The Monticellonian., 1916-11-16

i, lation to court are comparatively main plaza, with breadth of over 300 feet, to small inclosures surrounded by low mounds.
 Buildings Fairly Well Preserved.
 The buildings at Tfkal are in bet ter state of preservation than are those of any other Maya site, with the exception of the ruins in northern Yucatan, which are admittedly of later date. This is especially noteworthy when 1t is recalled that Tikal is prob ably the oldest of the Maya cities, it's architecture exceedingly ponderous. and that the builders developed better constructions as time went on. The buildings, especially the pyramid tenn ples, are solid and with very thick walls. The numerous structures of the residential type are also in excellent state of preservation as regards their lower story. The erumbling of the second tier of rooms has tended te cover and protect the lower part of the building. so that the lower stories
 
 were built
 Practically all the buildings are built upon some form of artificial mound In the case of the temples the mound takes the form of q truncated pyramid. It Is Il notable fact that the pyramids at Tikal are higher and sleeper than at any other Maya center. The sides .p tlx T. steps or terraces, faced with stone, and often inset at the corners and paneled at the sides. Access to the temple is gained by single stairway only, in- stead of by four stairways, one on each side of the mound. us Is noted at Chichen-It2a.
 In no other Maya area Is there such uniformity and similarity in the plans of the great temples. As u general rule, they contain three chambers, one behind the other. The floor of the two back rooms is raised slightly above the level of that in the front room. In the residential buildings there ap- pears to be n great diversity of plans. no two being exactly alike. They range from two to five stories in height and some of these buildings contain up to 40 chambers. These were probably the homes of the priests. In these residences the rooms run longitudinal ly in two rows along the length of the building with one or two transverse rooms at either end. They sometimes form court by themselves or per haps form one or more sides of court, the other sides of which are occupied by temples. Frequently there is a close connection between q building for dwelling purposes and that for worship.
 Earliest Maya Roofs.
 The temples show greater thick ness of wall than the residential build ings. and the room space in Tikal is smaller in proportion 10 wall space than has been noted anywhere else. The fact that the principal temples crowning steep and high pyramids were themselves topped by q lofty roof structure necessitated this heavy wall for support. From their cumber- some nature 1t may be reasonably sup posed that the Tikal roof structures represent the first attempt in this di- rection by the Maya. The walls are made of slabs of limestone set in Il plentiful supply of mortar and covered up under a liberal coating of stuceo, and upon this the occupants skilled in writing and designing made incised drawings, presumably with the pointed l flint or obsidian knife peculiar 10 that period Wooden beams placed over | doorways and elaborately carved wood en lintels are a common form of em- l bellishment at Tfkal.
 In the wealth of stelae and circular altars Tikal. according 10 Maler, is uuequaled among all the known ruined cities. Over 100 stelae can be i found there, and nearly every one with I it's own circular altar. A compara- lively small number of these show the splendid bas-relief work of Magyar art. 1 0E Ea