Fig. 58.—Obsidian disk inserted in tooth of skeleton found in Mound No. 17.
Mound No. 17 was situated within a mile of the mound last described, on high ground, about 11/2 miles from the Rio Hondo, from which it is separated by a belt of swamp. It was conical in shape, about 40 feet high, nearly 90 yards in circumference, and was built throughout of large blocks of limestone, the interstices being filled with a friable mortar, made seemingly from limestone dust, earth, and sand mixed together. Near the summit was an irregular opening, about 4 feet across, which led into a small stone-faced chamber, 15 feet long, 5 feet broad, and 6 feet high. The opening had been made by the falling in of one of the flags which formed the roof of the chamber; this was found within the chamber with a pile of débris. The floor was composed of large flat flags, on removing one of which an aperture was made which led into a second chamber, of exactly the same size as the first, and immediately beneath it. The floor of this was covered to a depth of about 12 inches with a layer of soft brown river sand, in which were found: (a) Parts of a human skeleton, seemingly belonging to an adult male, the bones of which were very friable and greatly eroded. In one of the incisor teeth was inserted a small disk of obsidian, the outer surface of which was highly polished (fig. [58]). These ornamental tooth fillings are rather rare, though they have been found from time to time in Yucatan and as far south as Quirigua. They were usually made from greenstone, obsidian, or iron pyrites, all highly polished, the only teeth ornamented being the incisors and canines, usually in the upper jaw. The plugging seems to have been exclusively for ornamental purposes, not with any idea of filling a cavity, the result of caries in the tooth.[44]
Fig. 59.—Bird carrying a fish outlined on shallow plaque found in Mound No. 17.
(b) A shallow plaque, 28 cm. in diameter, painted throughout a dark reddish-yellow, and finely polished. Upon the upper surface was outlined in fine black lines a bird, apparently a sea hawk, carrying in its claw a good-sized fish, possibly a stone bass (fig. [59]). The artist probably witnessed this event many times, as the mouth of the Rio Hondo, where stone bass abound, is a favorite fishing ground for sea hawks and frigate birds.
(c) A number of painted and glazed potsherds of all sizes.