Mound No. 1
Mound No. 1 (No. 24 on the plan of Santa Rita (fig. [14]), situated midway between Nos. 6 and 22) was conical in shape, nearly circular at the base, 18 feet high, and 90 feet in circumference. It was built throughout of large irregular blocks of limestone, the interstices being filled with limestone dust and earth, forming together a sort of friable mortar, which rendered the whole structure nearly as compact as a solid block of masonry.
Fig. 14.—Plan of Santa Rita mounds.
Excavation near the center of the mound, at a depth of 2 feet below the surface, brought to light a large circular disk of roughly hewn limestone, 3 feet in diameter by 8 inches thick. On lifting this it was found to cover the mouth of a bell-like cist, nearly 3 feet in diameter and about 5 feet in depth. On opening the cist, which was slightly narrower at the bottom than at the top, it was found to be nearly half filled with very fine brown dust, at the bottom of which lay a roughly made circular urn 18 inches in diameter, covered by a mushroom-shaped lid.
Fig. 15.—Figurine from Mound No. 1.
The urn was filled to the top with small crudely executed pottery figurines of men and animals. There were 49 of these in all, consisting of 4 warriors, with shield and spear, 3 seated human figures, 4 standing figures (eating and fanning themselves), 4 lizards, 4 alligators, 4 snakes, 4 birds, 4 dragon-like creatures, 4 tigers, and 14 quashes or picotes. The warriors (pl. [8]) are represented in a crouching position, with the right knee and left foot upon the ground; each holds in the right hand a small spear and on the left forearm a circular shield.[25] Two of them exhibit tusk-like objects projecting from their mouths. The figures are 41/2 inches high; they are painted in red and white throughout. The headdress consists of a boat-shaped cap worn with the bow and stern projecting over the ears. The seated figures (pl. [9]; fig. [15]) are each 6 inches in height; these are painted throughout in red, white, and green. Each is seated upon a low four-legged stool, and grasps in one hand by its greatly enlarged spatulate glans the projecting penis, on which he is seemingly performing some sort of surgical operation with a long knife held in the other hand.
The headdress consists of a mitre-like erection in front, with a long queue hanging down to the waist behind. Button-like labrets are worn on each side of the mouth in two of the figures, and all wear large circular ear plugs. The standing figures (fig. [16]) are each 51/2 inches high, and had been painted throughout in red and white, though not much of the original color now remains. The headdress consists of a broad flat cap decorated in front with a row of circular beads, and on each side with a large tassel, which hangs down over the ear plugs. Each figure wears a small narrow maxtli and button-like labrets at each angle of the mouth. In one of the figures the right hand is extended, while the left holds a circular fan. In the other the forearms are flexed at right angles, with hands held open in front of the waist, as if about to receive something. The lizard effigies, though crudely made, are most lifelike representations about 6 inches in length. The alligators resemble very closely those taken from another mound at Santa Rita.[26]
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 64 PLATE 8.
FIGURINES OF WARRIORS FROM MOUND NO. 1
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 64 PLATE 9.
FIGURINES FROM MOUND NO. 1
The tigers and dragon-like creatures are exactly similar to those figured in Nos. 6 and 4 of the same plate. The bird and snake effigies are very crude and ill made; the former, about 11/2 inches in length, represent birds in the act of flying, with wings extended. The snakes, each represented with a double curve in the body, are about 51/2 inches in length and one-half inch in diameter; they are made of rough clay, painted red. The effigies of the quashes, though rough and crudely made, are rather vigorous and lifelike in execution. Each is about 3 inches long. This small arboreal animal, which abounds in the district, is represented in a variety of comical positions; so well indeed has the artist studied his model that one can not help thinking that he must have kept some of the little animals as pets, as many of the Maya Indians do at the present day. The figures when first found were so brittle that it was impossible to remove them from the pot without breakage, as they had been seemingly only sun dried. After exposure to the sun and air, however, for a few days they gradually hardened.
Fig. 16.—Figurines from Mound No. 1.
The only unpainted object found in the urn was a natural-size model of the human penis, in a state of semierection (fig. [17]). This differed from all the other objects in that it had been fired, instead of merely sun dried, and is on that account much harder. Upon the upper surface of the glans penis are three longitudinal incisions, extending almost from base to apex, evidently made with a sharp-pointed implement while the clay was still soft.
With these figurines a number of perforated beads of jade and some of a dark-red stone, all nicely polished, were found; also the tooth of a large alligator, perforated at the base, evidently for suspension with the beads.
Fig. 17.—Unpainted object from Mound No. 1.
About 6 feet to the north of the center of the mound, at a depth of 3 feet below the surface, was discovered a small stone cist or chamber, 18 inches square, built of roughly cut blocks of limestone. Within this were found most of the bones of a male of medium height and fair muscular development. These bones were exceedingly friable, but showed no effects of fire; with the exception of the tibiæ, they were in no way abnormal. The upper articular surface of the right tibia had disappeared. The shaft was rounded in section, the prominent angles at the front and sides being obliterated. It was slightly bowed, with the convexity anteriorly, and was considerably enlarged, especially in its upper two-thirds, which were composed chiefly of very friable cancellous tissue, rendering the bone much lighter than its appearance indicated. The surface of the upper part of the bone was marked by the presence of a number of small pits or depressions. Of the left tibia only a few fragments were found, but so far as could be judged from these a change somewhat similar to that observed in the right tibia had taken place in it. The bones and other objects found in this mound would suggest at first sight the possibility of the individual buried beneath it having suffered during life from some form of venereal disease, closely allied to, if not identical with, syphilis. On reading Landa's account[27] of two forms of ceremonial self-mutilation carried out by the Yucatecan Maya at the time of the conquest there can be little doubt, however, that the figurines shown in plate [9] and figure [15] are meant to represent individuals inflicting on themselves one or other of these, but, owing to the crudeness of the workmanship, it is difficult to determine which. In one the foreskin was pierced and expanded in much the same way that the ears were treated when sacrificing to the idols. In the other, a number of men, sitting in a row in the temple, each pierced his glans penis from side to side, and passing a long piece of cord through all the apertures, strung themselves together in this way.