Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1926-08-16

Washington, D. c., August 14.-Dr.
Sylvanus Morley, who Is directing
the studies of ancient Maya life con-
Quoted by the Carnegie Institution
Of Washington, has just returned
from a season of field work in Yucca
tan. In speaking Of results he says
that this season witnessed the great
est find made during the past five
years Of strenuous labor in the Maya
country.
A Rich Discovery
He reports that last May two mem
bers of the staff of the Carnegie In
stitution, with headquarters at Chi
chen TIA, in northern Yucatan, beat
ing their way through 40 miles of
the tropical jungle lying to the south
east Of the modern city of Valladolid,
came upon a raised stone terrace,
several acres in extent, marking the
site of the ancient Maya city Of Coba.
Climbing the abrupt slope, without
warning they found themselves
standing before magnificent stone
monument 10 feet high and feet
wide.
This splendid shaft was deliberately
sculptured on all four sides. the front
and back with figures of rulers and
their slaves, the narrow sides with
columns of hieroglyphics. The most
striking figure was that Of a king,
holding in both arms a double head
ed staff, the Maya emblem of author
ity. A gorgeous head-dress of sweep
ing plumes rising above his head
falls over his shoulders. Symbolic Of
his power, this long-forgotten ruler
stands upon the back of a captive
while in the lower corners of the
monument kneel two worshipful hui
man figures.
The monument as a whole is inde-
scribably majestic and regal. In that
wild setting amid a foliage so dense
that sunlight scarcely Sits through,
it appeared not unlike some sacred
shrine set in the vast dusky nave Of
an old world cathedral.
Light on the Early Inhabitants
But this was not ALL stumbling
around the courts on this great ter
race. climbing over fallen trees and
heaps of stone, the two young ex-
plorers discovered seven other monu-
mentS similar to the first. Of the
eight, five were standing entire while
the tops of the remaining three had
been broken off in past ages perhaps
by falling trees.
Never before in Yucatan has more
than a single monument ever been
discovered at a given site. Only in
northern Guatemala, in the "Old EN-
pire Region" of the Maya, some two
hundred miles to the southwest of
Coba, are groups of monoliths to be
found on the sites of ancient cities.
Here, amid certain ruins, as many as
forty have been recovered.
To the archaelogist the finding of
a number of these monuments at
single site is one of the bits of evil
dence going to show that the Maya
occupancy Of Yucatan took place at
least a century and a quarter earlier
than the dates given in the native
chronicles would indicate. 1t now
seems fairly certain that the ancient
Maya must have begun to colonize
the peninsula during the early part
of the fourth century A. D., rather
than at the close of the fifth century
as native accounts have it.
EImanacs of Stone
These monuments of stone, as d..
Morley has shown in his brilliant
studies of the Maya ruins, comprise
one of the important Maya methods
of recording the passage of time
This system. called the Long
Count" consists of hieroglyphics,
or signs, carved on these monuments
to indicate the number of days which
have elapsed since the beginning of
the Maya chronology. A certain siga,
for example, represents a single
day, another sign represents a Maya
month of 20 days, while still another
indicates a year of $50 days. Then
there are signs for 20-year periods
and for periods of four centuries.
The system is amazingly accurate
within period of 374,00O years and
is remarkable achievement for any
people, whether ancient or modern.
These monuments, then, are in real
ity, great almanacs in stone.
How They Were Deeiphered
The clue which enabled Dr. Morley
and other archaeologists to read the
hieroglyphic writing of the Maya was
found in Madrid, Spain, in 1863. 1t
consisted of manuscript history Of
Yucatan, written in 1866 by PAGre
Landa, a Franciscan missionary, who
spent many years among the natives
of Yucatan. Landa described the
manners and customs of the Maya in
some detail. But in his description
of the native calendar he placed the
modern archaeologist under deep OBJ
legations for, through suggestions
which he gave, the hieroglyphic puz-
zle, upon which many persons have
been at work since the Landa manu-