Villagutierre tells us that the Indians of this region as late as the end of the seventeenth century still practiced to some extent the rites of their ancient religion;[51] and in the voyages which he describes up the Rio Hondo, and to Tipu, the Spaniards must frequently have come in contact with the ancestors of the present Santa Cruz and Icaichè Indians, from whose territory the specimens shown in figures 68 and 69, typical examples of this class, were taken. During the early years of the Spanish occupancy it is probable that the Indians, even in this remote and little visited region, living in a constant state of semiwarfare and rebellion, robbed, enslaved, driven from their villages, with little time to cultivate their milpas, gradually lost their ancient traditions and arts, and, long neglecting, ultimately almost entirely forgot, the elaborate ritual connected with their former religion. Such a decadence may be observed in comparing the incense burners illustrated in plate 20 and figure 68. The very marked facial characteristics of the former have given place to the crudely modeled, vacuous face of the latter, resembling the work of a child; while the elaborate dress and ornament, each minutest part of which probably had a special significance and symbolism, though retaining to some extent the form of their main constituents--the headdress, breastplate, _maxtli_, and sandals--have almost completely lost the wealth of detail which gave them significance. [Illustration: FIG. 70.--Crude clay figurine found in Mound No. 25.] Incense burners of the third type are decorated with a very crude representation of the face only of the god, consisting in some cases merely of slits for the eyes and mouth, with a conical projection for the nose, on the outer surface of the vessel. Some of the faces are represented conventionally by two ears, with ear plugs, one on each side of the vessel, or by knobs of clay on its outer edge, which represent the hair. Lastly, the incense burner, which may be recognized by its hourglass shape, may be quite plain and undecorated. The third type is probably the latest in point of time;[52] this includes the crude face-decorated bowls still used by the modern Lacandones,[53] among whom the ritual, as is so frequently the case, seems to have survived almost in its entirety the faith which gave birth to it. This is the more readily comprehensible when we remember that the manufacture and use of these ceremonial incense burners was practiced commonly by all classes of the people, not having been restricted, like most other details of the Maya ritual, solely to the priests. [Illustration: FIG. 71.--Small pottery vases found in Mound No. 26.] MOUND NO. 26