Smyrna times., 1928-02-22
TREASURE is FOUND
BY INDIANS DREAM
Ancient Pagan Temple In
Mexican Wilds Revealed.

Mexico City. A guided
search for treasure by the descendants
of an ancient chieftain who fought
against COrtez has ended most amaz-
ingly in the discovery of one of the
most splendid temples yet known of
the pagan gods of pre-Hispanic Mex
leo, dedicated to Camaxtli, the chief
god of the Tlaxcala nation before
the conquest.
DR.. Eduardo Noguera, Inspector of
the department of archelOgy of the
ministry Of education, investigated
tile discovery at Tizatlan for the Mex
lean government and conducted sys-
tematic excavations there. He states
HAT the Indians of the town claim
that one Of their number. Panfilo San
chez Is a descendant of Xicotencatl,
former loFS of TiZatlan and one of
the rulers Of She Tlaxcala nation and
a bitter adversary Of COrtez. This
Sanchez declared that Xicotencatl
himself appeared to GSm In a dream
and revealed the whereabouts Of his
hidden treasure.
vision, went with Panfilo to th& des-
ignated spot to dig. They came E2on
prehistoric ruins and in their thiTSt
for treasure cleared away a large
amount of earth in two weeks Walls
Of a temple and beautiful polychrOme
frescoes appeared, and the fame Of
tile discovery spread throughout the
state of Tlaxcala and into Mexico
City. Government authorities We're
sent to investigate and the amateur
excavation was stopped.
Temple on Crest Of Hill.
The temple remains are on the
crest of a hill overlooking the Indian
village Of Tizatlan and are under the
ruins of an old Christian church be-
lieted to have been built by Cortez
after the destruction of the heather
temple more than 400 years ago.
The ruins belong to the Aztec cul-
ture. DR.. Reygadas Vertiz, director of
the department of archaeology under
the ministry of education. says that
the find is one of the most important
Of recent times because the building
contains pOlychrOme frescO paintings
considered to be real codices, or his
torical records in symbolic picture
form. The picture writings may form
an important link in piecing together
the story Of Mexico before the dis
covery Of America
True codices are found on very
few Aztec ruins. Doctor Reygadas sayr.
Most Of the codices now in existence
are on maguey paper, made from the
fiber Of a common Mexican plant, and
are in European museums. Even of
these but few are left. because the
cOnquerOrs and the missionaries who
followed them destroyed all the tenn
pies, idols and written records Of the
native races in their zeal to convert
them to Christianity. Here and there
a strip of picture writing was secretly
saved lis a souvenir or sent to Europe
as a curiosity After several centuries
had passed their historical value vas
recognized and those few remnants
found their way into collections ana
museums.
coiored Symbols Une4rthed.
u floor about eigh,aen feet wide
and thirty-seyen f3lt long has now
been eXcavatnd, 1nd the rectangular
space was foI1d to be perfectly ori-
eItaieI wi5a the cardinal points. on
this spere stand two raised stone plat
forg1s, both beautifully ornamented
@ith brilliantly cOIored symbols.
Among figures are some that are
easily recognized, such as the water
sign and the death sign.
On the short vertical ends of the
platforms are canals that divide the
walls into two equal parts. Because
Of the constant repetition of the death
sign and the water sign, which in this
case could also be interpreted as the
blood sign, it is believed that these
slabs were sacrifcial affairs and that
tie canals served to lead away the
blood. The most beautiful figure on
the frcscoes is that of the god Camax-
til, and for that reason it is believed
that the temple was built in his
honor.