Indians of Central America -- Nicaragua -- Antiquities; Nicaragua -- Antiquities
The western portion of the island is plain, partly cultivated, partly
covered by bush, the eastern is very rugged. Cerro de Pantheon, its
highest point, is about 60 meters above the surface of the lake. This
mountain ridge is 80 to 100 meters in length by 10 to 15 in breadth,
and offers an extraordinarily well-fit place for rock-carvings. And,
indeed, the ancient inhabitants of the island have made such an eager
use of this opportunity that the whole crown of the ridge is densely
covered with sculptures. This crown, as has been mentioned before,
forms a perfectly level surface; indeed, it is not quite impossible
that human hands may have helped nature to level it. On the part of
the mountain chiefly occupied by the rock-carvings, the vegetation was
very scanty, consisting of low shrubs and stiff grass. I could not
detect any carvings on the different sides of the mountain, nor on the
large loose blocks of stone north of Cerro de Pantheon. But on large
flat or round blocks, detached long ago from the side of the mountain,
and lying all the way down to the southern shore at Punta de Pantheon,
numerous carvings were found. Such were also to be seen there in the
solid rock as well on land as on that part of the rock that stretches
into the lake. I can here give illustrations only of the lesser part
of the carvings. The wreaths were generally even, boldly cut, 4-6 cm.
broad, 2-3 cm. deep.
_a_
Pl. 37.
It represented the upper part of a human figure. The face was broad,
with round eyes, broad nose, and square mouth. The head was surmounted
by four plumes, meant, according to the conception of my Indians, to
represent a crown of feathers. On this account, they honoured the
figure with the name of «La Reyna». The chest was short and broad, the
arms very long, the hands circular, the left one much larger than the
right one, both provided with eight radiating fingers. The length of
the figure from the crown of the head to the lower edge of the breast
was 64 cm.; the breadth between the elbows 127 cm.
_b_
Pl. 37.
It may possibly have been intended to represent a very primitive human
figure. The face was formed by two concentric circles; the eyes and
the mouth were represented by three small shallow cavities. On the
head there was a kind of head-ornament, broader upwards, or possibly
the face of an animal, also marked with three cavities. The body was
a rectangular enlargement without arms, with a straight furrow in its
middle; from its lower edge there issued one long, straight leg, ending
in a short foot, broadening outwards. The entire length of the figure
was 82 cm.; the breadth of the face was 16 cm.
_c_
Pl. 37.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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