The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1922-08-02
ARCHAIC PYRAMID
FOUND nv MEXICO
Buried Before Christian Era by volca-
no--Rises 100 Feet in Four
Stone Terraces.

San Fernando, Tialpam, Mexico
Aug 2.-Discoyery Of an archaic pyra-
mid, buried thousands Of years age
beneath tons of volcanic ash, in the
San Cuicuilco hill near Mexico City,
pushes human history in America back
many centuries and indicates that the
early populations of this land began
the mastery of the material universe
about them probably quite as soon as
did the primitive peoples surrounding
the Mediterranean sea, according to
DR.. Byron Cummings, director of the
Arizona state museum, who has charge
of the excavation now being made by
the Mexican government.
This ancient structure, found by DR..
Cummings in collaboration with DIR.
Manuel Gamio, director OF anthropol-
ogy and archaeology Of Mexico, is
composed of chunks Of unhewn vol
canic rock and rises to -four terraces,
with inclined walls from base, APP
proximately 400 feet in diameter to a
height Of about 100 feet, but 1t has not
yet been uncovered sufficiently TO de-
termine the measurements more ex
actly.
"As in old Pompeii the mighty forces
of nature covered and sealed the han
diwork Of man that ii might speak to
future generations says DR.. Cum I.
mings, $50 here in the southern end
of the valley of Mexico lava from the
ancient Ajusco volcano has preserved
a chapter Of human history, although
more primitive, yet not less interest
ing than the worn pavements and mar
BILE peristyles Of the ancient city Of
the Italian coast.
"Cuicuilco is an illustration of one of
the first pyramids reared by the an
cestors of those tribes who adorned
Mexico not only with mightv~pyra
mids, but also with richly decorated
temples and palaces before the first
century OF our era. This crude pyra
mid, unembellished and unadorned, yet
massive and solid, stands mute evi
dence that the native American devel-
oped his masterful architecture here
on American soil
"The excavations show that this
massive structure had been covered
with volcanic mud and ashes so long
before its final burial by the lava
from the Ajusco cone that at that time
abundant vegetation was growing on
it.
when we consider" DIR. Cummings
explains, that this pyramid must
have been built before some great
in the vicinity sent forth its
deluging shower Of ashes, mud and
pumice, and that this calamity oc-
CURED long before the flow from Aus |
co, which careful calculation places be-
tween 1000 and 5000 years ago; and |
that no polished stone implements are
found, that the stone implements are
grinding and polishing stones. faxed |
knives, borers and scrapers; that the |
pottery even near the surface is crude |
and archaic; that the entire structure |
contains no hewn stone and no ce-
ment or plaster in any form, we real
ize that architecture had its beginning |
in Mexico long before the Christian
era.
How long were the people of Cui- |
cuilco in developing the ability 10 rear
this massive Pyramid" he asked. |
Through how many centuries had this |
American branch Of the human family |
struggled before they gained sufficient !
mastery of material things and sufii
Gent social and political cooperation
and organization to produce such re-
suItsi How many centuries elapsed |
between the building of Cuicuilco and |
the ornate pyramid Of Quetzalcoatl at
Teotihuacan which Dr. Gamio esti- /
mates was built before the first cen
fury, A. d."
Human progress" he points out,
has always been slow; and early |
American progress was no exception
10 the natural course Of events. This
then, opens up chapter Of
human progress on this side of the At
antic. but which has never been re-
,orded in authentic annals"