The Washington herald., 1920-05-23
AIMS TOSOLVE
MYSTERY CITY
DR.. S. G. Morley Leaves for
Honduras to Continue
His Researches.

To solve the mystery OF the lost
city of Copan, the Athens OF an
cient America, DR.. s. G. Morley Of
the Carnegie Institution has left
Washington for Honduras to con-
tinue his researches on the site OF
the seat of government and culture
of the Maya race.
The Washington man already has
deciphered more than half the in
scriptions discovered on the site
where civilization OF a high order
fiourished when Europe was an un-
mapped wilderness, and Jesus was
preaching in Galilee.
Records End Suddenly.
All records OF life in Copan emo
suddenly. The colorful romance OF
the golden age of Maya history.
collected with painstaking accuracy
from carved figures and pictures on
stones. stops when apparently at its
height.
What terrible catastrophe erased
at one fell swoop the brilliant pic
Iure? What became of the great
stone temples erected in honor of
strange gods, of the cruel priests
with their many hued vestments, of
the scarlet-painted women and the
fiower-garlanded singing girls.
Hundreds of undeciphered inScrlp-
tions still remain, and from these
DR.. Morley hopes to complete the
fnal acts OF this forgotten tragedy.
Centuries Ahead Of Europe.
During the days of their glory
the Mayas, kin to the AEtecs found
by Cortez in Mexico. eQualed, il not
exceeded the civilization of any an
cient people. Investigations by DR..
Morley and others have furnished
some striking facts regarding their
manners and methods of life
They were several centuries ahead
of the rest of mankind in discover
ing the use OF tobacco. Records
show they cultivated extensive to-
bacco fields
The aristocratic women painted
themselves red The redder the
paint she used the closer did the
Maya belle approach the Ultima
Thule OF fashion.
Divorce simple and Easy.
SQuint eyes were considered the
height of beauty and mothers kept
girl babies squirting at some
dargling toy in order to develop
this deformity.
Divorces were frequent. Simple
divorce laws enabled unhappily wed
Maya couples to sever their connec-
tion merely by moving into sep
arate huts-
The remains of the city show a
vast accumulation of wealth on the
Part of the aristocracy and a
bourgeois class Of skilled workmen.
Much of the public work was done
on a communal plan.
wOrshIppers Of Time.
The god of these ancient people
was Time. They developed a re-
markable system of counting which
DIR. Morley has deciphered. His
treatise on this subject is still in
the press.
The Maya calendar was divided
into intervals of 1900 days. At the
close of each interval a magnificent
stone monument was set up by the
priests, who carved thereon the his
tory of the period just passed.
Their history was known in the
Maya language as ~ Kahlay Katu-
mob" The first records are at the
beginning of their golden age.
about l76 A D.
Three Systems of Years.
The Mayas made their calendars
exact according to the stars. They
were the most learned astrologer1
OF ancient times. Besides the regu-
lar sun year of 365 days, they used
a sacred year of $50 days and a year
measured on Venus of 5S4 days.
This marvellous count of time. as
serts DR.. Morley, is the foremost in
tellectual achievement of ancient
America.
At the time of the sudden extinc-
tion OF the city the priests and
rulers of the Mayas were laying
plans which would have cast all
taeir previous works 3nto the shade.
Inscriptions of length and
beauty hitherto undreamed" says
DR.. Morley, were soon to be exc
cuted. il not already under way.
Temples surprising in grandeur
and magnificence their noblest
achievements in the past were soon
to be erected"
woadernII Carving.
From the back of one monument
stares a huge face with a human
Icing seated cross-legged on its
forehead. Another is dressed in
gorgeous clothing. Another is a
woman cut in heroic high relief.
Drapery completely covers her. All
around are feather-woTk tassels
hanging from rosettes.
A spectacular doorway gives bar
baric splendor to one great temple.
Its two giant death-heads support
two crouching men. Their hands
hold the heads of hideous reptile
monsters that curl up in bewilder-
ing twists. Smaller men are caught
in their coils. Nude human figures
kneel at each end. Their necklaces
are INTERVENING rattlesnakes, and
larger serpents. tongues protruding,
fall in graceful curls to form their
belts
The Hieroglyphic Stairway is the
most brillian. o. all Copan's treas
ures. 1t ascends a lofty pyramid
for ninety steps. On these steps
are carved 2,500-word pictures, the
most complete record yet found of
the history of Copan. Sixty of these
steps have been destroyed, however.
The artistry of the carvings, the
enormous human figures, the birds
and the serpents, mark the climax
of ancient sculpture in America.
Climate Brings Destruction.
Another masterpiece of Copsnese
art is the Shrine of the Toad. erect
cd on a high hill over the city. A
huge stone toad squats on the hill,
looking down over the valley with
lips parted, tongue protruding, eyes
he II closed and throat enormously
swollen. Here human sacrifices