Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1942-04-23
Ten Thousand Years Ago

Ten Thousand Years Ago
Lava buried community, which
had an advanced civilization, 10000
years ago. 1t was probably the old
est civilization known to man. In
the suburbs of Mexico City, at a
place called Cuicuilco, the lava
from a range Of mountains flowed
down covering an area of rs square
miles. Beneath the lava was bur-
led villages, cemeteries and mon
uments. A stone quarry reveals
the lava 80 feet thick, and beneath
the lava cemetery. From this
cemetery have been brought forth
skeletons of men of superior height.
Pottery of fine quality is scattered
, beneath the lava. Rock carvings
of eagles, plumed serpents and SOL
diers with head-dress and bucklers
are seen. These were buried under
the lava-fow 10000 years ago!
Yonder, ten miles away, the
Ajusco range of mountains is seen,
and from this awful height flowed
stream of basalt, that entrapped
and buried a most interesting peo-
pie. They were not nomads, wan
derers, living from place to place.
They were a settled people, farm
ing, building homes, temples, ceme-
teries and spinning fiber much as
Mexicans do today. They were pot
ters and sculptors They had idols
and a religious system as the ar
ticles at the museum disclose today.
Tunnels disclose villages of by
name this civilization has been
named "Archaic.' The excavation
was in charge Of the Rockefeller
Foundation.
One cannot escape a thrill at the
extreme age of this community so
strangely entrapped 10000 years
ago. That was the age of the lava
flow, determined to some extent by
the age of the strata it covered.
Looking at the strata of lime, scoria
and basalt it would seem there
must have been several streams
proceeding at different times from
the volcanoes, thus making living
precarious in this section.
Most interesting of all is the
buried Cone of Cuicuilco some
times called a pyramid" although
it is certainly frustum of a cone.
Excatation of this was accomplish
ed by Dr. Byron Cummings of the
University of Arizona. The mason
nv is of fine type, the stone well
fitted together. There are four
terraces. one above another, at in
tervals of 20 or 80 feet, totaling
about 100 feet in all.
The lava stream imprisoned this
cone, like small island, at the
foot of the Ajusco range. Nobody
can tell how long the temple was
here before the eruption. Imagine
the terror that enveloped the people
when homes, cities, cemeteries, even
the temple, most sacred of all, was
buried At the top of the cone
were found three large superimpos
ed affairs, at the center Of the struc-
ture. Round, large river stones
foot thick lay at the top Of the al
tar, brought some distance, there
being no river near, or eliminated
by the lava. Indian cement, still
seen, very black and very hard,
shows splatches of red paint. after
10000 years. The excavators found
it necessary to shore up the three
affairs with stone wall to keep
them in place, as they are sur
rounded by friable clay.
A lower excavation was made to
ascertain how far below the lava
the cone extended. The lava had
climbed up the cone wall about 20
or 80 feet. A tunnel made under
the center revealed nothing more
than this, that the core was of dirt
Nearly all Mexican pyramids were
built over center of dirt, rubble
or abode. This monument may be
as old as any in Egypt, Mesopotam-
ia or China.
That same day we visited nearby
Coyoacan, home of Cortes, Alvara-
do, Ordaz and other conquistadores.
They are 400 years old, but kept in
fine style Alvarado's home, once
the Panamanian Embassy, is the
house where Trotsky died, and now
shelters King Carol and Madame
Lepescu. There is here a fine
monument to Obregon, on the spot
where he was assassinated, the spot
purchased and the monument erect
ed by his friends. The home of the
celebrated painter, Rivera, is here
also, and his study, the home col
ored blue, the study red. They are
ultra-m modern, and connected by an
odd spiral stairway The cluttered
yard is surrounded by a fence of
organ cactus Cortes house is per-
haps the oldest in the western hem
isphere 1529).
Here was fought the battle of
Churubusco, where General Scott
vanquished the Mexican forces un-
der Pedro Anaya Old cannon are
seen along the walls. At the Cas-
tie of Chapultepec, that same day
was pointed out the 80 cannon ball
holes made in the lower fort of the
castle, by the artillery of the Amer
lean forces s.-Howard III. Scott,
Mexico City. Jan. 13, 1912