The Minneapolis journal., 1901-04-19
SUNKEN CROSSES IN MEXICO
Interesting Finds Near the Ruined
Palaces OF Militia.

Palaces OF MttIa.
New York Sun.
Tourists in Mexico are under obliga-
tions to the American Museum. of Natural
History and to Professor Saville. who is
in charge OF the anthropological depart
ment, for having furnished a new attrac-
tion. When he was prosecuting his re-
searches at Militia, in the state of Oajaca,
Mexico, In March OF the present year, he
heard OF a cruciform subterranean cham
Der which the Indians of Militia supposed
to be tomb OF the ancient people He
took counsel with Leopoldo Batres, the
guardian of Mexican monuments, who
looks after Mexico's share of all discov-
cries made by parties holding concessions
Tor archaeological Investigations, and
learned from him the exact location OF
this chamber, which was between five and
six miles from the palaces of Militia on the
topmost plateau of a range of hills called
Guironi. This name is Maya, not Nahuatl,
for there is no "r'' in the latter Ian
guage.
Professor Saville as soon as he had fin
ished at Militia went with $50 men to this
hill, whose shoulder or lower plateau was
about 1900 feet above the level of the
plain. Toward the left the hill. rose in
another slope about 300 feet higher, and
upon the top Of this he found the sunken
cross. He instantly recognized the struc-
ture described by the Frenchman, Captain
Dupaix, in his work, Antiques Mexi-
caines," published in 1906, and remember
ed that Captain Dupaix had pronounced
it one OF the greatest monuments Of an
cient Mexico. With characteristic energy
he determined to do what Dupaix had
never thought of doing, to make such
clearings as to give the public access to it.
He improved the wagon road that leads
from the village of Militia to neighboring
village and passes along the base of the
hill. This hill was covered with heavy
growth of different forms of cactus,
shrubs, rank grass and many flowers He
made a good walking or riding trail to
the top of the shoulder where there are
number of terraced mounds curiously ar
ranged, and then carried the trail up the
second slope to the summit. Then he
completely cleaned out the cross which
had been Intentionally filed with earth
and cobblestones, and found that the whole
interior Of the stone work was covered
with the Militia fret decoration.
This cross is twenty eight feet in total
| length of the decorated part, but the wes-
| tern limb has an undecorated extension
which was probably connected with long,
| sloped entrance. If the decorated part
alone is considered the cross Is of the
! Greek form, but if the undecorated ex-
| tension is judged to be an essential part,
| then it is Latin in form. The width of
and half feet. The walls are covered
with three tiers or courses of huge stones,
| the two upper being three feet deep and
! the lowest course foot and half. Each
course has its peculiar fret decoration,
| based upon the ZigZag which some schol-
| ars call the Greek fret and others the
! Egyptian meander but which was always
| known to the Chinese, Japanese and Ko-
| reans in Asia. 1t seems to have been
| equally we'll known to the inhabitants OF
| Mexico and all Central America. In Militia
what may be styled the official zigzag does
not appear, but there are a number of
variations based upon the redan forma-
| tion. This was a form of battlement
rather rare in Europe, which Cortez, how
ever, knew, and was astonished to find in
! Mexico City.
| The three kinds of zigzag fret in the
sunken cross at Guironi are not in mo-
sale, as at Militia, but are carved in in
| taglio in the stones. Professor Saville is
of the opinion that the incised part was
left the natural color of the stone, but
that the rest was covered with fine coat
of white cement, over which was spread
an equally thin coat of red paint. The
| flooring Of the cross is Of that fine, hard,
white cement which has excited so much
admiration in the palaces of Militia. This
| seems to be like the chunam flooring used
| to-day in Hindostan, and is certainly ORR
notably in the small but interesting ruins
| of Tula, which ambitious American rail-
| road men have identified with the great
city of Quetzalcohuatl, without much rea-
son for it except the really unimportant
| fact of its two bridges.
Professor Saville found that the cross
occupied the northeastern end of a great
cement paved plaza, upon which are va
rious mounds, one of them with five ter
races. From his plan Of the ground it
would appear that the ancient people of
the sunken cross of Guironi possessed
strong sense of the value of breadth to
produce striking effects. Yet in spite of
| the dignity of the plaza Of Guironi it could
only have been a side show to Militia it
self, which must have been Of vastly
| greater Importance.
Guironi is not the only sunken cross in
the neighborhood, for there is another at
place called Xaaga, very near, upon
another hill This is larger in all it's di
mensions, with the exception Of the wes-
tern limb, which is only half the width
| of the others Xaaga is difficult to see.
In the first place, it is private property.
| A Mexican gentleman with an eye for the
| picturesque determined to build his haci
| enda or country seat upon large mound,
SO that the green, grassy slope should be
in front Of his door.
| In sinking the foundations for the house
| the workmen came upon the sepulchre, or
tomb, as they called it. The entrance
was found upon the western side, and
they tunneled a passage through the
western side of the mound. Xaaga is un-
like Militia and Guironi in this, that the
walls are composed of small slabs, each
one covered with a variation of the zig
gag fret. 1t is a singular fact, but the
! cross of Xaaga presents an epitome Of
every kind Of fret used at Militia. The lat
ter is in a peculiar moasic, cut in
trachyte, whereas the construction stones
are of sandstones. At Guironi the orna-
mentation is cut in intaglio, but at Xaaga
1t is cut in relief.