Evening star., 1924-06-29

fascinating story of an amaz-
ing civilization that f1ourished
in Yucatan and Central America thou
sands of years before the dawn of the
Christian era, and from the crumpled
temples of Chichen liza, the once
gorgeous capital OF "a proud nation,
there have just come to Washington
the first few enhancing chapters.
1t is the story of an astonishing
race of American aborigines and of
their struggle through the dark jun
giles of barbarism to the bright
heights of culture; Of how they
founded thriving cities and reared
marvelously carved temples to deities;
of how they created Il battling writ
ten language of their own-and then
disappeared into the ages, leaving be-
hind only piles of brush covered ruins
to bear mute witness to the greatness
that was once theirs.
It is the romance of the long lost
Maya race, which of all American
aborigines reached the highest state
of culture, and as the dust and jungle
growth of three centuries is carefully
turned back, revealing the first au-
1hentic chapters long held secret in
those buried castles. the ultimate
story gives promise of staggering
modern civilization and writing some
of the most fascinating lines yet PEN
ned in ancient history.
y 4 4
a y expedition of Washington ar
cheologists and scientists, work
ing under the authority of the Car
negie Institution of Washington, is
now making the first extensive exca-
vations and study of the Maya ruins,
hoping to give TO civilization the
whole story of the lost Mayas. and an
authoritative explanation of how so
advanced a civilization could he
erased from the face of the earth in
so short a time.
Chichen liza was selected as the
place for the first extensive re-
sea rches OF the expedition because it
was the site of the religious capital
of the Maya nation, the center of its
culture and its government, although
some ruins have already been (more
or less casualty examined in Guate-
mala Before undertaking the work
the Carnegie Institution received full
authority from the Mexican govern
ment to proceed, and also the prom
ise of that governments fullest CO.
operation.
DR.. Syivanus G. Morley. associate of
this institution in middle American
archaeology. is in charge Of the ex-
pedition. and has been on the scene for
something than a tnpafhar
with DR.. Earl H. Norris, who has
direct charge of work of excavation.
DR.. Morley had already spent CON-
siderable time examining the ruins
before proceeding with the project,
and several of his own associates pre-
ceded him by some months, making
maps, fnaugurating plans for the
beginning of work and completing
initial arrangements.
Through narrow slips dug into the
buried temples in the few weeks the
excavators have been at work with
pick. shovel and crossbar. the toilers
raw, peered into the forgotten past
and sent back to civilization the first
word of the real wonders that lie
buried there. For brief moments they
have beheld marvelously carved walls
with richly colored paintings adjoining
them, rare objects of art and mysteri-
Gus chambers.
But before describing the latest dis
coveries of the Carnegie Institution
expedition, something of the history of
the Maya race, as it is described by
Or. Morley, members of his staff and
s. Is. Lothrop, also an associate of the
institution, who has been studying
other ruins, should be told. The MAYA
has long been field Of study to the
archeologist. He emerged from bar
barism about ten centuries before the
birth Of Christ.
THE first place the Maya are known
TO have lived was in the vicinity
OF Lake Peten, body of water
seventy-tive square miles in extent,
lying well, up in the highlands of
Guatemala, and that section is ac-
cepted as the place of their origin.
Soon after their emergence from a
scattered group of barbaric tribes, the
Maya began an astonishing migration
northward, founding cities at many
places, only to abandon them and push
on toward the land that was destined
to crown them with glory-Yucatan.
In the first six centuries these
strange people occupied, built and
dwelt in a host of great cities extend
ing from the Gulf of Mexico to the
Bay of Honduras. Why and how this
tremendous expansion took place, at a
time when there was no known means
OF transportation, and through a dense
jungleland, remains one of the most
battling mysteries of ancient history,
and an effort at its solution is one of
the reasons for the excavations at
Chichen liza.
About the sixth century after Christ,
when the old Maya empire was at the
height of it's glory. a period Of unrest
started, and the Maya entered their
.'dark ages" A new series Of wander
3ngs began; there is evidence that civil
war was rampant, and cities were
founded, only to be deserted almost i'm.
mediately. Even Chichen liza was
abandoned, and three hundred years
elapsed before the Maya again entered
upon their cultured advance. =.
History" says an ancient proverb
"repeats itself" and as one reads the
story of the Maya he cannot help
Wondering whether it was mere coin
nident that, even in those dim days
pf antiquity, man, struggling upward
along the uncertain path of civiliza-
sion, should have sought to assist