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Article THE RUINED CITIES IN CENTRAL AMERICA. ← Page 6 of 7 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Ruined Cities In Central America.
figuration , are supposed not to typify the human race , but to be the skulls of monkeys—this supposition being strengthened by the fact that among the fragments that lay strewn about the foot of the pyramid was found the effigy of a colossal baboon or ape , bearing a strong resemblance to the . animals of the same species sculptured on
the great obelisk from the ruins of Thebes , Avhich now graces the Place de la Concorde , in Paris . Among the fragments on the ground were also several human heads carved in bold relief , and conveying the impression that they are intended to represent some persons high in favour and position . These form an exception to the figures in
some of the the ruined buildings in Central America , being unencumbered with the extraordinary head-dresses which distinguish those in other cities . Traces of colour are still visible , indicating that like many nations of the Old World these sculptures had been painted to represent natui-al life . I may add , before I leave this part of the
subject , that the sculptures are said generally to equal those of the finest Egyptian marbles , but in many instances the execution is rude . The Palace of Palenque is a tower built of stone , thirty feet square at the base , and three storeys high . The purpose for which it has served is difficult to divine , there being no visible means of ingress . Within the precincts of the palace there are several detached buildings much
ruined , and the character of which it is consequently difficult to define . From the door of the inner corridor on the front side of the building , a flight of stone steps , thirty feet broad , leads down into the principal courtyard , a rectangular area eighty feet by seventy ; and on the opposite side is a similar flight corresponding with a corridor in the
interior of the building , On each side of both these flights of steps are sculptured bas-reliefs of human figures , grim in appearance , nine or ten feet high . Some are standing ; others kneeling ; others seated crosslegged ; and the greater number have one or both hands pressed against the breast , as if expressive of suffei'ing , which is depicted in
some of the upturned faces . Their forms are uncouth , and proportions are incorrect ; but there is a certain force of expression in their countenances and attitudes which renders them interesting even as specimens of artistic skill . A peculiarity in these figures is the form of their heads—flattened behind and elongated on the top—betraying
some affinity to the customs of the North-American Indians of the present day , who alter the form of the head by pressure in infancy . A very able article in " The Century , " formerly " Scribner ' s Monthly , " has to a certain extent solved the mystery of the hieroglyphics , and the writer thereof submits a kind of table by which he reads the sculptured
stones of the Palenque Cross , and does it pretty much on the principle adopted by Major Rawlinson in deciphering the Rosetta stone , and 2 A 2
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Ruined Cities In Central America.
figuration , are supposed not to typify the human race , but to be the skulls of monkeys—this supposition being strengthened by the fact that among the fragments that lay strewn about the foot of the pyramid was found the effigy of a colossal baboon or ape , bearing a strong resemblance to the . animals of the same species sculptured on
the great obelisk from the ruins of Thebes , Avhich now graces the Place de la Concorde , in Paris . Among the fragments on the ground were also several human heads carved in bold relief , and conveying the impression that they are intended to represent some persons high in favour and position . These form an exception to the figures in
some of the the ruined buildings in Central America , being unencumbered with the extraordinary head-dresses which distinguish those in other cities . Traces of colour are still visible , indicating that like many nations of the Old World these sculptures had been painted to represent natui-al life . I may add , before I leave this part of the
subject , that the sculptures are said generally to equal those of the finest Egyptian marbles , but in many instances the execution is rude . The Palace of Palenque is a tower built of stone , thirty feet square at the base , and three storeys high . The purpose for which it has served is difficult to divine , there being no visible means of ingress . Within the precincts of the palace there are several detached buildings much
ruined , and the character of which it is consequently difficult to define . From the door of the inner corridor on the front side of the building , a flight of stone steps , thirty feet broad , leads down into the principal courtyard , a rectangular area eighty feet by seventy ; and on the opposite side is a similar flight corresponding with a corridor in the
interior of the building , On each side of both these flights of steps are sculptured bas-reliefs of human figures , grim in appearance , nine or ten feet high . Some are standing ; others kneeling ; others seated crosslegged ; and the greater number have one or both hands pressed against the breast , as if expressive of suffei'ing , which is depicted in
some of the upturned faces . Their forms are uncouth , and proportions are incorrect ; but there is a certain force of expression in their countenances and attitudes which renders them interesting even as specimens of artistic skill . A peculiarity in these figures is the form of their heads—flattened behind and elongated on the top—betraying
some affinity to the customs of the North-American Indians of the present day , who alter the form of the head by pressure in infancy . A very able article in " The Century , " formerly " Scribner ' s Monthly , " has to a certain extent solved the mystery of the hieroglyphics , and the writer thereof submits a kind of table by which he reads the sculptured
stones of the Palenque Cross , and does it pretty much on the principle adopted by Major Rawlinson in deciphering the Rosetta stone , and 2 A 2