Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-19
SP|NDEN DESCRIBES
MAYA CIVILIZATION
IN JUNGLE W|LDS
Discovery of Science of Agri-
culture Is Credited to
Redmen.
WORK IN ASTRONOMY
LAUDED BY CURATOR
Development of Art and Study of
Mathematics by Race Is
Outlined.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

In the wet jungles of Central America
the Redman long before the coming Of
Columbus, had developed one of the
worlds great civilizations DR.. Herbert
j. Spinden, curator of the Brooklyn In
stitute of Arts and Sciences, told the
Washington Anthropological Society last
night.
To the Indian, he said, must be given
the credit of having made one OF the
two original discoveries Of the science
of agriculture in the world and ms olS-
coveries are largely the basis OF Amer
lean prosperity today. Not a single ele-
ment of this American agriculture wa wa
known in the Old World, DR.. Spnden
said.
In architecture, he pointed out, the
Redma1. had built pyramids 300 feet
high of stone and mortar, exceeding IN
size the famous great pyramid OF
Cheops in Egypt had developed a sys-
TEN of crude but accurate astronomy
and mathematics, and had attained a
perfection in art which was not reached
in the Old World until the GOLDEN age
of Greek genius.
Even now. he said, a start hardly mas
been made at unraveling the mysteries
of the ancient cities OF Yucatan anu
Guatemala, where the Maya clvlllza-
ton reached its greatest development.
The recovery of the history OF the Mayas
Involves reading complicated hyroglyphlc
writing and interpreting carved hgures.
Serpent SymbOlized Sanctity.
Yet these show that nearly thou
sand years before the coming OF Column
bus the civilization had reached sucn
a stage that a great scientific congress
was held in the City of Coba, the CEN
ter of the old Maya Empire. Mucn
of the Maya religious art, he salo, Is
dlficult to appreciate because OF the
strangeness of the ideas to white men.
Thus. everywhere is the figure OF the
SERPENT. incorporated in the designs OF
buildings and in the pictures OF kings
and gods. Yet the people were not SER
cont worshippers, but used the serpent
as symbol of sanctity, much as the
halo is used in Christian art.
Tie Maya, he pointed out, was in
Z approximately the cultural stage OF the
E Greeks before. the days of their great
est advances. and of the Assyrians and
Egvptians. The art of the buried cities
shows that the Indian still was at the
animal god" stage, which was the
status of the early cultures Of Europe.
Such figures as the sacred Jaguar are
prominent.
This is a natural stage, DR.. Spinden
pointed out, in the process Of human
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sees certain animals greatly superior 70
himself in some qualities. He natural
" assumes that they represent the Su-
preme embodimentS of these qualities,
or gods. Thus the Maya did not wor-
ship the jaguar itself, but the perfect
combination of jaguar qualities, OF
which the animal itself was symbol.
This was about the same religion las
that of ancient Egypt.
COnquerOr Held Great Leader.
The Maya had developed, he said, a
very beautiful form of religious symbol
ism, based upon observations Of nature.
It involved, like many of the other In
dian religions, blood sacrifice, but the
Maya shed his own blood on the altar.
This was supposed to be very holy.
Some of the loveliest of Maya paintings
show drops of blood from the pierced
ear of the priest or king changing into
flowers as they fell, and birds sucking
the nectar from them.
All this disappeared before the con-
quering Toltecs from the north, also
people who had developed high civil
ization but of fercer stock who main
tanned human sacrifice. The first
Toltec chieftain who Subdued the Maya
empire, DR.. Spinden said, must be con-
Eidered as one of the greatest figures
in New World history, consolidating an
empire which covered most Of Mexico
and Central America. He was highly
impressed, the Inscriptions show, with
the gentler religion of the Mayas and
tried to introduce 1t in place of human
sacrifice among his own people, but
could make no progress before the
Toltec fundamentaliStS of his day.
The Toltec empire, in turn, DR.. Spin
den pointed out, went down before the
Aztecs, who had established their
capital on the present site of Mexico
City and were in their full glory when
the Spaniards came. The 'AztecS and
Toltecs, DR.. Spinden said, probably bore
about the same relation TO the Mayas
as the conquering Romans to the
Greeks.
Recent discoveries show, he said, that
at its height the Maya culture was
very widespread. reaching far into
South America and into the Southern
limits of the present United States.
Thus. there Is one little doll-like fig
ure, probably a representation of the
goddess Of fertility, which the Mayas
placed in their corn fields. which is
found almost universally through this
area.
Ruin Threatens Structures.
Analysis of the human faces in the
Maya art, he said. shows that they
must have been a highly intellectual
people with a great deal of moral
character. Their descendants, who
still live on the scene of the former
glory Of their race, appear greatly
degenerated.
1t is unfortunate, he said. that
tourists have begun to be interested
in the ancient New World cities This
has led to building roads to the sites
and cleaning off the dense masses of
tropical vegetation which covered the
ruins. AS a result the great stone
structures are left exposed to the damp
tropical weather and are in great
danger of being destroyed. They are
not like the ruins of Egypt, which
are preserved by the desert atmos-
phere.