Mound No. 39
Fig. 82.—Design incised on femur of deer found in Mound No. 39.
Mound No. 39 was situated on Wild Cane Cay, a small island off the southern coast of British Honduras. The island seems to have been built up with stone and other material brought from the mainland and to have been used as a burial place. Several small mounds are scattered over the face of the island; unfortunately most of them had been dug down for the sake of the stone they contained and the objects from the graves lost or given away. Those which could be traced consisted chiefly of copper ornaments, as rings, gorgets, and studs. Mound No. 39, the only one whose contents were ascertained with any degree of accuracy, was a small circular mound 10 feet high, built of sand and blocks of reef stone; near the ground level, about the center of the mound, a single human interment was found, the bones of which were in an advanced state of decay; mingled with these were: (a) A round red earthenware pot, containing a few small circular beads made from conch shell and five or six medium-sized, unused obsidian knives. (b) A second somewhat larger pot, of the same shape and material, which contained the upper part of the femur of a deer, on which is incised the design shown in figure [82]. This is neatly executed in shallow lines; the upper part evidently represents a tiger, or the skin of that animal, and is separated by a platted design from the lower, which may be intended as a representation of the God Itzamna. With the bone were two objects of copper, one a finger ring constructed of thin flat bands two-fifths inch apart, joined by double scrolls; this is very much worn, either from use or from oxidization, consequent on long exposure in the damp soil.
Fig. 83.—Copper object found in Mound No. 39.
The second copper object (fig. [83]) was probably used as a gorget, or for attachment to a headdress, as at the back is seen a cruciform grille, evidently intended to hold it in place. This object is in the form of a human face, the lower part with its large mouth, thick prominent lips, and flattened nose, exhibiting marked negroid characteristics, which the upper part with its bulging prominent forehead contradicts. The headdress is ornamented with three spikes passing along the sagittal suture from front to back, while under the chin is a projection probably intended to represent a short beard. The ring and ornament are both strongly suggestive of Spanish influence, as the face with its thick lips, flattened nose, and bulging forehead is totally unlike any type with which the Maya were likely to come in contact, unless, indeed, it were the Carib, who even at this early date had possibly formed small settlements as far north as the southern coast of British Honduras. If the objects were of Spanish origin they were probably obtained from some Spanish settlement farther north, possibly Bakhalal, as there was no settlement between that town and the coast of Guatemala till many years after the conquest. That the cult of Itzamna was still flourishing is shown by the effigy of the god incised on the deer bone, and according to Villagutierre, the Indians of this neighborhood up to the end of the seventeenth century were closely allied to the Itzaex,[58] who still freely practiced their ancient religious rites.