To the south-west of our residence is another great pyramid, having circular buildings, which must have been a temple, for we found a great number of vases for perfumes, both on the ground floor and in the upper portion of the edifice. The body of the monument is of the usual type, but the first story (a side of which is shown in our cut) affords a new specimen of the Indian mode of building. We think this but an extension of the decorative wall; it consists of a narrow apartment and a receding passage extending from end to end, terminating at each extremity with the peculiar opening seen in our drawing.
We have also noticed a greater variety in the triangular vaults (arches) of these buildings, which are either straight, concave, or convex; sometimes the latter vault has no key, and the two walls meet with an acute angle, whereas in Tabasco and Yucatan, they are straight or concave only. Lintels are more numerous and richly sculptured than in Yucatan, but they are only found in edifices which we suppose were temples or palaces. The best carved are small, and seem to replace both the slabs covered with inscriptions, the rear of altars, and the sculptured pillars of the buildings at Palenque.
SECOND TEMPLE OF LORILLARD.
The first we give occupies the central door of the temple, and is 3 feet 9 inches long, by 2 feet 10 inches wide. Two figures with retreating foreheads form the main subject, having the usual high head-dress of feathers, cape, collar, medallion, and maxtli like the idol; while their boots are fastened on the instep with leather strings, as similar figures at Palenque. They are of different size, and represent probably a man and a woman performing a religious ceremony; the taller holds in each hand a Latin cross, while the other carries but one in the right hand. Rosettes form the branches of the crosses, a symbolic bird crowns the upper portion, whilst twenty-three katunes are scattered about the bas-relief. We think this a symbolic representation of Tlaloc, whose chief attribute was a cross, which here consists of palms or more probably maize-leaves intermingled with human figures, recalling to the memory of his devotees the god who presided over harvests.
SCULPTURED LINTEL AT LORILLARD.
The two high reliefs which follow are also lintels from a small ruined edifice at the foot of the pyramid, of great interest and marvellous richness of detail, than which nothing at Palenque is so minute. The first represents two human figures surrounded by a snake or volute, the centre of which is occupied by a cartouche containing four hieroglyphics. The figure to the left holding a sceptre in his right hand, with an aigret in his huge head-dress, similar to that in the palace at Palenque, may be a king, or more probably a priest of Quetzalcoatl. Both figures wear the usual dress, but the priest’s medallion is a gem of art. The inscription, half of which is in a good state of preservation, is a series of characters mixed with the human figures, like the inscriptions in Chiapas and Tabasco. We think these two figures portray a ceremony in honour of Quetzalcoatl; for in the First Part of the Troano manuscript (Plate XXVI.) as well as in the Second (Plate XVII.), which are obviously dedicated to this deity, we find figures resembling that on our slab. It is by far the most wonderful monument which, up to the present time, has been found in America, and which we can boldly call a work of art. If we except the flat foreheads, everything is perfect in this monument; and nothing in the early manifestations of ancient civilisations is found more rich or better treated than this; as seen in the hands, the head-dress, the superb mantle of the kneeling figure, the dignified, majestic mien of the standing priest.
STONE LINTEL, SACRIFICE TO CUKULCAN, LORILLARD CITY.