CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN HEYE FOUNDATION VOLUME VI TURQUOIS MOSAIC ART IN ANCIENT MEXICO [Illustration: PL. I SHIELD OF WOOD WITH MOSAIC DECORATION MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN HEYE FOUNDATION, NEW YORK] TURQUOIS MOSAIC ART IN ANCIENT MEXICO BY MARSHALL H. SAVILLE [Illustration] NEW YORK MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN HEYE FOUNDATION 1922 CONDÉ NAST PRESS GREENWICH, CONN. TO GEORGE GUSTAV HEYE _In appreciation of his long-continued interest in all that pertains to the study of the aboriginal race of America, which has reached fruition in the opening of the_ MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN HEYE FOUNDATION _this volume is dedicated by the author and the staff of the Museum_ PREFACE The writer has undertaken the present study of Mexican Turquois Mosaics in honor of the approaching opening to the public of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, the only institution devoted exclusively to the study of the aboriginal American peoples ever established; and the proximate International Congress of Americanists to be held at Rio de Janeiro this summer. Owing to lack of time it has been impossible to obtain new photographic illustrations of all the specimens of mosaic-work in European museums, but the author desires to express his thanks to T. A. Joyce, Esq., for his courtesy in furnishing photographs of the examples in the British Museum. To Dr. Franz Heger, of the State Natural History Museum, Vienna, we are under deep obligations for photographs and description of the interesting Xolotl figure preserved in that Museum. Dr. S. K. Lothrop has kindly had photographs made of the objects of this class in the Prehistoric and Ethnographic Museum in Rome, and has made certain valuable observations concerning them. To Drs. A. M. Tozzer and H. J. Spinden special acknowledgment is due for their generous permission to illustrate the mosaics from Chichen Itza, thus anticipating their own description of the objects in the work now being prepared regarding one of the most important discoveries ever made in ancient America. The fine drawings are from the pen of William Baake, and the beautiful plates represent the best efforts of the Heliotype Company. Finally must be acknowledged the characteristic generosity of one of the trustees of the Museum, James B.