ORIGIN OF PYRAMIDAL STRUCTURES.
The material of which the bulk of the mound is composed is not very definitely stated by any visitor. I believe, however, that I have discovered a peculiarity in the construction of this pyramid, which may possibly throw some light on the origin of the pyramidal structure so universal among the civilized nations of the continent. I think that, perhaps with a view to raise this palace or temple above the waters of the stream, four thick walls, possibly more, were built up perpendicularly from the ground to the desired height; then, after the completion of the walls to strengthen them, or during the progress of the work to facilitate the raising of the stones, the interior was filled with earth, and the exterior graded with the same material, the whole being subsequently faced with hewn stone. My reasons for this opinion may be illustrated by the annexed cut. All the authorities by text and plates represent the pyramid with sloping stone-faced sides, much damaged by the trees. Two of them, Stephens and Waldeck, making excavations from the summit at different points, clearly imply that the interior, D, is of earth. The height is given by all the visitors down to Stephens, as from forty to sixty feet. Now Charnay, coming nearly twenty years later, found the eastern side a perpendicular wall, only fifteen feet high, and proves the accuracy of his statement by his photograph, which, as he says, cannot lie. I cannot satisfactorily account for the condition of the structure as found by him, except by supposing that the stone facing, loosened by the trees, had fallen from B to F, and that the earth which filled the sides at EE, had been washed away by the rain, leaving the perpendicular wall at B. We shall see later that it is utterly impossible to fix any definite date for the founding of Palenque; but it is doubtless to be referred to the earliest period of American civilization which has left definite architectural traces; and its claims are perhaps as strong as those of any other to be considered the oldest American city. If this pyramid was the first erected and took its shape as above indicated, its adoption as a type throughout the region penetrated by the religion and civilization of its builders, would be very natural, although the form would afterwards be more readily attained by means of a solid structure. I offer this as a conjectural theory to take its place by the side of many others on the subject, and at the least not more devoid of foundation than several of its companions.[VI-15] It is not improbable that the builders may have taken advantage of a slight natural elevation as a foundation for their work.
EXTERIOR OF THE PALACE.
BAS-RELIEFS OF THE PALACE.
The summit platform of the pyramid supports the Palace, which covers its whole extent save a narrow passage round the edge, and the exterior dimensions of which are about one hundred and eighty by two hundred and twenty-eight feet and thirty feet high.[VI-16] The outer wall, a large portion of which has fallen, was pierced with about forty doorways, which were generally wider than the portions of the wall that separated them, giving the whole the appearance of a portico with wide piers. The doorways are eight and a half feet high and nine feet wide. The tops seem to have been originally flat, but the lintels have in every case fallen and disappeared, having been perhaps of wood; indeed, Charnay claims to have found the marks of one of these wooden lintels composed of two pieces, while Del Rio found a plain rectangular block of stone five by six feet, extending from one of the piers to another. The whole exterior was covered with a coat of hard plaster, and there are some traces of a projecting cornice which surrounded the building above the doorways, pierced at regular intervals with small circular holes, such as I have noticed in Yucatan, conjectured with much reason to have originally held poles which supported a kind of awning. Later visitors have found no part of the roof remaining in place; but Castañeda, who may have found some portion standing, represents it as sloping, plain, and plastered. From the interior construction and from the roofs of other Palenque buildings, it is probable that his drawing gives a correct idea of the Palace in this respect. Dupaix often speaks of the roofs at Palenque as being covered with large stone flags (lajas) carefully joined; other authors are silent respecting the arrangement of the stones in the roofs. Judging from the position of the grand stairway that leads up the side of the pyramid, and from the arrangement of the interior doorways, the chief entrance, or front, of the Palace, was on the east, towards the stream. It is from this side, although not so well preserved as some other portions, that general views have been taken.[VI-17] Of the piers that separated the doorways in this outer wall, only fifteen have been found standing, eight on the east and seven on the west, although their foundations may be readily traced throughout nearly the whole circumference. Each of the remaining piers, and probably of all in their original condition, contained on its external surface a bas-relief in stucco, and these reliefs with their borders occupied the whole space between the doorways. The cuts, fig. 1, 2, and 3, represent three of the best preserved of the reliefs, drawings of six only of them having been published. Most of the designs, like those shown in the cuts, were of human figures in various attitudes, and having a variety of dress, ornaments, and insignia. It will be noticed that the faces are all in profile, and the foreheads invariably flattened. This cranial form was doubtless the highest type of beauty or nobility in the eyes of the ancient artists; and of course the natural inference is that it was artificially produced by methods similar to those employed by the Mayas of more modern times. Yet many have believed that the builders of Palenque or the priests and leaders that directed the work were of a now extinct race, the peculiar natural conformation of whose forehead was artificially imitated by the descendants of their disciples. The many far-fetched explanations of these strange figures, which fertile imaginations have devised, would not, I believe, be instructive to the reader, who will derive more amusement and profit from his own conjectures. The resemblance of the head-dress in fig. 2 to an elephant's trunk is, however, somewhat striking. We may be very sure that these figures placed in so prominent a position on the exterior walls of the grandest edifice in the city, were not merely ornamental and without significance; and it is almost equally certain that the three hieroglyphic signs over the top of each group would, if they could be read, explain their meaning. Some of the piers seem to have been covered entirely with hieroglyphics in stucco, but better preserved specimens of these inscriptions will be shown in connection with other buildings at Palenque. The stucco, or cement, from which the figures are molded, is the same as that with which the whole building was covered, and is nearly as hard as the stone itself. M. Charnay found evidence to convince him that the reliefs were put on after the regular coating of cement had become hardened; Dupaix believes that some of them were molded over a skeleton of small stones, in the same way perhaps as the gigantic faces at Izamal in Yucatan. Traces of color in sheltered portions make it evident that the piers were originally painted.[VI-18]
Bas-Relief in Stucco.—Fig. 1.
