Evening star., 1923-03-07
MAY SOLVE SECRET
OF ANCIENT MAYA
ArcheoIogists Believe CiviIi-
zation May Antedate That
of Egypt.

Tte uuSuiy" "d mystery OF The long
lost Maya civilization. believed by
may archaeologistS to have been the
most cultured aborigines OF America
and by some TO have even preceded
the Egyptiams in reaching the state OF
civilization. MAY he Uncovered. if u
movement by scientists to conduct eX
ten@i%" excavations and research work
III thr ruins OF ancient Maya cities
in Yucatan crystaIiZrs.
Will" the oldest '4unImentS and
statues left by the Mayas have been
definitely traced back To the second
century after Christ. there iS a belief
among most archeologiStS that their
civilization did not reach Il stag" of
culture II considerable length Of time
before that period ON the other
hand. however. there are some VINO
think the ancient Iiayas may even
have been the first Egyptian c"lonistS.
Plan Explorations.
Should this theory prove correct.
excavations III the numerous Crumbled
ruins of Mayan cites may bring
forth treasures that would make re
ocft discoveries III the tomb of the
pfaiaoh Tutank ha men. cumparat tiV el V
modern from the standpoint of age.
and scientists are turning with eager
interest toward Il fast-deVcloping
movement to inauguratc thorough eN-
ploratiOns in the Iucatan field i'll the
near future.
Dr. John e. Merriam. president of
the Carnegie Institution of Wash
ingtuu. returned to this city yester-
day after spending some weeks in
1h, ruins of Chiuhcn liza. which is
l,tsIi ,rI ia rnl i0Ii =
ana governmental ccrter of the
Maya world. Chicken liza flourish
ed. roughly speaking. about the time
of christ, Or perhaps several hun
drcd Years later. With Or. Merriam
MAS Cen. William barclay Parsons.
chairman of the executive committee
of the Carnegie Institution.
Hope for Expedition.
DR.. Merriam intends to submit a
report on his observations in the
NIayan field to the board of trust tces
and the executive committee of the
institution. Just what recommends
tions he will make, if any, could not
he ascertaned. however. 1T is known
that many scientists and archaelo-
giSt$ hope the Carnegie Institution
itself may send Il competent staff into
Chichcn liza. and perhaps one or two
ouch eNcaVa tionS.
SO insistent has become the demand
for scientific examination of the
Maya ruins, that Dr Merriam went
to the Sucutan for a personal study
of the situation, 50 that he would be
III Il position to enlighten the inStitu-
tioH should 1t assume the work of eX-
carating there. II can be definitely
stated. however, that DIR. Merriam $
visit was not attempted as d first step
in that direction. If the institution
does decide to send an expedition into
the NuCutan, it will be the result of
conditions discovered since DR. Mer-
ram first decided to conduct his in
yeStigation.
Greeks of New World.
At the present time there is a
large staff of archenlogists working
independently in Chichen liza They
have barely more than scratched the
surface, yet their discoveries have
included beautiful temples whose ar
tistic and architectural perfectlons
have caused DR.. SylvanuS q. Moreley
who is held in the highest esteem by
the Carnegie Institution. to term the
NIayas the Greeks of the new world =
Although Chichcn Itza is consid
cred to have been built around 1000
years ago, there is evidence that {,
vet more ancient city is buried be-
Meath il. Half a dozen exquisite
temples and palaces have already
been reclaimed from the tropical
brush that had all but buried them,
but the archeologists agree they can
do little more until scientifically
prepared research expedition is sent
into the field TO do the work thor
oughly