The Prehistoric World; Or, Vanished Races

by Emory Adams Allen

Patinamit means “The City,” and is represented as the capital city of the Cakchiquel “monarchy.” The site of the city was certainly admirably chosen for defense, and we have no doubt but what here was the head-quarters of a powerful tribe of Indians; but, until scholars have settled some very disputed points about the civilization of the Central American nations, we must be cautious in the use of the words monarchy and palaces as applied to these old people or these ruins.

Thirty-five or forty miles north-eastward from Patinamit we come to the ruins of the most renowned city in Guatemala at the time of the conquest. This was Utatlan, the Quiche capital, a city which the Spaniards compared to Mexico in magnificence, and which, at the time of its destruction, was at its zenith of prosperity. The location was very similar to that of Patinamit. It also stood on an elevated plateau, with immense ravines on every side. It was approached only at one point, and guarding this one point of approach was a line of fortifications. They consisted of the remains of stone buildings, probably towers. The stones were well cut and laid together. These fortifications were united by a ditch.

Within this line of towers stood a structure, generally regarded as a fort, directly guarding the line of approach. Steps led up a pyramidal structure having three terraces, one over the other. The top was protected by a wall of stone, and from the center rose a tower. Beyond this fort was the ruins of the city. Mr. Stephens describes a large ruin which is called The Palace. It is said, in round numbers, to have been eleven hundred by twenty-two hundred feet. As this area is more than fifty-five acres in extent, we can see it was not a palace in our sense of the word. The stones of which it was composed have been largely removed to build the modern town of Santa Cruz. But the floor could still be traced, and some remains of partition walls. The floor was still covered with hard cement.

Adjoining the palace was a large plaza or court-yard, also cemented, in the center of which was the ruins of a fountain. Another structure still remaining was a small pyramid, at the top of which was probably a temple, or, at least, a place of sacrifice. No hieroglyphics or statues have been found here. A few terra-cotta figures have been found, and one small gold image. It would seem from this description that the ruins simply consist of a few large structures. For aught we know, they may have been communal houses.

Mr. Stephens, however, condenses Fuentes’s account, which is truly wonderful. According to him, the center of the city was occupied by the royal palaces, around which were grouped the houses of the nobles. The extremities were inhabited by the plebeians. He tells us there were many sumptuous buildings, the most superb of which was a seminary, where between five and six thousand children were educated at royal expense. The palace was formed of hewn stones of various colors. There were six principal divisions. In one was lodged the king’s body-guard, in the second the princes and the relatives of the king, and so forth.

It is not necessary to remind the reader that it is very doubtful whether such a state of things ever existed. It is related, for instance, that the king marched from Utatlan with seventy-two thousand warriors to repel the attack of Alvarade. This would indicate a total population of between two and three hundred thousand souls. It seems to us that a city of that size would not so completely disappear in a little over three centuries that a careful explorer could find only the ruins of a few large buildings.

We do not feel that we have done near justice to the ruins of Guatemala. As we have before remarked, there are, doubtless, many ruins not yet brought to light. They are rapidly disappearing, and we do not know that we will ever possess a description of them, or understand their real import. The light of history, indeed, fell on the two groups of ruins last described. But the Spanish writers were totally unacquainted with Indian society, and may, therefore, have widely erred in applying to their government terms suited only to European ideas of the sixteenth century. And it is not doubted but that their estimate of the population of the towns, and of the enemies with which they had to contend, were often greatly overdrawn. In short, the remains themselves are remarkable, but every ruined pyramid is not necessarily the remains of a great very great city, nor every large building in ruins necessarily a palace.

Going northward out of Guatemala, we pass into the modern state of Chiapas. This is described a country of great natural beauty and fertility. And here it is that we meet with a group of ruins which have been an object of great interest to the scientific world. They have been carefully studied and described, and many theories have been enunciated as to their builders, their history, and civilization. The place is supposed to have been deserted and in ruins when Cortez landed in the country. At any rate, he marched within a few leagues of it, but, as in the case of Copan, he is silent in regard to it.

They take their name from the modern town of Palenque, near which they are located. This town was founded in 1564. It was once a place of considerable importance, but its trade has died away, and now it would not be known were it not for the ruins of a former people located near it. Though distant from the village only some eight miles, nearly two centuries went by before their existence was known. Had they been visited and described at the time of the founding of the village, no doubt much that is now mysterious in regard to them would have been cleared away. But for two centuries they were allowed to sleep undisturbed in the depths of the forest, and in that time the elements played sad havoc with the buildings, inscriptions, and ornaments. What are left are not sufficient to impart full information. Imagination is too apt to supply the details, and these ruins, grand in proportion, wonderful in location, enwrapt by dense forests, visited by the storms of tropical lands, are made to do service in setting forth a picture of society and times which we are afraid has but little real foundation to rest upon.

The ruins of Palenque are the first which awakened attention to the existence of ancient ruins in America, and, therefore, it may not come amiss to state more particularly the circumstances of their first discovery. The existence of an aboriginal city in this locality was entirely unknown; there were no traditions even that it had ever existed. Of course the natives of the modern town of Palenque must have known of their existence, but no account of them was published. They are said to have been discovered in 1750 by a party of traveling Spaniards. This statement Mr. Stephens doubts. The first account was published in 1784. The Spanish authorities finally ordered an exploration. This was made under the auspices of Captain Del Rio, who arrived on the ground in 1787. His report was locked up in the government archives, and was not made public until 1822.