they might have been used in playing some game. With them were a small
solid cylinder, of light greenstone, finely polished for suspension,
12 small obsidian knives, seemingly quite new, as they showed no signs
of notching from use, and six convolvulus-shaped ornaments of light
greenstone, finely polished, which had probably been used as ear plugs.
Close to the last lay a hollow cylinder of extremely hard terra cotta
7 cm. in height, inscribed externally with a geometrical device in low
relief (pl. 16, _d_). This object was undoubtedly a cylindrical seal or
stamp for use on a handle; similar specimens are not uncommon in the
south of British Honduras and in Guatemala, though in the north of the
colony and in Yucatan they are of much less frequent occurrence. Small
patches of charcoal and of green powder were found in several places
scattered over the floor of this chamber. Nothing further was found
in this mound, which was composed throughout of earth and water-worn
bowlders.
Several more mounds were excavated at Kendal, but nothing was found in
them. They were all composed of earth and large, water-worn bowlders,
the former greatly predominating. Close to many of the mounds a deep
excavation in the surface is to be seen, from which the material to
construct the mound was evidently taken. These mounds form a decided
contrast to those in the north of British Honduras and in southern
Yucatan: they are lower, flatter, more diffuse and irregular in
outline, with the line of demarcation between the base of the mound
and the surrounding soil very poorly defined. The northern mounds are
more clearly defined, with steeper sides, smaller summits, and base
lines easily distinguishable. The reason for this difference is to be
sought in the material from which the mounds were constructed, which in
the south is clay, with a small admixture of river bowlders, both of
which are easily washed down by the torrential tropical rains of the
district. Year by year the mound becomes flatter and less well defined,
till at length most of these mounds will be hardly distinguishable
from the surrounding earth. In the north, on the contrary, the mounds
are built of large blocks of limestone, with only a small admixture
of earth and limestone dust. In many cases the blocks are mortared
together, and in nearly all cases layers of cement are alternated with
layers of stone. The whole forms a practically solid block of masonry,
capable of withstanding for all time the less heavy rainfall of this
part of British Honduras and Yucatan. About the center of a triangular
space, bounded at each angle by a small mound, situated close to the
mound last described, was found a piece of water-worn rock measuring 4
feet 10 inches in length, which had evidently been carried up from the
river bed a quarter of a mile away. Three or four inches of it appeared
above the soil. Beneath the rock extended a layer of water-worn river
stones to a depth of 2 feet.
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