The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1896-04-09
lBoDEs OF PREHISTORIC MAN.
'HilI Caves of Yucatan VIII Be Explored
for Scientific Relics

Will caves OF fucatan VIII Be Explored
for Scientific Relics.
If there is one thing more than an
other which archaeologists would hail
with delight it would be the discovery
which would unlock the mysteries of
the Maya stone monuments and give to
the world the keys to the history of
the early races of Central America, as
the discovery of the Rosetta stone I'M
locked the history of ancient Egypt.
There has been for many years dis
pute as 10 the degree of antiquity which
is to be accorded to the remains that
are found in Central America. One sa-
want carries them back to a time al
most contemporary with ancient
Egypt, while another will not allow
that they are much earlier than the
days of the Montezumas or the time of
the discovery of the continent by CO.
lumbus. If the Maya tongue was as
open a book as the records of ancient
Egypt this question might he settled.
Who were the builders of UNmai?
Whence came the ancient race that
carved the strange figures and char
acters that are found on the altar slabs
at Palenque? No one can tell. After
years of research we are but a little
closer to the heart of the riddle than
we were half century ago.
Recently the inquiry has taken an
other turn and the effort has been
ade to ascertain something about
e prehistoric races that it was sup
posed might have preceded the Maya
lIyaians in the occupation of the Yucca
tan peninsula. There are in the hills
OF 1ucatan many caves, not large in
extent, but (which il was believed would,
| upon investigation, show in the de-
posits which might be found on their
floors some traces of prehistoric man
in that region. The earlier races found
shelter in caves, built fires there. and
in the refuse of the ash heap are found
the bones of the animals they consumed
and the fragments of the tools, utensils
and weapons that they used. Relics
of Importance might be found in the
hill caves of Yucatan, and so an eXpedi-
ton was sent out from the University
of Pennsylvania to examine these caves
and investigate the Kitchen middtns,"
or culture beds" as science calls the
soil of which the floors of these caves
is composed. The expedition was in
charge of Henry c. Mercer and was
| known as the Corwith expedition. and
Mr.. Mercer has written an entertaining
and valuable account of their re-
searches. Ten caves were examined.
and the method followed was that usu-
| ally employed in such cases. Trenches
are dug across the floor with great
care, the earth removed in layers and
carefully examined for relics and frag-
ments of pottery, bones of animals,
arrowheads and other weapons. 1t
was hoped that there would be found
traces of race anterior to the Mayas.
In this the explorers were doomed to
disappointment. They did not find
any traces of the prehistoric man; but
they found that the people who came
to the caves were generally identical
with the race that had reared the cities
whose ruins have excited so much at
tention and wonder. They brought
with them whatever degree of culture
they were possessed of and had not
| developed after their arrival in Yucca
tan. 1t was also established that these
people had reached the country in geo.
logically recent times. 1t will thus be
seen that not all the results of the ex-
pedltion were of negative character
and that some of them were of impor-
lance from scientific point of view.
1t was ascertained that in all probable
ity the ancient Mayas were cannibals
They were an agricultural people and
not given to hunting to any great ex-
| tent.
Nearly all the Caverns contained wa
ter, and it was that fact which first led
! these earlier races to resort to them.
The party devoted its entire time to
cave explorations and did not study the
ruined cities. The fact was estab-
iished that no prehistoric race preceded
the Mayas on the Yucatan peninsular,
but no fresh clews were obtained as TO
how far back into the past that occupa-
ton eYtended.-Brooklyn Eagle.