountain Cow area were inhabited in ancient times by Choi-speaking Mayas. During the 1928 field season the staff consisted of Maya Indians from the village of Socotz under the foreman Jacinto Cunil, at one period a couple of Ladinos, and myself. During part of the 1929 season Mr. Jorge Acosta of Mexico City served as an assistant archaeologist. Mr. Amado Esquivel ("Muddy") was also employed during part of that season, and the laborers consisted of twelve San Antonio Indians and two Kekchis from San Pedro Colombia, Toledo, under the foreman Caterino Bol, a varying number of Socotz Mayas again under foreman Jacinto Cunil, a negress cook, and a negro muleteer. The Indians are good workers, although not physically as strong as negroes, willing and keen, and, if treated well, much ethnological information can be obtained from them (Thompson, 1929, p. 29). J. a j_i CahalCunil .in Canal Pichik ^„ \ ICnt. It. li'iy') Mountain \Cow Camp Hatzcap Ceel Am. xn \ Tzimin Kax \ \ \ J-zm vjLi JLm -^i Tzimin Kax •is