Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-18
EXCAVATORSF|ND
RARE ART WORKS
IN YUCATAN RUINS
Maya Peoples Shown to Have
High Esthetic Tastes Along
With Civilization.
FRAGMENTS ARE COPIED
BY CARNEGIE ARTISTS
Three Great Periods Include Ancient
One of Only Small Clay
Models.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

lhoNt0 H. 1ENh1s
The Maya peoples of Yucatan not
only established 1000 years ago a high
class material civilization, independent
| of outside influences, but also produced
| first-clasS works of art, remnants of
which are being recovered from their
buried cities by psychologists of the
Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Among the members of the staff in
Yucatan are two professional artists, M.
Jean Chariot and Ann Extell Morris
who are making copies in color of these
fragments. Many of them reveal an
original: native genius of high order
The figures often seem grotesque to
American eyes largely because modern
Americans are not MayaS and have been
conditioned to other artistic ideals.
The art OF the MayaS, according to M.
Chariot. falls naturally into three great
periods. The first of unknown antiqui-
ty, produced a wealth of small clay mod
els, mostly of human figures. The tech
nique was simple and child-like The
figures consist merely of pellets Of clay
stuck together, squeezed witt the fin
gers, and pierced with holes for the
eyes, mouth and nose.
Second Period Empire.
The second period corresponds broadly
with the beginning of the Christian era,
and is known as the Old Empire. Its
art relics are found largely in Guate-
mala and Honduras, where the Mayas
lived before migrating northward to
Yucatan. The height of achievement
was reached during the fourth century
and It's decline began during the sixth
century almost 1000 years before the
coming of the first white men.
From this period the Carnegie ex-
cavatorS have recovered many bas-
rellefs, monolithic stone monuments.
fallen fragments of decorative sculp-
ture and a few admirable examples of
painted pottery. 1t apparently was an
age Of strong religious feeling, accord
ing to M. Chariot. The subjects dealt
with are symbolic in character. The
human figures are depicted as wearing
quite complicated garments and orna-
ments, illustrating the complex nature
of the civilization which existed at the
time. This, he believes was the golden
age of Maya art, before it had been
affected in any way by outside in
fiuenceS. There can be traced a pro-
greSsive broadening of the esthetic
ideals of the artists.
The third period is known as the
North Maya or New Empire period and
its greatest achievements are found in
the buried cities of Uxmal and Chichen
TIA in Yucatan, where much of the
Carnegie excavation work has been car
ried on. Much of the artistic perfec-
ton of the old empire still is found,
but there 10 foreign note probably in
troduced from the North. The stone
and wood carvings show less mastery
of details. The Snost important con-
tributionS of this period. M. Chariot
believes, are the Illuminated manu-
scripts. three of which are known. and
the temple walls.
Religion and Social Order.
Religion and the social order is treat
ed more simply than in the earlier
period Great feather head dresses and
elaborate masks of the priests decrease
in size. 1t evidently was a more DEM
ocratic age. Scenes are shown depict
ing everyday life and there is more
probably reached its zenith during the
tenth and eleventh centuries, just be-
fore the Renaissance.
Through study of the general GUS
toms of the people, according to M.
Chariot, it is believed that all the Old
Empire sculptures once were covered
deliberately with paint. Only slight
vestiges of this paint are left. Pre-
sumably painting also was used by itself
and monumental frescoes once covered
the temple walls. None of these have
Eeen discovered. AS with many exam
Piles of Greek art, the lost paintings can
be studied only through the work of
minor painters who obtained their in
Spiration from the masters. These men
worked on vases and loW-reliefS.
STRIKING cha ra n nrictir nf the artists
of the Old Empire, says M. Chariot, was
their tendency to create abstract shapes
which were Wholly unrelated to the
world of nature. such as monsters and
dwarfish figures with animal faces. The
latter figures constitute, the so-called
''grotesque" gods. The artist of the New
Empire had lost much of the creative
imagination. He was realist and
copied faithfully from nature. OF the
hundreds of representations OF the
human figures recovered in Yucatan
there are few that do not convey the
impression that the subject sat for his
portrait"
Recovered Art Works.
During the past year Carnegie exca-
vatorS have recovered some works of art
from the transition period combining
the imagination of the old with the
realism of the new One of these was
an ancient stucco pyramid found at
Uaxactun, in Northern Guatemala.
This, built approximately 1000 years
ago, is characterized by M. Chariot as
perhaps the most beautiful example
of ancient American architecture that
has come down to us"
The pyramid is IS feet square at the
base and IS feet high. with stairway
on each of its four faces. Colossal
masks of fine lime stucco, the upper
pairs fashioned in the likeness of gro
| tesque human heads and the lower of
serpents' heads, flank these stairways,
guarding the approaches to the holy
region above. In the heart of this early
pyramid the excavators found human
skeleton.
Excavations on the floor of the plaza
which the pyramid faces disclosed frag-
ments of red-ware dishes and several
tiny human and animal figures OF clay,
which are of the archean type. All the
evidence here points to transition
from the simple realism of the pre-
Maya art to the religious symbolism OF
| the Old Fmpirc.