STONE-MOUND 1.
At the mound 1 ([Pl. 41]), the largest of all, and the one situated farthest to the north and west, several statues were found remaining in the same position, that they originally must have occupied, because the mound was still surrounded by six figures, standing in its circumference; and larger or smaller fragments of the pedestals of three others were found in the ground, although the statues themselves were thrown down beside them, and more or less broken. Judging by the regular distances between these statues, it is probable, that there have been twelve figures standing in the periphery of this building or temple. The fact that those remaining in the ground fronted outwards, and that their backs, which were turned towards the building, were not smooth, but only plane-cut, strengthens my hypothesis that the figures have formed part of a stone- or logwall enclosing the building. All those statues of the mound 1, of which the upper parts remained, with the exception of D, and another not delineated one, carried on their heads a more or less long and broad projection in the form of a tenon, and on this account I venture to propose the hypothesis, that they have served to support the wall-plate of a more or less circular building. All the statues were monoliths, cut from blocks of blackish basalt of a pretty considerable hardness. The roof itself has probably been covered with palm leaves, a supposition confirmed by certain indications in Cerezeda and Oviedo. That the temples should have been open, as Squier seems to think, I venture to doubt, on account of the above described form of the statues; this appears to show that they must have been united with one another by a wall, probably of cut stones.
A
[Pl. 1].
Male, standing figure, in an easy posture, with the arms hanging straight down. It stood quite upright, but was buried in the earth to the elbows; by digging round it, it was laid bare to just below the knees. It was the finest and most nobly sculptured of all the Nicaraguan statues that I have had an opportunity of seeing. The face, neck, and chest were carefully elaborated, the mouth closed with full lips, the Adam’s apple marked out at the throat, the muscles of the chest, as well as of the arms, correctly rendered; the hands on the contrary were somewhat stiff, with the thumbs in the same plane with the other fingers. The shoulders, elbows, and hips were well formed (the arms were, however, not detached from the body), but passed gradually backwards into the plane-cut back of the stone. The head was covered with a large, rounded hood or cap, projecting above, and drawn out in rounded flaps at the sides of the neck. Upwards and backwards this hood passed into a kind of capital, ornamented at the sides with a semi-circular depression, bordered by a rounded rim, with globularly enlarged ends. The tenon-shaped projection above the head was unusually large, tapering upwards, surrounded in front by a double frame, at the sides by a simple, broad, sharply cut one. The statue was perfectly equilateral. It did not seem to have been exposed to any injury whatever, and was on the whole the best preserved of all in this locality. The whole length of the statue from the upper edge of the tenon to the knee was 225 cm., the breadth across the shoulders 58 cm., the length of the tenon 65 cm.
Female, standing figure, its head slightly bent forwards, and its arms hanging straight down. It was found erect, but imbedded in the earth to the navel; the head was broken off, but was found close to the statue. The statue was very well sculptured, but not so carefully finished as the preceding one. The forehead was adorned with a low turban or round band, upon which was placed the heavy capital, with carvings in relief on the sides. The capital was surmounted by the square-shaped tenon, the lower part of which was surrounded by twenty staves with rounded tips. These ornaments seem to indicate, that in this statue, as well as in the former one, which was adorned with a double frame, the lower part of the tenon has been visible, and only its uppermost portion inserted into the plate of the building. The face and chest were well preserved, although not so accurately rendered as in A. The mouth was half-open, the eyes were well marked, deep cut, the ears hidden by large, square, flat, and grooved pieces. The breasts were held up by a double, round band. The breadth across the shoulders was extraordinarily great. The shoulders were high and thin, the arms very short and feeble in proportion to the body, not entirely detached, but much more so than in A. The length of the statue from the upper edge of the tenon to the knee was 226 cm., the breadth across the shoulders 66 cm.; the length of the tenon 34 cm.
C
[Pl. 4].
Male, half-sitting figure, with straight hanging arms; of considerably less size than A and B, and very badly damaged. The head and neck were broken off, and crushed into small fragments, impossible to reconstruct. The pedestal was round, column-shaped, without any ornaments. The figure had powerful arms, detached from the sides of the body. The legs were unusually thick and strong, the feet clumsy, with thick, short toes. In the middle of the chest there was a carved oval, with a little circle in its centre. The length of the statue from the shoulder to the sole of the foot was 110 cm., the breadth across the shoulders 56 cm.
C 1
Not figured.
Male, sitting figure, with its hands crossed on its knees. The pedestal was square, remaining erect in the ground. The statue itself was broken in six pieces, its face entirely crushed. It carried on its head a round, column-shaped head-dress, similar to that delineated in figure F, ornamented with transverse furrows and ending upwards in a tenon. The ears were hidden by square, flat pieces 21 cm. in length, resembling those of figure B. The head itself was 39 cm. long from the base of the head-dress to the chin; 31 cm. broad across the forehead. The breadth across the shoulders was 60 cm.
D
[Pl. 5].
Male, standing figure. Head, chest with arms, and upper part of legs broken off, and lying in four pieces on the ground. The pedestal was square, with the upper part ornamented with angular wreaths; it remained fixed in the ground in its original place, and carried still the feet and the legs (to the knees) of the figure. The face was of quite a different type from those of A and B, with very prominent cheek-bones, large lips, and strongly protruding under-jaw; it was adorned with a crown-shaped head-gear. The ears were also here hidden by flat pieces, thickening upwards, with the lower corners rounded. The back of this statue, as well as its position in the periphery of the stone-mound, points to its having formed part of the wall of the building; but it seems not, however, to have served the purpose of supporting the roof, because the upper part of the crown was finely chiselled, and exhibited no trace of a tenon. It differed in this point from all the other statues in the circumference of the mound 1, with the exception of E 1, that was situated almost opposite to D at the western longside. The height of the head from the upper rim of the crown to the lower edge of the chin was 45 cm. The length of the trunk from the shoulders to the thighs was 60 cm. The breadth across the shoulders was 54 cm.
D 1
Not figured.
At a distance of 5 m. from D, in the periphery of the mound, there rose obliquely from the ground a male, half-sitting statue with its arms crossed. The head and the uppermost part of the chest with the exception of the right shoulder were wanting, and could not be identified among the existing fragments. It wore a beard reaching to the crossed arms, being in this respect as well as in posture and workmanship very like F. It measured 102 cm. from the shoulder to the thighs. The breadth across the shoulders seemed to have been less than 50 cm.
D 2
Not figured.
Near the place that ought to have been occupied by the next statue, there were lying fragments of an unusually narrow, square pedestal or pillar. It was narrower than the following E, but in other respects it resembled this more than it did any of the others found here.
E
[Pl. 5].
Contrary to the other images of this mound, indeed, of this whole locality, it did not represent a human figure, but formed a square pillar, provided with carvings on its front side. It carried a narrower superstructure (tenon), bordered in front by a sharp-cut frame, 6 cm. broad, 3 cm. deep. The carvings on the front side of the pillar itself consisted of wreaths somewhat more than 2 cm. deep with a breadth varying from 3 to 5 cm. They appeared to represent the head of an animal with an eye surrounded by two concentric circles. The sides of the pillar were narrower, smooth, without any traces of wreaths, but bordered by a square-cut frame, 6 cm. broad and 3 cm. deep. The back of the pillar, which was turned towards the building, was rough, without any frame. The front side was provided with a frame only above, and along the eastern side. The front side of the pillar was 50 cm. broad, the lateral sides 37 cm. broad. The tenon was 40 cm. in height by 38 cm. in breadth. The pillar was so deeply imbedded in the ground, that in spite of our digging strenuously, I did not succeed to lay bare more than about 125 cm. of its length, reckoned from the upper edge of the tenon.
E 1
Not figured.
Male, standing, much damaged. The human figure supported on his head the head of a massive animal of the feline genus, by its form most reminding one of the African or Persian lion(!). The statue was thrown down and broken in several pieces; only the head of the animal was so far preserved as to enable one to discern something of the original sculpture. Upon this head was part of a square tenon. The length of the statue from the upper edge of the forehead to the thighs was 84 cm., the breadth across the shoulders 39 cm., the length of the face 24 cm. The head of the animal was 54 cm. high and 52 cm broad.
E 2
Not figured.
Fragments of a female, sitting statue were shattered in the vicinity of the place, that should have been occupied by the tenth statue. The head was adorned with a turban-shaped head-dress, without any trace of a tenon. It is, however, very uncertain whether this statue has formed part of the series.
Between the last-mentioned statue and F there was not the least vestige to be found of that statue which ought to have been the eleventh in number, when reckoned from A.
Male, half-sitting figure, with its right arm hanging straight down, and its left one bent, and resting on the chest. According to my impression, received on regarding the statue and sketching it, it represented a chieftain or warrior with a mask before his face and a helmet on his head. I have arrived at this conclusion from the reasons, viz. that the face was here incomparably much stiffer than in the other images, without the slightest attempt of indicating the muscles, the cheeks, or the mouth; further that the eyes were marked by two concentric circles with a little (peeping-)hole in the centre, and that the whole face and the covering of the head were so much broader proportionally to the breadth of the body than in the other statues. (A somewhat similar head was found on the heavily injured statue at the mound 5.) The head-cover may be considered to exhibit the form of a helmet; this reached to the shoulders at both sides, hiding the ears completely; but nearly at the place of the ears there was on each side a shallow circular depression with a small excavation, probably representing a hole, in the centre. From the lower part of the helmet a thick elevation, grooved length-wise in front, came down over the chest. It may be regarded as representing a breast-armour, or possibly a beard. From the face itself, below the nose, a piece of the same shape as the just described elevation was seen to descend, but it was of much smaller dimensions. The left shoulder with the bent arm was somewhat more raised than the right. Both shoulders were uncommonly large and broad, so that the artist almost seems to have intended to indicate the blade-bone. The arms were pressed close to the body, disproportionately narrow when viewed from the front, but more than sufficiently broad when viewed from the side. On its left bent fore-arm the statue held a little round shield, at the anterior margin of which the hand projected, showing, unusually enough, the thumb of the same length with the index. The chest and abdomen were sculptured with some signs of muscles. The legs were short and thick, the feet clumsy, with no traces of toes. The image stood on a pedestal, the upper part of which showed a deep cavetto. The pedestal was deeply immersed into the ground. Immediately above the helmet was the square tenon. The length of the statue from the upper edge of the tenon to the upper edge of the pedestal was 207 cm. The breadth across the shoulders was 57 cm., that of the head 36 cm. The statue was on the whole well preserved, and stood, no doubt, in its original situation.
As it seems to be beyond a doubt that the above described statues, which were found standing more or less erect, and at almost equal distances, nearly five meters from one another, remained in the situations where they had been originally placed, it cannot be considered too bold, to suppose that we have here before us an ancient temple exhibiting an example of how such a building might be arranged with the Niquirans. It is evident that the ground-plan of the edifice has been a broad oval, and it is highly probable, on account of the back of the statues not being elaborated, but only roughly cut, that it has not been open, but enclosed by walls, the statues serving as pilasters. However, it must be admitted that this latter circumstance is far from being proved. The figures A and B, being larger than the others in the periphery, and more deeply fixed in the ground, may possibly have stood at each side of the entrance or perhaps of a flight of steps, leading up into the temple. The roof was probably supported by a plate of stone or wood, carrying light rafters, covered with palm leaves or such like materials.