[Illustration: FIG. 40.--Eccentrically shaped implements found at
summit of mound.]
[Illustration: FIG. 41.--Flint object found at base of stela.]
[Illustration: FIG. 42.--Flint object found at base of stela.]
Among these three large pyramidal structures are conspicuous, which no
doubt at one time carried small temples upon their summits, some remains
of which are still to be seen. At the base of these pyramids stand three
small plain stelæ, quite unornamented. Upon the summit of one of these
mounds the eccentrically shaped implements shown in figures 40 and 44
were found. Of these, figure 40, _a_, _b_, and figure 44, _m_, _n_, _o_,
_p_, are of obsidian, while the rest are of flint. Sixty-four of these
objects were found in all, at depths varying from one or two inches to a
foot beneath the surface; all were within an area of about 2 square
yards. Some of the objects, especially the obsidians, were chipped out
with great care and accuracy; others were merely flint flakes with a few
shallow indentations chipped in their sides. On the south side of the
largest of the pyramids stood a large sculptured stela, the upper part
of which had been broken off and lay close to the lower part, which was
still embedded in cement. The sculptured part of this stela measured 10
feet 2 inches in length by 4 feet 3 inches in breadth, and about 16
inches in thickness. The sculpture, which is in low relief, represents a
captive, or sacrificial victim, prone on his face and knees, while above
him rises the figure of the priest or warrior, with elaborately
decorated feather headdress, holding in his extended right hand a small
figure of the manikin god. The limestone from which the stela is cut has
been very much defaced by the weather, and the finer details of the
sculpture can not now be deciphered. The back and sides are plain and
unsculptured. Close to this monolith lay a small stone altar, 2 feet 6
inches by 2 feet 4 inches; on its upper surface is represented the
figure of a skeleton with head bent over the extended right arm, while
the left is held in to the side, the elbow joint at right angles. In
front of the skeleton is a double row of hieroglyphs, each row
containing 7 glyphs, most of which are in a fairly good state of
preservation. An excavation was made round the part of the monolith
still standing. It was found to be surrounded by a solid foundation of
blocks of limestone, held together by cement, among which were found,
near the base of the stela, and actually in contact with it, the two
eccentrically shaped flint objects shown in figures 41 and 42. In
excavating a stela at the ruins of Naranjo, Republic of Guatemala,
Teobert Maler found the flint illustrated in figure 43, _a_, and in
clearing another stela at the same ruins 24 similar flints were found
(fig. 43, _b-s_). Of these he says:
[Illustration: FIG. 43.--Flints found in ruins at Naranjo.]
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