Mound No. 5
Mound No. 5 (No. 27 on the plan, fig. [14]), situated about 200 yards to the southeast of the fortification, was 3 feet in height, 30 feet in diameter, and nearly circular. It was built of blocks of limestone, rubble, limestone dust, and earth. Many of these blocks had evidently been taken from some building, as they were well squared. About the center of the mound, at the ground level, a small cyst was discovered, 3 feet long, 2 feet broad, and 1 foot high, built throughout of rough flags of limestone. Within it were two vases; one, shown in figure [21], a, is of rough unpainted pottery, 41/2 inches high, with a small ear-like projection on each side, each of which is ornamented with an ear plug. Vases with these ear-like projections and ear plugs are not uncommon in this area, and are probably highly conventionalized incense burners. The figure of the god outside (which, as will be shown later on, was represented after a time by the face only) has here had every feature and ornament of the face eliminated with the exception of the ears and ear plugs, which would always be unmistakable.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 64 PLATE 10.
b. SECTION OF WALL THROUGH SANTA RITA.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 64 PLATE 11.
EGG-SHAPED VASE FROM MOUND NO. 5
The other, seen in plate [11], is an egg-shaped vase standing on three short legs. It is decorated outside with a human face and was originally painted white throughout and ornamented with black lines. It has a small opening at the top covered by a triangular stopper. Within this vase were found two small polished beads, one of greenstone, the other of red shell. Throughout the mound were found numerous fragments of incense burners, with the small head of a tiger, 2 birds, 5 small beads, 2 malachates, 4 net sinkers, and the ceremonial bar shown in figure [21], c; all in rough pottery. About 5 feet from the northern edge of the mound were found human bones, representing a single interment, seemingly of a male of middle age. The skull and long bones, which were very brittle, though they hardened on being exposed to the air for a day, were gotten out only in fragments. The molar and premolar teeth are heavily coated with tartar but are not greatly worn down at the crown; the incisors, on the other hand, are very much worn and in life must have been nearly level with the gum. Marked attrition of the incisors seems to be present in nearly all the teeth of individuals past middle life found in sepulchral mounds throughout this area, which is rather remarkable, as the staple diet of the ancient inhabitants must have been nearly identical with that of the Indians of the present day; that is, maize ground to a fine paste on a stone metate, which of necessity contains a good deal of grit from the metate, so much so that the modern Maya say that an old man eats two rubbing stones and six rubbers during his life. This gritty nistamal wears down the back teeth of the modern Maya almost to the gum, but does not materially affect the front teeth; yet it is the latter, not the former, which we find affected in maxillæ from the mounds. One of the molar teeth from this burial has had a triangular piece removed from its crown (fig. [21], f). Along one edge of the gap left the tooth is carious.
Fig. 21.—Objects found in Mound No. 5.
Mingled with the human bones were found: (a) A flat, oblong object, made of finely polished bone, 1 inch broad and one-tenth inch thick. Its original length could not be determined, as the upper part had been broken away. (b) Three beads, one of polished greenstone, two of polished red shell; one of the latter was 11/3 inches long, with two incomplete perforations passing through it longitudinally. It had probably been intended to form part of a wristlet. (c) Parts of three small obsidian knives which had evidently seen considerable use, as their edges were much chipped. (d) The curious object shown in figure [21], d, front view, and e, side view. It is made of copper, and was evidently used as tweezers, either for the removal of hair, for which purpose it would be admirably adapted, as the lower expanded parts of the blades when pressed together come into such close apposition that the smallest and most delicate hair can be removed by means of them;[32] or for the extraction of small thorns from the skin. Landa mentions the fact that the Maya were in the habit of removing the hairs from their chins and lips, but if this little implement was the only one employed for the purpose the custom can not have been a very common one in this locality, as no other similar specimen was found in any of the mounds. Passing from north to south through the mound, about 8 feet from its center, were two parallel rows of limestone flags, set perpendicularly, about 18 inches apart. Against the outer of these rows lay a considerable accumulation of animal bones, probably those of the tapir. In the space between the outer row of flags and the edge of the mound were found 10 oblong blocks of limestone, averaging 18 by 10 inches, the upper surfaces of which were hollowed out to a depth of 3 or 4 inches. These were probably intended as water receptacles for the use of fowls or small animals kept about the home, as precisely similar small stone troughs are made and used by the modern Indians for this purpose. The space between the rows of flags was floored with mortar, but nothing was found within it.