Evening star., 1936-10-15

Guarded from irresponsible intrusion
for generations by the supposed blue
ghosts OF it's ancient sleepers in the
valley of a jungle river, possible an
cestral culture of one Of eartfs great
civilizations has been found in Hon
duras by a Joint Bureau Of American
Ethnology and Harvard University eX-
pedition.
The archeologists, led by DR.. William
D. Strong of the Bureau OF Ethnology,
found along the Ulua River and one
of its tributaries definite stratiflcatlon
between Mayan artifacts and those OF
more primitive but similar type OF
considerably earlier date.
When Spanish explorers first came to
Honduras in the sixteenth century they
found great civilization in its declining
DAYS. With its pyramidike temples, It's
statuary, its ceramics, its agriculture, 1ts
religion and it's mathematics. 1t had been
one of the three or four great achieve
ments of human intellect and energy IN
history. In some ways it was superior
to the European civilization OF the Span
iards and in some essential respects quite
inferior. 1t has developed independently
of other culture centerS. 1t was by lar
the greatest achievement OF aboriginal
America.
OF late years the ruins OF Mayan ciVln-
Zation have been explored extensively
by archeologists and there has come out
OF their labors a fairly clear picture OF
the daily life of the people. But it seemed
to have come into being IN 1ull mower.
It's earliest remnants were almost as
good as those of its highest perloo. Wnere
did it come from? What lay behind this
great explosion of mans genius IN
feveriSh tropical land? There have been
only a few questionable clues.
In 1929 the late Mrs. Dorothy M.
Popenoe. former Department OF Agri-
culture botanist, who then was living
in Honduras, became intrigued by natlVe
stories of the "playas des los muertos,
or beaches of the dead, along tne oiua.
This swift stream for generations hao
been cutting a deeper and deeper cnan-
mel and for some time past had been
exnosinp ancient graves 20 feet or more
below the surface. The bones of an
ancient and mysterious people were
found protruding from its banks or lit
tering its temporary beaches. The depth
at which they were buried showed that
an incalculable time must have passed
since they died.
Natives greatly feared these beaches
of the dead. Strange blue lights, pos
sibly some phosphorescent effect. noateo
over them at night. They thought these
were the ghosts of the ancient dead
guarding their own graves. The places
were summed by the living. They were
almost inaccessible.
Mrs. Popenoe caused herself to be low
cred by ropes over the 2O-foot bank OF
the river and in this way gathered
great deal of skeletal material OF the
mysterious "beaches of the dead" peo-
ple. These old bones were difflcult to
interpret. They had rested so long under
the great weight of 20 feet OF earth that
they were badly broken and distorted.
Mrs. Popenoe's work was halted by her
death. with the problem unfinished.
Now it so happened that the beaches
of the dead were on the edge Of the
area of Mayan civilization and might
afford some clue to its origins. When
DR.. Strong, accompanied by Alfred KID
der, I'd, and Drexel Paul, jr, OF the Pea
body Museum of Harvard, arrived ON
the Ulua last Spring they found that
the sites explored by Mrs. Popenoe had
been completely obliterated by hoods.
This turned out in the end to be for
tunate circumstance.
Along the river bank they sunk a