Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-04-09
PREHISTORIC CITY.
Discovery in Mexico Of Ruins of
Third City Below Two Others. 4

| bccn held that the most ancient ciTlH-
| cation of Mexico and Peru, preceding
that of the Toltecs and the Aztecs, was
| of Mongolian origin.
Close to and partly beneath the ruins
| cf the ancient city of Tootihacan,
| about nineteen miles northeast of the
City of Mexico the scientists uncovered
the still more ancient city of Otumbia,
| which fourished with a wondrous civil
| lizatioh centuries before the AZtecs or
Toltecs rose TO power possibly even be-
| fore Babylon and Ninevah swayod the
| destinies of western Asia.
| With the financial assistance of the
| Mexican government, the expedition
| began the removal of Il siX-foot layer
| Of earth, representing the dust and de-
| tritus of more than twenty centuries.
| THIS soon brought into view many evil
denees of Il vast and populous city OF
| a very high order of civilization. Chief
| among these was Il great pyramid. II
| Is 100 feet square at the base, and its
| apex is lS7 feet high, while many of the
| giant blocks of stone in it's massive
walls must have required extraordinary
| engineering skill to handle This pyra-
hid also has it's riddle, for the axis of
| the main gallery is eoineidental with
| tic magnetic meridian.
Near the pyramid WAS found another
| remarkable building called the Casa
rirtada, or painted house. On the
ground Iloor are six rooms, with
| smoothly polished floors of white ce-
ment. The walls, Which are composedf
of cay mixed with fragments of stone,
are thickest at the base, and slope
slightly upward. They are also SMOOTH
~ finished with a thin coating of plas-
ter which is painted Indian red. On
these wallis are paintings representing
human beings in elaborate garments
and head dresses. The eolors used in
the paintings are green, red, pink and
orange brown. The workmanship is Of
" high order the figures being boldly
drawn and carefully colored.
Then came the greatest discovery of
all. While excavating near the base Of
the great pyramid Prof. N,ven I'M
earthed the remains of yet Il third CIV
ilization beneath the ruins of ancient
Otumba, making three great cities Of
a high order, the figures being boldly
the other
In what appears to have been a tomb
of the lowest city, whose age So far
defies calculation. Prof. Niven found
Tic clay image of a Cinnamon. with
oblique eyeslits, padded coat. flowing
trousers. and slippers. Only the queue
was lacking TO make a complete por-
trait of mandarin Of the recently de-
funct Chinese empire. 1t should be re-
membered. however, that the Chinese
did not adopt the queue until after
they had been conquered by the Tartar
llordes frcm the north.
The image is about seven inches in
length, and where the arms are broken
the edges of the clay show red, and
friablc in the centre, The outer surface
of the clay. however, is of granite.
hardness. and it is only with the great
est difficulty that il can be Clipped
with a hammer. in the ears are hug
rings, and on the head is skull cap
with a small button in the centre, pre-
cisely like that worn by the modern
mandarin. The court, which is loose
and of the type still worn by the older
Chinese, is fastened with frog and
button, and on the breast is IL circular
plate, evidently once covered with "A
thin layer of beaten gold but worn
bare by contact with the earth for un
known centuries.
1nlS tHtHeSt .iIiidEtt "ilttS l. u.
Niven, was not made by the AZtecs. 1t
is much older, and proves that the an
cient peoples of Mexico We're familiar
with the Mongol type. 1t was found i'll
ruins of two other ancient civilizations,
thirty feet and three inches below the
surface. The room, which was thirty
feet square and built Of concrete walls,
was probably Il tomb.
lon raised cement platform in the
centre lay the skull and bones of a man.
of not more than five feet in height
| His arms were vely long, reaching al
most to the knees, while his skull was
of q decidedly Mongol type. Around his
neck had been Il string of green jade
| heads-another link in the Chinese the
Dry, for real Jade has beeu fourt in
Mexico in the natural state.
Beside the skeleton was string %
| 5g7 pieces Of shell. With this money
Hay the greatest find of all-the little
| Chinaman. 1t is the first of the KIND
| ever found IN Mexico. though Mongol
tyDes are found in sufficient numbers
Iamong the American and Mexican IN
| dams to argue an Asiatic origin. Near
| the platform was a flower vase about
| fifteen inches high, that had evidently
| been filed with Xochtc, the sacred
| yellow flower of all those ancient races
| of Mexico.
! at should lie borne i'll mind that this
image was not 4 God or an idol, but
an ornament, perhaps 4 portrait done
| in clay by some prehistoric sculptor.
THE age of the figure is difficult to
| determine without further data. Cir
| cumst ances, however. warrant the
| rough guess that about 5000 years ago
| Chinese navigators crossed the Pacific
IN their primitive junks and discovered
| American thousands of years before
| Columbus vas born. Settling there,
| they built a city, and i'll d grave Of one
| % their number, many years after, d
clay image Of the man %as buried with
| him.
This great city fell into ruins-per-
| laps through conquest-but the image
| Law safe The ruins Of this first city
was covered with earth and there arose
| through the centuries another splendid
and mysterious city. This, too, fell in
| to ruins and upon it was raised II
| third metropolis of some forgotten race