Evening star., 1926-06-05
DIR. GAM|O STUDIES
PRE-MAYAN RUINS
Mexican ArcheoIogist Finds
Quakes Had Much to Do
With Wanderings.

The forerunners of the wonderful
Maya civilization in Central America
have been discovered. Earthquakes,
which long ago shook Guatemala, may
enable psychologists to trace Amer
lean history back many thousands of
years, and thus a new era ripe for
archaeological research will be re-
vealed.
Such are the probable results of a
three months reconnaissance survey
of unknown Guatemala just COM
pleted by DIR. Manuel Gamio. leading
Mexican archeologist, working under
the auspices of the Archaeological So
ciety of Washington. DR.. Gamio is
now on his way to Washington, where
he will study the material he has col
lected and will prepare a scientific
report of his exploration trip.
The survey was for the purpose of
determining whether Guatemala is q
promising field for pre- Maya eXplora-
tions. The first reports confirm the
conjecture that the Guatemalan high
lands would yield evidence Of an
cient human occupancy, dating back
to long before the time of Christ.
Fragments Are Found.
What happened in the central
region of America before the rise Of
the Maya, the Toltecs and the Aztecs
is literally 'pre-history." From time
to time clay and stone fragments Of
great antiquity have been found in
Central America, but archeologists
have vaguely termed them as CAR
chaic," which means only that belong
to an age and a people that distinctly
preceded the Maya.
In report to the Washington so.
ciety, DR.. Gamio states that he has
made several trial excavations, dig
ging through seven strata of deposited
| soil, each layer being about 20 inches
thick. In these deposits he found
| numerous fragments of pottery and
clay sculptures. Many of these are
of the Archaic type. There are a few
Maya finds. Also, some of the pottery
shows signs of a gradual transition
to the ceramic style of the Maya.
| indicating that the two types may
have blended or that one developed
into the other.
Geography, and earthquakes in
| particular, are helping in this tracing
| of early Mayan history. Exploring
| this unsettled region, DIR. Gamio has
| found evidence that "the Maya, able
| constructors Of lofty and complicated
edifices, did not, if one may judge
| from appearances, build anything In
the high zones affected by earth
| quakes. They confined themselves tc
the lower and above all to the coastal
regions. where shocks were not ex
| perienced.
Quakes Play Big Part.
Buildings of the Maya remain
standing in Guatemala today. DR.
Gamio suggests that probably these
careful builders profited by the earth
quake experiences of the earlier and
more primitive people, because the
| makers Of the archaic pottery had
established their settlements with
careless disregard of earthquake
| zones.
| 1t is not yet determined, however
whether these early inhabitants built
such simple homes that they did not
fear the rocking of houses and the
| falling of walls, or whether there
were fewer earthquakes in that part
| Of the world then.
| The part played by earthquakes ir
| the wanderings Of these prehistoric
! American tribes is being closely
studied by DR.. Gamio, who says that
| earthquakes have had marked in
fiuence on the development of human
| lifo