The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1911-11-08
Ipiitsburg Dispatch.)

While we are reading vt all sorts
Of wonderful Developments Of arch
geological interest in regard to the
countries "f the orient. Egypt and the
lands associated with what is called
the Holy Land" We have ignored to
some extent discoveries Of no less in
terast connected with that which may
hc said to he our W country In
the far southeast Of the United States
and in Mexico, lands of romance and
mystery.
For several years William Nevin.
IF the most ipdefatigable of
American ar~chaeologists. has been
delvinE in strata of the valley Of
Mexico. which may he said to he an
area IF anywhere from 1000 to 5000
square miles i'll the country surround
ing thc capital city Of our neighbor-
ing republic and which has brought
to the surface carvings and utensils
which suggest Il rae far a%ntedating
not only the ancient Aztecs and Toll
tees, hut which is assumed by h in
v~cstigator to he older thai any other
brought to the knowledge Of man as
q civilized creation or evolution. Ar
ticles descriptive of these discoveries
are published by MIR. Nevtn in the
monuments of those buried ages. now
first come to the light of this modern
civilization.
The objects dug from the deep and
ever-deepening strata of this valley
of Il wonderful land are genuine. and
the reputation of Professor Nevin
speaks for the genuinencss of all de-
auctions. So wonderful were the re-
suits Of the excavations that the in
vestigator himself could hardly belie.e
the evidence of his own conclusions.
md la, ocL,ES fhr> rNA~NNnSNt sNf nr0h-
biologists the most eminent among
the colleges of this and other
tries. and each and all of them de-
livered the opinion that here appar-
entity had been the earliest civiliza-
ton to the extreme that Professor
Nevin declared that here. and not in
the orient, had been the cradle Of civ
ilization Of the human race. Some
extracts from the article of Professor
of the objects which have been drag
ged to light by excavations. In which
every American must be interested.
cover an area of about 1000 square
miles in the valley Of Mexico. from
Texcoco to Tlalnepantla. there are
hundreds Of clay pits from which tho
material for the adobe native fire
bricks and tiles have been made since
the conquest. and from which have
tscSIl u uSlcu llpSl VI IL ounces
In the City of Mexico and adjacent
towns and villages. These pits have
enabled the writer. without expensive
excavations. to make a comprehen-
sive exploration for several years pa't
Of the archaeological treasure rove
which lies buried below the surface
of the entire valley of Mexico.
Recently my efforts have been re-
warded by some remarkable and
startling discoveries hat may open
up n new field for archaeological re-
search on this continent. My opera
tons have been chiefly confined to a
where I have found two or three ron
crete floors or pavements. ranging in
depth from the surface from two to
five meters. On the first floor or
pavement there is a deposit of peh-
bles. sand and small powders. cover
ed with a rich soil of the valley from
two to three meters. in which l found
everywhere innumerable fragments OF
broken pottery and occasionally small
whirls. etc. The second concrete
pavement is from t~hree-fourths 4
M meter beneath the first. but in
the. intervening space l failed to find
a single piece OF pottery or anything
to indicate that a people had dwelt
there.
Underneath this second pavement
there is a we'll defined layer of ashes
and charcoal, from three centemeters
to n meter thick. and Just below
these ashes l found. a few weeks ago.
an opening or doorway the sides of
which appeared to have been of wood,
hut now completely changed to clay.
the cellular structure giving evidence
of this remarkable alteration. Ex-
amples of this pseudomorphous mate
rial have been submitted to the geo
logical institute of Mexico. and Di-
rector Jose j. Aguilera is making a
careful examination. which it is hop
ed will explain the strange pheno-
nenon.
THE doorway is about two meters
deep and at this level. our meters
from the opening. I found what APP
peared to be a complete goldsmith's
outfit. consisting of a small chimney
of terra Gotta fifty Centimeters in
height. lying on a round shaped fur
mace. thirty centimeters in diameter.
on the headgear of the clay figures
found at the same locality.
Some of these models were less
than one millimeter in thickness and
around which We're scattered over
two hundred c%uriously shaped models
Of terra Gotta many Of them being
similar to the ornaments that appear
may have been used for molds in the
manufacture of the gold. silver or
copper dress or hat ornaments which
they have worm. The models were
thickly coated with iron oxide. bright
red and yellow, probably to prevent
the molten metal adhering to the ter