# Mexican Archæology/Chapter 7

Table of Contents
CHAPTER VII—MEXICO: ARCHITECTURAL REMAINS AND POTTERY
MEXICO Mounds at San Juan Teotihuacan seen from the "Pryramid of the Moon"
* MEXICO
* 1. Temple at Xochicalco, restored (after holmes)
* 2. Temple at Xochicalco, present condition
ZAPOTEC 1. Interior of Chamber at Mitla, Oaxaca (see plate xv) MEXICO 2. Temple at Tepoztlan
| A. | Court with terrace supporting buildings. |
| B. | Pyramid with Temple. |
(compare Figs. 76, b, and 77; pp. 327 and 329). Adobe was used in large quantities in these buildings, and clay as mortar, and certain groups of structures are found which are decidedly complex in arrangement. At Tlacolula, a site rather similar to Quiengola, cyclopean masonry is found, and at Xoxo in the same district we have mounds built of earthy material with frequent horizontal layers of mortar, a peculiarity also seen at Tlacolula at Monte Alban, and again at Cholula, a city closely associated with Toltec culture. In the same district are found sculptured slabs in a style similar to those of Monte Alban, and in both regions occur stone heads, usually so flattened as to present an axe-like ​appearance, with a projection at the back for insetting in a wall (Fig. 33, c).
The characteristic Oaxaca slabs, with their dates in mixed Mexican and Maya style, have their parallel in the carvings on what must have been an extremely beautiful temple at Xochicalco in the Tlalhuica region. This ruin, though in the same district as the Aztec temple of
Tepoztlan, is of an entirely different type and the style of its rich ornamentation bears a close resemblance to the remains at Tulan, one of the Toltec cities. Its present condition is shown on Pl. XIII together with a restoration by Holmes. It is only fair to state that this distinguished archaeologist has since modified his ideas regarding its original form, and it should be said that the pillars dividing the doorway would almost certainly have had perpendicular faces. With this exception and with the further exception of some doubt attaching to ​the exact form of the roof, the picture gives a very good idea of what the temple must have been. The substructure, with the noticeable "batter" of its walls and projecting cornice, is over four yards high, of rubble faced with andesite; the carving represents great undulating snakes, between the coils of which are human figures, and glyphs in the style of those of Oaxaca described above. Originally the details of sculpture were emphasized by coloured Fig. 34.-Plan of a court and buildings at Mitla. The building to the right is shown on Pl. XV. stucco and therefore appeared far less complicated than in a photograph. In this building again the stairway was on the west side.
ZAPOTEC Ruins at Mitla, Oaxaca: partly restored
The quadrangular grouping of buildings round courts recalls at once the statement of Sahagun respecting the pre-Aztec temples at Tulan. One of these, he writes, was composed of four buildings, that to the east being ​ornamented with gold, that to the north with red jasper and red shells, that to the west with turquoise, and that to the south with silver and white shells. The other temple was similar, save that the interior decoration of the buildings was of feathers, yellow, red, blue and white respectively. If.the tradition is founded on fact, we may safely conclude that the buildings were arranged round a court, and the colours of their ornamentation suggest that this arrangement was connected with the regard paid by the Mexicans generally to the world directions (see p. 78)
Passing further north, the remains of pyramids and terraces have been found at Placeres del Oro in Guerrero; these are built of natural or roughly-worked boulders, but they have not yet been excavated and it is impossible to say yet what may be their arrangement or what class of buildings they may have supported. The peculiar stone slabs found there (Fig. 16; p. 107) have been mentioned, which bear a certain resemblance to one found in the neighbourhood of Xochicalco (Fig. 33,4; p. 176), which itself appears to be related to those from Oaxaca (Fig. 15; p. 106). The Placeres del Oro slabs, however, are almost more like certain Peruvian work than anything else, and full excavation of this extremely interesting site is highly desirable; it is worthy of note that the latter slabs bear no glyphs. At Pazcuaro in Michoacan we hear of a three-tiered pyramid of flat stones piled together without mortar, the corners being formed of unworked blocks; but in 'Tarascan territory are found foundation-mounds of a specialized type, consisting of a terrace from the centre of which a spur projects at right angles, terminating in a circular platform. These are known by the name yacata, the term applied locally to Michoacan temples, and photographs seem to show horizontal layers of cement in their construction as in the Tlacolula buildings. On the evidence of manuscripts the temple ​buildings in this district seem to have been of a tower-like nature. Two varieties are shown, one on a square foundation, the other on a circular ground-plan and sometimes with a peculiar domed roof. Further north still, at La Quemada in Zacatecas, occurs an extremely interesting group of ruins, built along a lofty ridge. These remains, the most northerly yet discovered bearing a distinctly "Mexican" character, cover an extensive area and display considerable complexity. The flanks of the hills forming the ridge are built up steeply with terraced walls, and the summits are artificially levelled and broadened with terraces. The lower works seem to be of a defensive nature, and the more important buildings above consist of an intricate series of foundation-mounds, sunk courts, and occasional pyramids. From the summit radiates a system of stuccoed roads, most of which terminate in small pyramids lower down. The quadrangular arrangement of the more important structures is very noticeable, and one of the larger halls evidently possessed a roof supported on large circular pillars, built, like the walls and terraces, of unsquared stone blocks set in earth mixed with grass. The Spaniards found the ruins uninhabited, and the surrounding agricultural and hunting population of Zacatec stated that the inhabitants had migrated in the direction of Mexico after a drought lasting several years.
With the exception of the pyramid at Teayo, described above, which seems to be an Aztec ruin, the architectural remains of the Huaxtec and Totonac appear in certain respects to resemble rather those of the Maya, their linguistic relations to the south. At the same time it is advisable to make some mention of them in this place, firstly because the coastal region in this direction had been subjected for some time to Aztec influences, and secondly because Aztec pottery cannot be adequately described without reference to ​the ceramic art of the Huaxtec and Totonac. Foundation-mounds occur throughout the whole region from the mouth of the Panuco to Vera Cruz, and afford a splendid field to future explorers. The Panuco district shows abundant traces of settlement from very early times; the mounds are of earth, sometimes faced with cut stone, but traces of walls are rare throughout the whole of the Huaxtec region. In the Cerro de Nahuatlan, the pyramids are again of earth or rubble, faced with more or less regularly squared sandstone blocks; some are circular in ground-plan, and the corners of the rectangular ruins are often formed of well worked monoliths. At Papantla is a remarkable pyramid, faced with cut stone, the distinguishing feature of which is constituted by a series of niches, which may at some time have contained images. 'This is figured on Pl. XVI, and further description is unnecessary, though it may be said that niches of this character may be found to be a characteristic of Totonac architecture.
TOTONAC Temple at Papantla, Vera Cruz
The art of pottery was highly developed amongst all the tribes hitherto mentioned, in spite of the facts that the use of the potter's wheel was unknown, and that the method of firing was very primitive. No kilns were constructed, but the pots were fired by means of wood fuel in the open air, perhaps in a hole in the ground. The quality of the potting varies considerably according to locality, but the finer examples, such as the ware from Cholula and the Totonac district, exhibit a very high standard of paste, form and technique, though the potters of this region of America cannot boast such consummate mastery over their material as the early inhabitants of the Peruvian coast. The fact, that in the later years prior to the conquest pottery had become an article of trade and tribute, led to a wide dispersal of local types from centres of manufacture which had acquired a reputation for skill in the art; and considerable borrowing of forms and ornament had resulted. At the same time, provided that the possibility of importation be not overlooked, the pottery remains afford much valuable evidence as to the interrelation of the tribes and the early history of the country. The coordination of this evidence is however only just at its commencement; careful excavations with due regard to the stratification of remains have been made at a few points in the valley, and the results have proved of such importance that similar researches throughout the whole of Mexico and Central America are most earnestly desired by all students of American archæology. In the valley of Mexico the local ware manufactured ​under the Aztec régime is easily recognizable. Fragments of coarse undecorated vessels are found, which appear to have been made by the simple expedient of plastering a basket over with clay and then firing, the basket being destroyed in the process. But the most characteristic ware falls into two main varieties. The first is moulded of an orange or reddish yellow clay,
fairly well baked, but often showing a dark line down the middle of a fracture; the walls of the vessels are very thin, and the surfaces carefully smoothed, though not highly burnished. The commonest forms are shallow tripod bowls (Fig. 36, 3), standing cups and jugs with handles, and the ornament consists of small geometrical designs in black (Fig. 37). Moulded ornament is not common, though gadrooned bodies are occasionally found; incised decoration is confined ​to the utilitarian process of scoring the bottoms of bowls for use as graters in the preparation of peppersauce (chilmolli)) and applied ornament is practically non-existent. Miniature tripod bowls with smooth bottoms are found, used to support the revolving spindle in the operation of spinning, and incense-spoons were also manufactured in this ware. The second main type consists chiefly of hour-glass shaped standing cups, of reddish, softer paste, with thicker walls coated with a burnished red slip and painted with black and white linear designs also in slip (Fig. 36, 2).
Less common are bowls of greyish paste with burnished red and yellow slip coating, on which are well-drawn curvilinear patterns in black, or bowls of grey ware with a very highly burnished yellow slip with a matt design in slip of similar colour. Characteristic, too, of this district are two-handled censers, heavy and solid in construction, of grey clay with a black burnished surface, or of reddish clay with a burnished red slip (Fig. 36, 1). Besides vessels, pottery figurines are found in great numbers, in the form of various gods, warriors, miniature temples, and so forth (Pl. IX, 2-6). These are in a hard red ware or a very soft pale cream clay; some are solid, while others are hollow and form rattles or whistles; most of these figurines ​were evidently made in moulds. Excavations have shown that the valley type of pottery occurs only in the surface layers, and is therefore comparatively recent and represents a period of short duration; beneath it, and extending to a considerable depth, are found fragments of a ware which is especially associated with the ruined city of Teotihuacan. The most characteristic form belonging to this period is a circular bowl with vertical, or almost vertical, sides supported on three feet, either flat or of the cascabel type (Fig. 38). These vases are usually coated with a burnished red, yellow, Fig. 38.—Pottery vase from Teotihuacan. brown or black slip, and are either plain or are ornamented with bold incised curvilinear patterns, or human and animal masks moulded in relief. Impressed designs were also applied by means of stamps. Flat shallow bowls of this ware are also found, and graceful vases with everted lip, but the finest specimens are covered with polychrome ornament of a peculiar technique. The design is engraved in the outer slip, and the background cut away, leaving the former standing out against the matt colour of the paste; in some cases the intaglio portions have received a coating of cinnabar or vermilion, and in the most beautiful examples the excised portions have been filled with slip of various colours, rendering the finished vase a kind of polychrome champ-levé in clay, a vivid blue-green being the most prominent colour. Vases are also found with a design produced by the alternation of matt and burnished surfaces. A peculiar feature of Teotihuacan is constituted by the innumerable small pottery heads ​which are found there (Pl. 1X, 3). These are in a hard reddish clay, and appear to have been made by hand and not in moulds. Many are without attributes, and among the others only the god Tlaloc can be identified with certainty. One class of head is shown with a turban-like head-dress, which, as will be seen later, 1s characteristic of the Maya (e.g. Fig. 81; p. 339); a figure with similar head-dress usually forms the support of the circular pattern of censer characteristic of this Teotihuacan culture.
MEXICO :
| 1. | Spear-thrower, ATLATL |
| TARASCAN ||
| 2—6. | Pottery from Guadalajara |
| ZAPOTEC ||
| 7—9. | Funerary vases, from Oaxaca |
| (Scale: 1, 1/6th: 2—9, 1/8th) ||
The Tarascan remains (Pl. XVII, 2-6) which are found in numbers from Lake Pazcuaro to Lake Chapala, bear a close resemblance to the fragments from the lowest strata of the valley. The paste is usually well-mixed, but not so well fired as the Aztec and Teotihuacan ware, and constantly shows at a fracture a dark line at the core, the properly baked portion being in the main a greyish buff. A burnished red slip is often employed, with pattern in white, the latter being frequently furnished with an incised outline. The most common shapes are vases and bowls with three solid or cascabel feet, the latter enclosing rattles, vases with moulded bodies or in human or animal form, and plain vases with rounded bases, a feature uncommon throughout the rest of the area which forms the subject of this section. Bowls with incised bottoms, to serve as graters, are common, and the incised lines are sometimes arranged swastika-wise, a feature found again in Cuicatlan pottery. Miniature tripod bowls to use in connection with the spindle also occur, and the painted ornament of these and larger vessels shows a tendency to asymmetry. In the Tarascan area, extending far to the north, are found occasional vases in the clay "champ-levé" described above, together with traces of the brilliant blue-green ornament. Figurines of all sizes are common in this area, often covered with a red slip and painted black and white. Many of these represent men and women engaged in their ordinary occupations, and illustrate well the shoulder-cloaks, large ear-rings and head-bands worn by this people. Some are flat and solid, others hollow, but most show elongated heads, and often exaggerated thighs and slender waists. ​We must now consider the finest pottery in Mexico,viz. the ware characteristic of Cholula and Tlaxcala, which seems to bear certain relations to that of Oaxaca on the one hand, and, though less obviously, to that of the Totonac region on the other. The fact that Cholula was recognized as the leading centre of pottery manufacture and exported its wares in considerable quantity in times preceding and up to the conquest, Fig. 39.—Polychrome pottery vase; Tlaxcalan or Cholulan style, found in Mexico city. (After Seler) renders the distinction between local types difficult, especially as the Totonac region seems to have been affected by Mexican conquest, and to have furnished tribute in pots. The typical ware of Cholula and Tlaxcala is hard and reddish, very well-mixed and fired, and rarely shows a dark line in the centre of a fracture. Forms include standing-bowls and -cups, tripod bowls and vases, handled jugs, plates and bowls with a slightly flattened base. Footed beakers also occur, but I am inclined to regard this form as one adopted from the Totonac. The vases are usually covered with an even and highly burnished red or yellow slip, on which are painted designs in a variety of colours, red, yellow, white, grey and black (Pl. IX, 1, and Figs. 39 and 40). Geometrical and textile patterns are common, and also figures and emblems of gods and men, animals and plants. The treatment is often bold and free, and though at times the designs suffer from over-conventionalization, they are always highly decorative. Relief ornament is occasionally seen in the shape of in Mexico city. ​nimal heads (Fig. 40) or small pierced handles, and the designs are sometimes furnished with an engraved outline, though I believe both these features to be characteristic rather of Totonac art. The legs of tripod bowls, which are found in numbers, are usually moulded in the form of grotesque faces, or the heads of birds, beasts and snakes. Peculiar to Tlaxcala are interesting vases of black ware in the form of a Tlaloc face or figure, the details of which are applied. The
scroll-work which constitutes a feature of the painted art bears a close analogy to the Xochicalco designs, and it is not surprising to find similar pottery in Oaxaca. It is quite true that Cholulan pottery may have found its way in some quantity to the last-named region, by the great trade-route which ran from Teotitlan to Oaxaca, but I am inclined to think that much at least of it must have been manufactured locally, especially as a certain form of tripod vase (Fig. 36, 4; p. 185) seems peculiar to this country. Most remarkable of the finds in the Oaxaca district is that of pottery ​designs which any archæologist unaware of their real provenance would attribute unhesitatingly to the Peruvian coast. One of these is illustrated in Fig. 41, and a glance will show how it differs entirely from anything Mexican, and yet is absolutely identical with one of the patterns most commonly found on the polychrome tapestries of the Truxillo district of Peru. A peculiar class of Zapotec pottery may be mentioned here, consisting of figure vases of coarse red-brown or black ware, usually very brittle, found in tombs (Pl. XVII, 7-9). These seem to have been made solely for funerary
purposes, since the figure element has been developed so as almost to eliminate the vase portion. The figures are represented as sitting or standing; they wear mantles with capes, and head-dresses in the form of a monster's jaws with feather plumes. Many of them are shown with a peculiar mouth-mask, rather resembling the mouth-mask worn by the wind-god in Mexico and Guatemala, and also by certain figures on vases from Nasca in Peru; and occasionally the figure represents a bat. Many of them show traces of red paint, and the faces are very skilfully modelled. On the whole they are more Mayan than Mexican in appearance.
From Monte Alban and Xoxo come pottery ​fragments of rather thick ware, ornamented with broad red stripes on a red or yellow ground, somewhat similar to certain fragments from Teotihuacan; and elsewhere in the Zapotec country are found beakers with designs incised in outline and the background cut away (Fig. 33, b; p. 176), similar in technique, though not in art, to beakers from the island of Sacrificios described below (e.g. Pl. XVIII, 10).
Quantities of pottery heads have been discovered in Cholula, similar to those of Teotihuacan, though rather coarser in paste, and ornamented in some cases with blue, red and white slip. Polychrome figurines in much the same style have been found at Teotitlan del Camino.
To turn now to the Totonac region; the island of Sacrificios off Vera Cruz has produced a store of pottery which is in no respect inferior to that of Cholula with the exception that fewer colours are employed in ornament and the surface is not highly burnished. The paste is either pale red, grey or cream, admirably mixed and fired, and the shapes exhibit considerable variety (Fig. 36, 5-9, and Pls. XVIII and XIX). Especially characteristic are footed beakers and vases, tripod bowls with cylindrical or cascabel feet containing rattles, standing-bowls, bowls with slightly flattened bases, and plates. Handles are not common, but a type of vase with single long projecting handle seems confined to this area. Ornament is most commonly applied in the form of slip, white, cream, red (more than one shade), yellow, brown and black. In the most characteristic specimens the designs, monsters or formal patterns, are painted in thick white slip, and usually outlined with red or brown, or, especially in the case of plates, in deep orange on a brown background or vice versa. Engraved ornament is far more common in Totonac pottery than Cholulan; sometimes the engraving merely follows the outline of a painted design, sometimes it constitutes the sole ornament. In more ​elaborate specimens the entire background is cut away, or an intaglio design produced which is filled with. a coloured slip. Fragments of the "champ-levé" ware, with its blue-green filling, have also been found. Moulded ornament again is very common, ranging from the mere gadrooning of a vase-body (Fig. 36, 5) to animal heads in relief, with the other details painted in slip on the sides of the vase (Pl. XIX). The vases with a bird's (or beast's) head in relief, and the details of the body incised, as figured on Pl. XVIII, 2, are very characteristic, and are, further, of particular interest since they, as well as vases in other forms, are often found to be coated with a leaden-coloured glaze hard enough to resist the point of a knife. This is of course an accidental earth-glaze, produced in firing by the action of the smoke or heat on the surface of the slip. Vases, identical in form and with the same accidental glaze, have been found at Atlixco, and also in the neighbourhood of Coban in the Alta Vera Paz district of Guatemala. It seems probable that they have reached these localities as articles of trade. Many vase-feet also are moulded in the form of animal heads (Pl. XIX).
MEXICO :
| 1. | Stone sacrificial knife; wooden handle encrusted with mosaic |
| TOTONAC ||
| 2-10. | Pottery from the Island of Sacrificios, Vera Cruz |
| (Scale: 1, 1/4th ; 2-10, 1/6th) ||
The pottery of the Totonac has been investigated carefully by Strebel, who distinguishes several local types within the area. In a general work of this nature it is impossible to deal at length with minor variations, and it will be sufficient to state that the careful investigations of this archeologist seem to indicate four culture centres for the coastal region between the rivers Nautla and Papaloapan. The two first are in the north, and close together, and are associated respectively with sites at Cerro Montoso (E.N.E. of Jalapa, near the coast) and Ranchito de las Animas (immediately N.E. of the last). At the former of these the style is akin to and influenced by the neighbouring highlands and the district beyond, while the latter is probably more purely aboriginal. The two second lie to the south, one including the Rio de Cotaxla, the other extending thence to the Rio Papaloapan.
The pottery of the Huaxtec (Figs. 42-44) is peculiar from more than one point of view. The paste of the most characteristic specimens is hard and well-fired, ​of a pale cream colour, and the most typical shape is a handled vase with a spout, rather like a teapot (Fig. 42), with moulded and painted ornament, in red and black, on the body. The latter is frequently in the form of an animal, with a large human face modelled upon its back near the tail. Other vases in human shape, with a spouted handle and similar painted decoration were also moulded from this pale
clay (Fig. 43). The presence of a spout distinguishes Huaxtec pottery from Mexican, though an appendage of this nature is not unknown from the Totonac country, since the tail of the animal vase figured on Pl. XIX is pierced by a hole. Red pottery is also found in the Huaxtec country, in the form of large vases and smaller tripod bowls, often with engraved ornament on the outer surface. Grater-bowls, similar in pattern to those of the Mexican valley, but in the pale cream ware, are also found, together with many figurines and fragments of such which are not mould-made. ​To speak generally, the earliest type of pottery of which we have cognizance is similar in type to that manufactured later by the Tarascans. Following this came the far finer ware characteristic of Teotihuacan, the product of the Toltec culture. In pottery-making the mantle of the Toltec seems to have fallen upon the people of Cholula and Tlaxcala, districts associated with them in legend, and upon the Totonac, whose art shows certain affinities with that of Cholula. Between the ware of the Cholula-Tlaxcala region and that of the
TOTONAC Pottery from the Island of Sacrificios, Vera Cruz (Scale: 1/4th)