Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-04
PICTURES OF RUINS
ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCHES
IN CENTRAL AMERICA.

DR.. Alfred N. Toxzer of Harvard Uni
versity, formerly fellow of the Archaeology
zeal Institute of America. delivered a lee
ture yesterday afternoon IN Hubbard Memo
rial Hall. corner OF 10th and n streets
northwest, before the Washington Society
OF the Archaeological Institute. on Aspects
Of Archaeological Work in Central Amer
ica." An interested audience listened to the
lecture. In discussing the ruins of Gen.
trail Americs ne showed a large number
OF lantern slides. which gave pictures of
some of the ruins unearthed and OF some
OF the interesting hieroglyphic characters
which have been discovered. AS DR.. Tozzer
spent several years in Central America In
making discoveries. as thu representative
OF the Archaeological Institute. he is re-
garded as especially qualified to speak on
the subject assigned to him. Mgr, Dennis
J. O'Connell. rector of the Catholic univer-
sity. introduced the speaker
Owing to the large number of unanswered
questions regarding the archa Biological Gull
ture In Central America, it was said to be
closed book. DR.. Tozzer declared that it
is not now closed book, and that cues
tons are being answered rapidly. The in
terest in the work in Central America was
started in 1889, when man named
stephens, with commission from Presi-
dent Van Buren,, made the first expedition
10 those regions He wrote graphically of
ms discoveries and that awakened an in
terest which has been increasing ever
since There has been little excavation
work done there, largely owing to the at
titude OF the government of Mexico and
other countries. But as the work is carried
on new buried cities are being found In
many cases stones from the unburied relics
have been used to construct new houses.
thereby damaging the relics.
Yucatan Discoveries.
Yucatan fS pSpaoioll,, r;ol, - 49,.
and traveller is never out of sight of a
mound or other relic. Dr. Tozzer showed
large number Of pictures of the various
temples, mounds etc. The temples are
usually built on pyramids. The carvings
We're chiefly of serpents, warriors and
priests. Many spaces on structures are COW
cred with bas-reliefs of exquisite design
From estimates that have been made in
comparing the calendar of the ancient oc-
cupants of Central America the culture
reached its highest development in the first
century of our calendar 1t is probable,
he said, that the races conquered at the
time of the Spanish conquest were the de-
scendants of the Maya race, which deveI-
oped the culture which Is being studied or
otherwise the priests of the Spaniards
would not have learned so much of the
religion of those peoples. Undoubtedly
the present inhabitants of the countries in
Central America, the Mayans and the La
condones, are the descendants. The latter
were untouched at the time of the Spanish
conquest and they still have some of the
ancient religious customs and make pill
grimages to ruins. Why they have deterio-
rated In culture cannot be explained except
by the fact that only priests knew the re-
ligious functions, and they did not marry
the cult was not perpetuated.
At the close of the lecture Prof. w. H.
Holmes, chief of the bureau of ethnology,
was called on for a speech, and he express
ed the hope that DR.. Tozzer would ulti-
mately in his studies prove that the Maya
race of Central America came from some
of the Asiatic races