The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-05-29
BROUGHT TO LIGHT
Are and Curious Archaeological Discov.
cries Of Recent
Years.
A Sword Of Ancient Chaldea Footprints
Of a Bygone Race-Stone Gods
Of the AztecS.


which the spade, that humble instrument
of toll has brought to light in recent
years from the ruins Of cities buried be-
meath the dust of many centuries-buried
SC deep and SO long ago that their very
names have passed out of the records of
men, and even the learned antiquarians
who study over the upturned relics Of
by-gone times are at loss to know
where or what the link be connecting
them with modern civilization. Stranger
than the strangest fiction, and more mar
Vicious than the dreams of the poets,
are the discoveries made in the under
world by the busy, patient, plodding
scientists of these modern days. 1t
IS saying that of human mold we
reap our daily bread"
So has been revealed to us by the ar
chaeologist the equally startling factthat
we are literally walking day by day up
on the very tombs of buried race OF
men. This is true even here in America
which we are want to think of as a new
country, a virgin land, whose whole his
tory dates back only a few years. AS
matter Of sober and scientific fact, many
Of the richest and rarest archaeological
finds" of recent years have been right
here under our so-called "primeval for
ests" and the virgin soil' of our valleys
and uplands.
1t was only the other day in rock
hewn tomb down in southern Mexico,
that there was found bronze and ham,
mered iron sword, bearing on its blade
and handle-in rich inlaying of silver
characters of record and representations
of life distinctively Assyrian and Grecian
The roughly hammered iorn blade show
ed the crudity of the early days of the
iron age, but the exquisite inlaying OF
silver on the bronze bore testimony
to the cunning of the silversmiths who
wrought the weapon. To all appearan-
ces, and according to the inscriptions, 1t
was royal arm, for on it's ample hilt it
bore in horizontal lines the crowned
head of it's evident wearer, while below,
were apparently the title and name of
the sovereign. The sword and scabbard
weighed twelve pounds, of which the
sword alone represented two-thirds OF
the total. How a Chaldean sword could
find it's way into the tomb in Mexico
is more than any one has been able to
| conjecture.
All over Central and Southern Mexico
these are relics of a departed race whose
| annals anteQate even LnOSe OF the AZIeCS
AntiquarianS have endeavOred to read
their history in the stones of lula,
which was the old Toltec capital, now a
place of ruins. Old lula is overgrown
! and half hidden from sight. San Juan
Teotihuacan also is famous for it's two
great earthen pyramids, which stand out
on the plain a half mile apart One
of them was dedicated to the sun, the
other to the moon. The earth for miles
\ around is filled with small images-cari-
kl--A hat fhnCo
ancient people spent most of their time
In making them.
A marvellous story is that which comes
from Arizona where a few months ago
some prospectors in the Bradshaw
mountains came upon a cliff dweller's
E,illage in one of the most inaccessible
Anyons of that range, the largest vii
ge of the kind ever yet discovered.
reral Of the houses were explored and
ge quantities of pottery and some
ruments evidently used for cultiva-
the soil, were found. In one the
eton of a man, not over feet inch
es heighth, was discovered. The can
yon at this place is mile wide, and
shows evidence of having been cultivated
If this theory proves to be true, 1t will
4 throw more light on the habits of this
little known people. So far as known
no other evidence has ever been discOv-
cred of cliff jewellers having cultivated
the soil.
has been travelling in Central America
b has recently obtained and forwarded tt
the Imperial Museum in Vienna twelve
large stone slabs bearing foot prints ir
the solid rock taken from the quarry
over Lake Managua, in the territory o.
Nicaragua.
These footprints have been overlain by
eleven different layers of stone. extend
ing to a depth of four meters, and indi
eating an antiquity for our race quite
transcending all conjectures hitherto
hazarded. They are about three quar-
tiers of meter square and are sunk into
the stone to depth of from eight to ter
centimeters. The footprints are said t
be very conspicuous, and seem to b.
those of three distinct persons one O
whom was a child. To what race o.
what age they belonged to no one yet
has ventured to guess.
Curious and puzzling as anythin,
brought to light in recent years wa:
- some ancient handiwork found not lonl
ago in making excavations for cana
connecting lakes Eustis and Dora, II
southern Florida. The first excavation
revealed the existence of a clearly de
fined wall lying in a line tending towar'
the southwest, from where it was frs
N struck The wall was composed of
dark brown sandstone, very mucl
\crumbled in places, but more distinct
more clearly defined and the stone NOR
solid as the digging increased in depth
be wall was evidently the eastern sid
an ancient home or fertilization. a
e slope of the outer wall was to tn
est About eight feet from the slope O
The eastern wall a mound of sand wa
struck imbedded in the muck formatiO
hove and around it. This sand noun
Was dug into only a few inches, bu
Enough was discovered to warrant tn
belief that here on the Northwestern
shore of lake Dora is submerged cit
br town or fertilization older by centul
rs than anything yet discovered in thi
l. portion of Florida. Small, curiousl
Shaped blocks of sandstone, some {
them showing traces of fire, pieces {
&pottery, and utensils made of mottle
flint. were thrown out by the men Will
working waist deep in water On
spear head of notified flint, five and
Y: H. palf inches long by one and quartz
Aches wide, nicely finished, was take
brm the top of the sand mound an
about four feet below the water lev
of the lake.
But in no part of this country. perhap
has SO many valuable finds" been mad
as in the territory Of New Mexico.
this region seems to have been thickl
peopled ages ago by a highly civilize
race. On the highest point of the gre,
rotrero de las Vacas of New Mexit
are the most remarkable prehistoric re
les that have been discovered, beir
no less than the gods sculptured in stor
that were worshiped by the ancient
These are the statutes Of mountain liol
carved from a volcanic rock. The il
ages are enclosed in rude and almo
circular stone wall, in a space fifty fe
in circumference, three feet in height
Itch m entrance projected eighteen fe