_Maya Architecture_ furnishes evidence of growth, and may be classified into the Chiapan or ancient and the Yucatanic or modified styles. The Chiapan or ancient style is exhibited in the imposing remains of Palenque, with which the reader is supposed to be already familiar, from the descriptions of several explorers.[492] Palenque is situated in the Usumacinta River region in Chiapas, on a small stream sometimes called the Otolum, a tributary of the Tulija, which is itself a branch of the Usumacinta. The ruins are situated in a small valley of the foothills, from which rise the high table-lands of the interior. They are known as the Palace, with a pyramidal base measuring two hundred and sixty by three hundred and ten feet and forty feet high; Temple of the three Tablets; Temple of the Beau Relief; Temple of the Cross, and Temple of the Sun. The most conspicuous feature of the architecture employed, and seen in most of the Central American structures, is the massive pyramidal foundation. The sides of the pyramid of the Palenque palace are faced with regular blocks of hewn stone, with extensive flights of stairs, upon the east and north leading to its summit.[493] Mr. Bancroft has analyzed the structure of the American pyramid in a philosophical way, and no doubt has in part explained its object. “I think,” he remarks, “that perhaps with a view to raise this place or temple above the waters of the stream, four thick walls, possibly more, were built up perpendicularly from the ground to the desired height; then, after the completion of the walls, to strengthen them, or during the progress of the work to facilitate the raising of the stones, the interior was filled with earth, and the exterior graded with the same material, the whole being subsequently faced with hewn stone.”[494] [Illustration: Mode of Constructing Pyramid.]