(i) A small round pot, with flaring rim,
of common red ware, showing no attempt at decoration. (j) Scattered
throughout the sand, in the midst of these pots, were found 35 very
small, flat, circular disks or beads, averaging about one-twelfth inch
in thickness. Some were of greenstone, others of a reddish-yellow stone
mottled with white. All were well polished.
[Illustration: PLATE 17
PAINTED BASIN AND COVER FROM MOUND NO. 16]
On removing the sand to a depth of 12 feet the bottom of the chamber was
reached. The floor, which was composed of hard mortar, measured 4 by 3
feet, as the chamber was somewhat funnel-shaped, narrowing as it
descended. On the bottom of the chamber were found a number of small
oyster and cockle shells, with fragments of human bones. Among these was
an inferior maxilla in fairly good state of preservation; from the facts
that the tooth sockets had disappeared, that there was considerable
atrophy along the alveolar processes and widening of the angle between
the horizontal and vertical sections of the bone, it had probably
belonged to a person of advanced age.
MOUND NO. 16
Mound No. 16 was situated about 2 miles due north of the last-described
mound, close to the north bank of the Rio Hondo, within the territory of
Quintana Roo. It was discovered by an Indian, who had cut a piece of
virgin bush with the object of making a milpa. The mound was 35 feet in
height by 250 feet in circumference at the base; in shape it resembled a
truncated cone, the flattened summit of which measured 30 feet in one
direction by 6 feet in the other. The mound was composed throughout of
rough blocks of limestone, the interstices of which were filled in with
limestone dust and an unusually large quantity of light-brown earth.
Excavation was commenced at the top of the mound; for the first 6 feet
nothing except a few potsherds was found. Scattered through the next 2
feet of the mound the following objects were brought to light; these
were mingled indiscriminately with the limestone blocks of which the
mound was built, quite unprotected by cist or chamber: (a) A
basin-shaped vessel 20 cm. in diameter, 10 cm. in height (pl. 17),
covered by a round conical lid with a semicircular handle. Both basin
and cover are painted black and polished, inside and out. Upon the
outer surface of the vase and the upper surface of the lid are incised
in low relief a series of pictographs, identical upon both. From the
nature of the design and the fact that the vase contained a number of
fragments of human bones, it seems probable that it was intended for a
cinerary urn. The design is of considerable interest and worthy of
detailed consideration. The most prominent object upon both the lid and
the vase itself is a naked human figure in a recumbent position, with
the arms flexed over the chest and abdomen and the knees and thighs
semiflexed. The ornaments worn consist of an elaborate feather-decorated
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