CHAPTER X.

ANTIQUITIES OF THE NORTHERN MEXICAN STATES.

THE HOME OF THE CHICHIMECS MICHOACAN TZINTZUNTZAN, LAKE

PATZCUARO, TEREMENDO ANICHE AND JIQUILPAN COLIMA AB-
MERIA AND CUYUTLAN JALISCO TONALA, GUADALAJARA, ClfA-
CALA, SAYULA, TEPATITLAN, ZAPOTLAN, NAYARIT, TEPIC, SANTI
AGO IXCUINTLA, AND BOLANOS GUANAJUATO SAN GREGORIO AND
SANTA CATARINA ZACATECAS LA QUEMADA AND TEUL TAMAU-
LIPAS ENCARNACION, SANTA BARBARA, CARMELOTE, TOPILA, TAM-
PICO, AND BURRITA NUEVO LEON AND TEXAS COAHUILA BOLSON
DE MAPIMI, SAN MARTERO DURANGO ZAPE, SAN AGUSTIN, AND
LA BRENA SINALOA AND LOWER CALIFORNIA CERRO DE LAS
TRINCHERAS IN SONORA CASAS GRANDES IN CHIHUAHUA.

A somewhat irregular line extending across the

continent from north-east to south-Vest, terminating
at Tampico on the gulf and at the bar of Zacatula on
the Pacific, is the limit which the progress northward
of our antiquarian exploration has reached, the results
having been recorded in the preceding chapters. The
region that now remains to be traversed, excepting
the single state of Michoacan, the home of the Taras-
cos, is without the limits that have been assigned to
the Civilized Nations, and within the bounds of com
parative savagism. The northern states of what is
now the Mexican Republic were inhabited at the
time of the Conquest by the hundreds of tribes, which,
if not all savages, had at least that reputation among
their southern brethren. To the proud resident of
Anahuac and the southern plateaux, the northern
(568)
 TARASCAN MONUMENTS. 5G9

hordes were Chichimecs, dogs, barbarians. Yet sev

eral of these so-called barbarian tribes were probably
as far advanced in certain elements of civilization as
some of the natives that have been included among
the Nahuas. They were tillers of the soil and lived
under systematic forms of government, although not
apparently much given to the arts of architecture and
sculpture. Only one grand pile of stone ruins is
known to exist in the whole northern Chichimec re
gion, and the future discovery of others, though pos
sible, is not, I think, very likely to occur. Nor are
smaller relics, idols and implements, very numerous,
except in a few localities; but this may be attributed
perhaps in great degree to the want of thorough ex
ploration. A
short chapter will suffice for a descrip
tion of all the monuments south of United States
territory, and in describing them I shall treat of
each state separately, proceeding in general terms
from south to north. A
glance at the map accom
panying this volume will show the reader the position
of each state, and each group of remains, more clearly
than any verbal location could do.

The civilized Tarascos of Michoacan have left but

very few traces in the shape of material relics. Their
capital and the centre of their civilization was on the
shores and islands of Lake Patzcuaro, where the
Spaniards at the time of the Conquest found some
temples described by them as magnificent.
1
Beau
mont tells us that the ruins of a plaza de armas be
longing traditionally to the Tarascos at Tzintzuntzan,
the ancient capital, were still visible in 1776, near
the pueblo of Ignatzio, two leagues distant. Five
hundred paces west of the pueblo a wall, mostly
fallen, encloses a kind of plaza, measuring four hun
dred and fourteen by nine hundred and thirty feet.
The wall was about sixteen feet thick and eighteen
steps, on the inside.
in height, with terraces, or In
1
Brasseur dc Bourbourfj, IILst. Nat. Civ., torn, iv., p. 58.
 570 ANTIQUITIES OF MICHOACAN.

the centre were the foundations of what the author

supposes to have been a tower, and west of the en
closed area were three heaps of stones, supposed to
be burial mounds. Two idols, one in human form,
lacking head and feet, the other shaped like an alli
gator, were found here, carved from a stone called
tanamo, much like the tetzontli. The same author
the the palace of the Ta-
"

says, respecting ruins of

rascan kin^s,
O according
*
O to the examination which I
lately made of these curiosities, I may say that east
ward of this city of Tzintzuntzan, on the slope of a
great hill called Yaguarato, a hundred paces from the
settlement, are seen on the surface of the ground
some subterranean foundations, which extend from
north to south about a hundred and fifty paces, and
about fifty from east to west, where there is a tradi
tion that the palace of the ancient kings was situated.
In the centre of the foundation-stones are five small
mounds, or cuicillos, which are called stone yacatas,
and hewn blocks, over which an Indian guardian is
never wanting, for even now the natives will not per
mit these stones to be removed." "On the shores of
Lake Siraguen are found ancient monuments of the
things which served for the pleasure of the kings and
nobles, with other ruined edifices, which occur in
various places." 2 Tzintzuntzan is on the south-eastern
shore of the lake, some leagues northward from the
modern Patzcuaro. Lyon in later times was told
that the royal palace and other interesting remains
were yet to be seen on the lake shores, but he did not
3
visit them.
2
Beaumont, Cron. Mcchoacan, MS., pp. 45-6. Ihuatzto, probably the
true name
of the town called by Beaumont Ignatzio, recuerda por sns an-
tiguedades (laPiramide aim no destruida. quo les servia de plaza de annas:
otras Vdrrf.fa.i, 6 sepulcros de sus Reyes: las reliquias de nna torre que fa
bric* su primer fundador antes venir los la ri,, calle o camino
Espauoles, y
)

de Qucri nilaro, que comunicaba con la Capital) tristes memorias de la

grandeza inichuacaiia. Michuacan, Atidlixix Evtfid., por J. J. L., p. 166.
3
Lyon? a Journal, vol. ii., pp. 71-2. Some relics of the Tarascan archi
tecture are said to be found at this place, but we do not possess any au
thentic accounts or drawings of them. 3fnycr s Mcx. Aztec, rfr., vol. ii., p.
291. Mention in Miihletipfordt, M"jico, torn, ii., pt ii., p. 369; Wappdust
Geoff, u. Stat. t p. 167.
 TEREMEXDO AND ANICHE. 571

Another early writer, Villa-Senor y Sanchez, says

that in 1712 he, with a companion, entered what
seemed a cavern in a deep barranca at Teremendo,
eight leagues south-west of Valladolid, or Morelia.
"There were discovered
prodigious aboriginal vaults,
bounded by very strong walls, rendered solid by fire.
In the centre of the second was a bench like the foot
of an altar, where there were many idols, and fresh
offerings of copal, and woolen stuffs, and various
figures of men and animals." It was found accord
ing to this author that the builders had constructed
walls of loose stones of a kind easily melted, and
then by fire had joined the blocks into a solid mass
without the use of mortar, continuing the process to
the roof. The outside of the structure was over
grown with shrubs and trees. 4

At island in Lake Patzcuaro, Mr

Aniche, an
Beaufoy discovered some hieroglyphic figures cut on
a rock; and at Iriinbo about fifty miles east of
Morelia, he was shown some small mounds which
the natives called fortifications, although there was
5
nothing to indicate that such had been their use. In
the mountains south-east of Lake Chapala, in the
region of Jiquilpan, Sr Garcia reports the remains of
an ancient town, and says further that opals and
other precious stones well worked have been obtained
6
here. Humboldt pictures a very beautiful obsidian
bracelet or ring, worked very thin and brilliantly
polished; and another writer mentions some giants
7
bones, all found within the limits of Michoacan.

At the time when official explorations were under

taken by Dupaik and Castaneda in the southern pajrts

4 Villa-Senor y Sanchez, Theatro, torn, mention in Hassel,

ii., pp. 70-1;
Mex. Gnat., p. 154.
5 Mex. Illnslr., p. 199.
l>c<uifoifs
6 Nor. M rx. Gcog., Bolctiii, 2da epoca, torn, iv., p. 559.
7
Humboldt, in Antiy. J /-,/.., torn. L, div. ii., p. 30, suppl., pi vii., fig. 13;
Soc. Mex. Gcog., Bolctm, torn, viii., p. 558.
572 ANTIQUITIES OF COLIMA.

of New Spain, it seems that officials in some norths

ern regions also were requested by the Spanish gov
ernment to report upon such remains of antiquity as
might he known to exist. The antiquarian genius
to whom the matter was referred in Colima, then a
department of Michoacan, but now an independent
state, made a comprehensive report to the effect that
he "had not been able to hear of anything except an
infinite number of edifices of ruined towns/ and some
bones and other remains apparently of little import
ance, which had been taken from excavations on the
hacienda of Armeria and Cuyutlan, and which seemed
to have been destroyed and covered up by volcanic
eruptions. If this archaeologist had found more than
an infinite number of ruins, it might possibly have
occurred to him to describe some of them. 8 Nothing
more is known of Colima antiquities.

At Tonala, probably just across the Colima line

northward in the state of Jalisco, the report sent in
reply to the inquiry just spoken of, mentioned a hill
which seemed to be for the most part artificial, and
in which excavations revealed walls, galleries, and
rooms. Similar works were said to be of frequent
occurrence in that region. In digging for the founda
tions of the Royal Hospital at Guadalajara, "there
was found a cavity, or subterranean vault, well
painted, and several statues, especially one which
represents an Indian woman in the act of grinding
corn." It was hollow, and probably of clay. Near
Autlan, in the south-west, there were said to exist
some traces of feet sculptured in the rock, one at the
ford called Zopilote, and another on the road between
Autlan and Tepanola. Near Chacala, still further
south, "there is a tank, and near it a cross well
carved, and on its foot certain ancient unknown let
ters, with points in five lines. On it was seen a most
devoted crucifix. Under it are other lines of char-
*Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, 2da epoca, torn. Hi., p. 277.
 PYRAMID OF TEPAT1TLAN. 573

with the said points, which seemed Hebrew or

"acters

Syriac."
This information conies from an old author,
and is a specimen of the absurd reports of the Chris
tian gospel having been preached at various points in
these regions, which are still believed to a considera
9
ble extent by a certain class of the people of Mexico.
An author who wrote in 1778 states that between
Guadalajara and Sayula, and four leagues north-east
of the latter town, "there is a causeway of stone and
earth, about half a league long, across the narrowest
part of a marsh, or lagoon. There is a tradition that
the gentiles built it in ancient times. On most parts of
its shores this marsh has little heaps of pottery in

fragments, very wide and thick, and there can still be

found figures of large vessels, and also foundations and
traces of small houses of stone. Tradition relates
that the antiguos of different nations came here to
make salt, and that they had several bloody fights,
of which many traces appear in the shape of black
10
transparent flints worked into arrow- points."
Mr Lowenstern discovered near Tepatitlan, some
fifty miles north-east of Guadalajara, a pyramid de
scribed as somewhat similar to those of Teotihuacan,
but smaller, its exact dimensions not being given, but
the height
O O estimated at from ninety to a him-
beinof i/

dred and thirty feet. It was built in three stories of

earth, sand, and pebbles, and bore on its summit a
dome-shaped mound. The pyramid at the base was
encased with large stones; whether or not they were
in hewn blocks is not stated, but the stones lying
about indicated that the w^hole surface had originally
borne a stone facing. The form of the base was
quadrangular, but time and the cultivation of the
whole surface as a cornfield, had modified the original
form and given the structure an octagonal conforma
tion with not very clearly defined It requires
angles.
additional evidence to prove that this supposed pyra-
9
Gutierrez, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Bolctin, 2da epoca, torn, iii., pp. 277-80,
10
Rico, iu Soc. Mex. Geog. t Boletiti, 2Ja epoca, torn, iii., p, 183.
574 ANTIQUITIES OF JALISCO.

mid was not a natural hill like Xocliicalco with some

artificial improvement. The hill is called Cerrito de
Montezuma, the custom of applying this monarch s
name to every relic of antiquity being even more
common in the northern regions than in other parts of
the country. The author of Cincinnatus Travels,
mentions a mound at Zapotlan, about fifty miles
east of Guadalajara, which is five hundred feet high.
He does not expressly state that it is artificial, and a
gentleman familiar with the locality tells, me that it
is not
generally so regarded, having the appearance
of a natural grass-covered hill. 11
In the northern part of the state, in the region of
Tepic, the Spaniards seem to have found grander tem
ples, a more elaborate religious system, and a civil
ization generally some what more advanced than in
most other parts of the north or north-west. Still
no well-defined architectural monuments are reported
on good authority in modern times. It is to the
earlier writers that we must go for accounts of any .

extensive remains, and such accounts in all cases

probably refer to the buildings which the Spaniards
found still in use among the natives; and the old
writers were ready to seize upon every scrap of ru
mor in this direction, that they might successfully
trace the favorite southward course of the Aztecs
to Anahuac. Hervas says that "there have been
found and still exist in Nayarit ruins of edifices
which by their form seem to be Mexican, and the
natives say that the Mexicans built them when they
were in Nayarit." 12 This was another of the regions
where some wandering apostle preached the gospel in
aboriginal times, and the cross of Tepic was one of the
celebrated Christian relics. Some wonderful foot-prints
in the stone are also among the reported relics.
13
A
11
Lowenstern, Mexique, pp. 265-7, 280, 344; Id., in Nouvelles A
des Voy., 1840, torn. Ixxxvi., pp. 119-20; Id., in Land. Geog. Soc., Jour.,
vol. xi., p. 104; Cincinnatut? Travels, p. 259.
12 311.
Jfcrvds, Catdlogo, torn, i., p.
Florencia, Origen de los Santuarios, p. 8; Padilla, Conq. N. Galicia,
"

MS., pp. 217-19.

 SANTIAGO IXCUINTLA. 575

temple of hewn stone, situated on a rocky hill, as

cended by a winding road, was found at Xuchipilte-
petl by the Spanish explorers in 1841; and Villa-
Sen or describes a cave where the natives were wont
to worship the skeleton of an ancient king gaily
14
appareled and seated in state upon a throne. Fi
nally Prichard informs us that "near
Nayarit are
seen earthen mounds and trenches." 15
A writer in the Boletin of the Mexican Geograph
ical Society describes the temple at Jalisco as it was
found by the first Spaniards; and another in the
Nouvelles Annales des Voyages states that the village
of Jalisco, about a league from Tepic, is built on the
ruins of the ancient city, and that making exca "in

vations there are found utensils of every kind, weap

ons and idols of the Mexican divinities." 16 After all,
the only definite account extant of relics found in
this part of the state is that by Sr Retes. He
says that the northern bank of the Rio Grande, or
Tololotlan, contains numerous remains for three or
four hundred miles, consisting chiefly of stone and
clay images and pottery, and occurring for the most
part on the elevated spots out of the reach of inunda
tions. The part of this region that has been most
explored, the vicinity of Santiago Ixcuintla, twen
is

ty-five or thirty miles from the mouth of the river.

On the slope of a hill four leagues north-west of
Santiago, at the foot of Lake San Juan, was found a
crocodile of natural size carved from stone, together
Q
with several dogs or sphinxes, and some idols, which
the author deems similar to those of the Egyptians.
Human remains have been found in connection with
the other relics, and most of the latter are said to
have been sent to enrich European collections by rich

14 de Doc., torn,
Acazitli, in Icazbalceta, Col. ii., pp. 313-14; Villa-
Senor ?/ Suiirhcz, T/ieatro, torn, ii., pp. 269-70.
1:
Nat. Hint. Man, vol. ii., p. 515.
>

K Gil, in Son. Mcx. Gcog., Boletin, torn, viii., p. 496;

Ternaux-Compans,
in Nunri llrx A n miles des Voy., 1842, torn, xcv.,
p. 21)5; same account in
Mofras, Explor., torn, i., p. 161.
576 ANTIQUITIES OF JALISCO.

foreign residents of Tepic. The objects consist of

idols in human and animal forms, axes, and lances,
the pottery being in many cases brightly colored.
The cut shows six of the thirty-eight relics pictured

Relics from Santiago, Jalisco.

in the plates given by Eetes. Fig. 1, 2, are

the
heads of small stone idols, the first head being only
two inches in height. Fig. 3 is a head of what the
 ANTIQUITIES OF GUANAJUATO. 577

author a sphinx.
calls Fig. 4 is an earthen-ware
mold forstamping designs on cloth or pottery; there
are several of these represented in the collection.
Fig. 5 is an earthen jar six inches high, of a material
nearly as hard as stone. Many of the jars found
are very similar to those now made and used in the
same region. Fig. 6 is an earthen idol four inches
high. Among the other objects is a flint lance-head
with notches like saw-teeth on the sides. 17 Similar
relics, but of somewhat ruder style and coarser ma
terial, have been found at a locality called Abreva-
dero, about eighteen miles south of Santiago towards
Tepic.
18
At Bolanos, some distance east from Sant
iago, on a northern branch of the same river, Lyon
obtained, by offering rewards to the natives, "three
very good stone wedges or axes of basalt." Bones of
giants were reported at a distance of a day s journey.
At the same distance southward "there is said to be
a cave containing several figures or idols in stone. 19

Respecting the antiquities of Guanajuato Sr Bus-

tamante states that the only ones in the state are
some natural caves artificially improved, as in the
Cerro de San Gregorio, on the hacienda of Tupdtaro;
and some earthen mounds in the plains of Bajio,
proved to be burial mounds. Under the earth and a
layer of ashes the skeleton lies with its head covered
by a little brazier of baked clay, and accompanied by
arrows, fragments of double-edged knives, obsidian
O on twisted
fragments, bird-bone necklaces strung"
bird-gut, smooth stones, some small semi-spheres of
baked clay with a hole in the centre of each, and a
20
few grotesque idols.
Castillo describes a small human head, brought
from the mines of Guanajuato, the material of which
was a "concretion of quartz and chalcedony for the
17
Retcs. in Musco Mex.. 2da epoca, torn. L. pp. 3-6.
18
Id., p. 6.
19
Li/on s Journal, vol. i., pp. 322-3.
20
Bustnmruite, in Soc. Mex. Geoq., Boletin, torn, i., pp. 56-7.
VOL. IV. 37
573 ANTIQUITIES OF ZACATECAS.

most part, sprinkled with of gold, and a

fine grains
little pyrites, of a whitish color,but partly stained
red by the oxide of iron." This head, it seems, was
claimed by some to be a petrifaction, but the author
is of a contrary opinion, although he believes there
21
is
nothing artificial about it except the mouth. Fi
nally Berlandier describes two pyramids near the
pueblo of Santa Catarina, in the vicinity of the city
of Guanajuato. They are square at the base, face the
cardinal points, and are built of pieces of
porphyry
laid in clayey earth. The eastern pyramid is twenty-
three feet high, thirty-seven feet square at the base,
with a summit platform fifteen feet square. The cor
responding dimensions of the western mound are
eighteen, thirty-seven, and fifteen feet. They are only
fifteen or twenty feet apart, and are joined
.by an em
bankment about five feet high. 22

The most important and famous ruins of the whole

northern region are those known to the world under
the name of Quemada, in southern Zacatecas. The
ruins are barely mentioned by the early writers as
one of the probable stations of the migrating Aztecs ;

and the modern explorations which have resulted in

published descriptions were made between 1826 and
1831, although Manuel Gutierrez, parish priest of the
locality in 1805, wrote a slight account which has
been recently published. 23 Capt. G. F. Lyon visited
Quemada in 1826, and published a full description,
24
illustrated with three small cuts, in his journal.
Gov. Garcia of Zacatecas ordered Sr Esparza in 1830
to explore the ruins. The latter, however, by reason
of other duties and a fear of snakes, was not able to
make a personal visit, but obtained a report from Pe-

Castillo, in Id., 2da epoca, torn, iv., pp. 107-8.

*l

Berlandier and Thovel, Diario, p. 25.

22

Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, 2da epoca, torn, iii., pp. 278-9, preceded by
23

an account quoted from Torquemada.

24
Lyorfs Journal, vol. i., pp. 225-44.
 RUINS OF QUEMADA. 579

dro Rivera who had made such a visit. The report

25
was published in the same year.
Mr Berghes, a German mining engineer, con
nected with the famous Veta Grande silver mines,
made a survey of the ruins in 1831, for Gov. Garcia,
and from the survey prepared a detailed and pre
sumably accurate plan of the works, which was after
wards published by Nebel, and which I shall copy in
this chapter. Mr Burkart, another engineer, was
the companion of Berghes, and also visited Que-
mada on several other occasions. His published ac
count is accompanied by a plan agreeing very well
with that of Berghes, but containing fewer details. 26
Nebel visited Quemada about the same time. 27 His
plates are two in number, a general view of the ruins
from the south-west, and an interior view of one of
the structures, besides Berghes plan. His views,
so far as I know, are the only ones ever published. 28
The location is about thirty miles southward of
the capital city of Zacatecas, and six miles north
ward of Yillanueva. The stream on which the
ruins stand is spoken of by Burkart as Rio de
Villanueva, and by Lyon as the Rio del Partido.
The name Quemada, burnt, is that of a neigh
boring hacienda, about a league distant towards
the south-west. I do not know the origin of the
name as applied to the hacienda, but there is no evi-
25
Esparza, Infor me, pp. 56-8. The same
report also published in 1843,
in the Musco Mcx., torn, i., p. et seq., with some remarks by the
185,
editor, who saw the ruins in 1831. The article also includes a quotation
from Frejes, Conquista de Zacatecas, an attempt to clear up the origin and
history of the ruined city, and a plate reduced from Nebel.
26
Burkart, A ufcut halt, torn, ii., pp. 97-105.
27
Vkije. His Mexican trip began in 1831, Soc. Gcog., Bulletin, torn,
xv., No. 95, p. 141, and Burkart met him in Zacatecas some time before
1834.
containing no additional information, and made np,
28 Other accounts

except one or two, from the authorities already mentioned: Gil, in Soc.
Mcx. Geog., Boletin, torn, viii., pp. 441-2; Mayer s Mex. as it Was, pp.
240-6; Id., Mcx., Aztec, etc., vol. ii., pp. 317-23, Lyon s description and
Nobel s plate; Id., in SchoolcrafCs Arch., vol. vi., p. 581; Bradford s A mcr.
Antiq., pp. 90-5; Miihlenpfordt, Mejico., torn, ii., pt ii., p. 492; Wappaus^
Geog. u. Stat., p. 204; Frost s Pict. Hist. Mcx., pp. 58-66; Id., Great Cities,
pp. 304-12, cuts; Rio, Beschreib. einer all. Stadt., appendix, pp. 70-5.
580 ANTIQUITIES OF ZACATECAS,

dence that it has any connection with the ruins.

The localname of the latter is Los Edificios. The
only other name which I have found applied to the
place is Tuitlan. Fr Tello, in an unpublished history
of Nueva Galicia written about 1650, tells us that
the Spaniards under Capt. Chirinos "

found a great
city in ruins and abandoned; but it was known to
have had most sumptuous edifices, with grand streets
and plazas well arranged, and within a distance of a
quarter of a league four towers, with causeways of
stone leading from one to another; and this city was
the great Tuitlan, where the Mexican Indians re
mained many years when they were journeying from
the north." 2 This ruined city was in the region of
of the modern town of Jerez, and without much
doubt was identical with Quemada. Sr Gil applies
the same name to the ruins. Others without any
known authority attempt to identify Quemada with
Chicomoztoc, the seven caves whence the Aztecs
set out on their migrations; or with Amaquemecan,
the ancient Chichimec capital of the traditions. Gil
rather extravagantly says, "these ruins are the
grandest Which exist among us after those of Pa-
lenque; and on examining them, it is seen that they
were the fruit of a civilization more advanced than
that which was found in Peru at the time of the
30
Incas, or in Mexico at the time of Montezuma."

The Cerro de los Edificios is a long narrow isolated

hill, the summit of which forms an irregular broken

plateau over half a mile in length from north to south,

and from one hundred to two hundred yards wide, ex
cept at the northern end, where it widens to about
five hundred yards. The height of the hill is given
by Lyon as from two to three hundred feet, but by
Burkart at eight to nine hundred feet above the level

Tello, Fragmentos, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., torn, ii., p. 344.

29
30Soc. Mcx. Geog., Boletin, torn, viii., pp. 441-2, 490; Fre/es, in Museo
Mcx., torn, i., pp. 186-9; Lyorfs Journal, vol. i., p. 243.
 LOS EDIFICIOS OF QUEMADA. 581

of the plain. In the central part is a cliff rising about

thirty feet above the rest of the plateau. From the
brow the hill descends more or less precipitously on
different sides for about a hundred and fifty feet, and
then stretches in a gentler slope of from two to four
hundred yards to the surrounding plain. On the slope
and skirting the whole circumference of the hill, ex
cept on the north and north-east, are traces of ancient
roads crossing each other at different angles, and con
nected by cross roads running up the slope with the
works on the summit. Berghes plan of Quemada
is
given on the following page, on which the roads
spoken of are indicated by the dotted lines marked
H, H, H, etc. This plan and Burkart s plan and de
scription are the only authorities for the existence of
the roads running round the hill, Lyon and other vis
itors speaking only of those that diverge fom it; but
it is
probable that Berghes survey was more careful
and thorough than that of the others, and his plan
should be accepted as good authority, especially as the
other accounts agree with it so far as they go. 31
One of the roads, which turns at a right angle
round the south-western slope, has traces of having
been enclosed or raised by walls whose foundations
yet remain; and from it at a point near the angle a
raised causeway ninety-three feet wide extends straight
up the slope north-eastward to the foot of the bluff.
The walls supposed to have raised those south- western
roads are not spoken of by Burkart or shown on his
plan; Lyon speaks of certain walls here which he
considers those of an enclosed area of some six acres.
From a point near the junction of the road and
explanation of the plan by the lettering given in Nobel s work is
31 The

as follows: A i., A A
ii., iii., Aiv. Temples and structures connected there
with; B. Enclosing walls. C. Walls supporting terraces. D. Pyramids
in the interior of temples. E. Isolated Pyramids. F. Ruins of dwell
ings. G. Stairways. H. Ancient roads. J. Kind of a plaza de annas.
K. Fortifications. L. Small stairways leading to the court of the temple.
M. A small altar. X. Ancient foundations. O. Batteries in the form of
flat roofs (a/oti as). P. Modern cross on the summit of the hill. Q. Well.
R. Large hall with 11 columns to support the roof. S. Two columns. T.
Rock. U. Stream.
582 ANTIQUITIES OF ZACATECAS.

causeway three raised roads, paved with rough

stones
extend, according to Lyon, in perfectly straight lines
S. W., S. S. W., and S. W. by S. The first termi
nates in an artificial mound across the river towards
32
the hacienda of Queinada; the second extends four
32
Rivera, pp. 56-8, says that the causeway leading toward the
hacienda
 LOS EDIFICIOS OF QUEMADA. 583

miles to the Coyote Rancho; and the third is said

by the natives to terminate at a mountain six miles
distant. Two similar roads thirteen or fourteen feet
wide extend from the eastern slope of the hill, one
of them crossing a stream and terminating at a dis
tance of two miles in a cuicillo, or heap of stones.
Burkart found some evidence that the heap constituted
the ruins of a regular structure or pyramid; and Ki-
vera locates the cuicillo on the summit of the Sierra
de Palomas. He also speaks of a road running west
from the north-western part of the hill to the small
hills of San Juan, on the Zacatecas road. Of the
other roads radiating from the hill I have no farther
information than the fact that they are laid down in
the plan. 33
At all points in the whole circumference where the
natural condition of the slope is not in itself a suffi
cient barrier to those seeking access to the summit
plateau, the brow of the hill is guarded by Avails of
stone, marked B
on the plan fcr the northern por
tions, and indicated generally by the black lines in
the south. Indeed the northern end of the mesa,
where the approach is somewhat less precipitous than
elsewhere, is continuously guarded by such a wall,
from nine to twelve feet thick and high, enclosing an
irregular triangular area with sides of about four hun
dred and fifty yards: this, area being divided by
another wall into two unequal portions.
The most numerous and extensive ruins are on the
southern portion of the hill, where a larger part of
the uneven surface is formed into platforms or ter
races by means of walls of solid masonry. One of
these supporting walls is double that is, composed of
two walls placed in contact side by side, one having
been completed and plastered before the other was
begun, the whole structure being twenty-one feet

33
Frejcs, in Mitseo Mcx., torn, i., p. 186, speaks of tres calzadas de
sois yarns de audio quo por liueas divergeutes eorreii al mediodia alguuas
leguas Uasta perderse de vista.
584 ANTIQUITIES OF ZACATECAS.

high and of the same thickness.

34
On the platforms
thus formed are a great number of edifices in different
degrees of dilapidation. Any attempt on my part to
describe these edifices in detail from the information
afforded by the authorities available could not be
otherwise than confusing and unsatisfactory. There
is
probably no ruin in our territory, the verbal descrip
tion of which would present so great difficulties, even
if the accounts of the
original explorers were per
fectly comprehensive, as they are not; for perhaps
more than three fourths of the structures shown on
the plan are not definitely spoken of by any author.
I will, however, give as clear a description as possi
ble, referring the reader to the plan and to one view
which I shall copy, the only satisfactory one ever pub
lished.
Near each end of the wide causeway already men
tioned are two comparatively small masses of ruins.
One of them appears to have been a square stone
building thirty-one feet square at the base and of the
same height; the others, now completely in ruins,
may perhaps have been of similar dimensions, so far
as may be judged by the debris. In the centre of
the causeway, perhaps at F of the plan, although de
scribed as nearer the bluff, is a heap of stone over a
star-shaped border or pavement. On the lower part
of the mesa, at the extreme southern end and also
near the head of the causeway, at iv of the plan,A
is a quadrangular space measuring two hundred by
two hundred and forty feet, 35 and bounded, at least on
the north and east, by a stone terrace or embankment
four or five feet high and twenty feet wide, the width
of which is probably to be included in the dirnen-

uLyon. According to the Museo Mcx., torn, i., p. 187, it is 5 or 6 varas

high and 10 thick.
33 Burkart
gives the dimensions as 194 232 Rhenish feet, somewhat
"by

larger than English feet; Rivera says 35 or 40 varas square. This author
also noticed on the slope of the hill before reaching the steepest part, a py
ramid about 20 feet high and 11 feet square, now truncated but appar
ently pointed in its original condition. This was probably the heap of
stones mentioned above.
 LA QUEMADA. 585

sions given.
36
Mr
Burkart states that near the inner
edge of this terrace is a canal a foot deep and wide,
covered with stone fla^s.
O On the outer ed^e
O of the
terrace, on the eastern side, stands a Avail eight feet
thick and eighteen
O feet hisfh.
O Lyon
v
Mr
thinks the
other sides were always open, but Burkart speaks of
the wall as having originally enclosed the square, and
having been torn down on three sides, which seems
much more probable. At one point on the eastern
terrace stands a round pillar nineteen feet in circum
ference and of the same height the Avail, or eighteen
"as

feet. There are visible traces of nine other similar

pillars, seemingly indicating the former presence of a
massive column-supported portico.
Adjoining this enclosure on the east, Avith only a
narrow passage intervening, is another, of the R
plan, measuring according to Burkart s measure
ment, Avhich agrees very nearly with that of Ber-
ghes, one hundred by one hundred and thirty-ei^ht
37
feet, Avith Avails still perfect, eighteen feet high
and eight feet thick, in connection Avith which no
terraces are mentioned, although Rivera speaks of
steps on the Avest. Within the Avails, twenty-three
feet from the sides and nineteen and a half from the
ends, is a line of eleven pillars Lyon says fourteen,
and Rivera ten each seventeen feet in circumference
and of the same height as the Avails. There can be
little doubt that these columns once sustained a roof.
Mr Berghes in one of his excavations in 1831 is
said, by Nebel, to have found an ancient roof sup
ported by a column, and showing exactly the method
followed by the builders. The roof Avas made of
large flat stones, covered Avith mortar and supported
by beams. It is not quite clear how an excavation
on the hill could show such a room, but there is little

36
Burkart implies that the terrace extends entirely round the square,
forming a sunken basin 4 or 5 feet deep; and this is probably the case,
as it agrees with the
plan of some other structures on the hill.
37
Lyon says 137 by 154 feet; Rivera, 50 to 60 varas, with walls 8 to
9 varas high.
586 ANTIQUITIES OF ZACATECAS.

room to doubt that the roof- structure was similar to

that described. Near this second enclosure and
west of it, as is said, but that would be hardly pos
sible Rivera speaks of a circular ruin sixteen and a
half feet in diameter, with five steps leading up to
the summit, on which some apartments were still
traceable.
From the level platform in front of the two main
structures described, a causeway, beginning with a
stairway and guarded at the sides by walls for much
of its length, leads northward up the slope. About
three hundred yards in this direction, possibly at the
point marked F on this causeway, is a pyramid in
perfect preservation, about fifty feet square at the
base, also fifty feet high, with a flat summit. Near
this is another pyramid, only twelve feet square and
eighteen feet high, but standing on a terrace fifty by
one hundred feet. Two bowl-shaped circular pits,
eight feet in diameter, with fragments of pottery and
traces of fire; a square building ten by eight feet
on the inside, with walls ten feet high; and a simple
mound of stones eight feet high, are the miscel
laneous remains noted in this part of the hill.
The most extensive and complicated ruins are
found between the steep central height and the west
ern brow of the hill, where there is a perpendicular
descent of a hundred and fifty feet. On this central
height itself there are no ruins, but passing nearly
round its base are terraced roads twenty -five feet
wide, with perpendicular walls only partially artificial.
Of the extensive group of monuments on the platform
of the south-western base of the central height, only
the portion about A ii, of the plan, has been defi
nitely described, and the description, although clear
enough in itself, does not altogether agree with the
plan. Here we have a square enclosure similar to
the one already described in the south at A iv. Its
sides are one hundred and fifty feet, bounded by a
terrace three feet high and twelve feet wide, with
 PYRAMID OF QUEMADA. 587

steps in the centre of each side. Back of the ter

race on the east, west, and south sides stand walls
eight or nine feet in thickness and twenty feet high.
The north side of the square is bounded by the steep
side of the central cliff, in which steps or seats are
cut in some parts- in the solid rock, and in others
built up with rough stones. In the centre of this
side, and partially on the terrace, is a truncated pyra
mid, with a base of thirty-eight by thirty-five feet,
and nineteen feet high, divided into several stories
five according to Nebel s drawing, seven according to

Lyon s statement. 38
In front of the pyramid, and nearly in the centre
of the square, stands a kind of altar or small pyra
mid seven feet square and five feet high. very A
clear idea of this square is given in the following cut
from Nebel s drawing. It presents an interior view
from a point on the southern terrace. The pyramid
in five stories, the central altar, the eastern terrace
with and standing portions of the walls are
its steps,
all clearly portrayed.The view, however, disagrees
very essentially with the plan in representing exten
sive remains northward from the enclosure on the
upper slope, where, according to Berghes plan, no
ruins exist. There is an entrance in the centre of the
eastern wall, another in the western, and two on the
south. These entrances do not seem to be in the
form of doorways, but extend, according to the draw
ing, to the full height of the walls. That on the
east is thirty feet wide and leads to an adjoining
square with sides of two hundred feet and walls still
perfect. of these two adjoining
The arrangement
squares is much that of those at
like iv in the A
south, but in the northern structures there are no pil
lars to be seen.
The opening through the western wall leads to the
entrance to a cave, reported to be of great extent, but
*
Burkart gives the dimensions of the pyramid as 30 feet square and
30 feet high; and of the altar in front as 6 feet square and G feet high.
588 ANTIQUITIES OF ZACATECAS.

not explored by any visitor on account of the ruined

condition of the passage leading to it or, as Gutierrez
because the wind issues constantly from the en
>says,

trance with such force that no one can enter with

lights. The mouth of the subterranean passage is on
 RUINS OF QUEMADA. 589

the brink of the western precipice; the walls were

plastered, and the top supported by cedar beams.
Strangely enough the structure at A iii, so clearly
defined on the plan, is not described at all. It seems
to be very similar to the enclosures described.
The ruins on the northern part of the plateau are
similar in character to those in the south, but fewer
in number. Among them are square terraced en
closures like those already mentioned; a pyramid
with sloping sides, and eighteen feet square at the
summit; a square building sixteen feet square at
the base and sixteen feet high; and two parallel
stone mounds thirty feet long.
On the lower southern slopes the foundation-stones
of numerous buildings are found, and many parts of
the adjoining plain are strewn with stones similar to
those employed in the construction of the edifices
above. There is now no water on the hill, but there
are several tolerably perfect tanks, with a well, and
what seem to be the remains of aqueducts.
The material of which all the works described are
built is the gray porphyry of this and the
neighbor
ing hills, and Burkart states that the building-stone
of Los Edificios was not quarried in the hill on
which they stand, but brought from another across
the valley. The nature of the stone permits it to be
very easily fractured into slabs, and those employed
in the buildings are of different sizes, but
rarely ex
ceeding two or three inches in thickness and not
hewn. They are laid in a mortar of reddish clay
mixed with straw, in which one visitor found a corn-
husk. The mortar, according to Burkart, is of an
inferior quality, although others represent it as very
good and on the outer walls and in all exposed situa
tions isalmost entirely washed out. Except this
washing-out of the mortar, time and the elements
have committed but slight ravages at Quemada, the
dilapidation of the buildings being due for the most
part to man s agency, since most of the buildings of
590 ANTIQUITIES OF ZACATECAS.

the neighboring hacienda have been constructed of

blocks taken from Los Editicios. Lyon found some
evidence that the walls were originally plastered and
whitened.
A large circular stone from ten to thirteen feet in
diameter and from one to three in thickness,
according
to different observers, on the surface of which were
sculptured representations of a hand and foot, was
found at the western base of the hill, or as Burkart
says, at the eastern base. The editor of the Museo
Mexicano also speaks of a sculptured turtle bearing
the figure of a reed, the Aztec acatl. No other mis
cellaneous relics whatever have been found. Nothing
resembling inscriptions, hieroglyphics, or even archi
tectural decorations, is found in any part of the ruins.
Obsidian fragments, arrow and spear heads, knives,
ornaments, heads and idols of terra cotta and stone,
pottery whole or in fragments, human remains and
burial deposits, some or all of which are strewn in so
great abundance in the vicinity of most other Amer
ican ruins, are here utterly wanting; or at least the
only exceptions are a few bits of porphyry somewhat
resembling arrow-heads, and some small bits of pot
tery found by Lyon in the circular pit on the summit.

The works which have been described naturally

imply the existence in this spot at some time in the
past of a great city of the plain, of which the Cer-
ro de los Edificios was at once the fortified citadel and
temple. The paved causeways may be regarded as
the principal streets of the ancient city, on which the
habitations of the people were built of perishable
material, or as constructed for some purely religious
purpose not now understood. Mr Burkart suggests
that the land in the vicinity was once swampy, and
the causeways were raised to ensure a dry road. An
examination of their foundation should settle that
point, as a simple pavement of flat stones on the
surface of a marsh would not remain permanently in
 RUINS OF QUEMADA. 591

place. As simple roads, such structures were hardly

needed by barefooted or sandaled natives, having no
carriages or beasts of burden; and it seems most
reasonable to believe that they had a connection with
at the same
religious rites and processions, serving
time as main streets of a city.
The ruins of Quemada show but few analogies to
any of the southern remains, and none whatever to
any that we shall find further north. As a strongly
fortified hill, bearing also temples, Quemada bears
considerable resemblance to Quiotepec in Oajaca;
and possibly the likeness would be still stronger if a
plan of the Quiotepec fortifications were extant.
The massive character, number, and extent of the
monuments showr the builders to have been a power
ful and in some respects an advanced people, hardly
less so, it would seem at first thought, than the peo

ples of Central America; but the absence of narrow

buildings covered by arches of overlapping stones,
and of all decorative sculpture and painting, make
the contrast very striking. The pyramids, so far as
they are described, do not differ very materially from
some in other parts of the country, but the location
of the pyramids shown in the drawing and plan
within the enclosed and terraced squares seems
unique. The pillars recall the roof structures of
Mitla, but it is
quite possible that the pillars at
Quemada supported balconies instead of roofs; in
deed, it seems improbable that these large squares
were ever entirely covered. The walls of Los Edi-
ficios are higher as a rule than those of other Ameri
can ruins, and the absence of windows and regular
doorways is noticeable. The total want of idols in
structures so evidently built, at least partially, for
religious purposes, is also a remarkable feature, as is
the absence of the usual pottery, implements, and
weapons. The peculiar structure, several times re
peated, of two adjoining quadrangular spaces en
closed, or partially so, by high walls, and one of
592 ANTIQUITIES OF ZACATECAS.

them formed by a low terrace into a kind of square

basin, containing something like an altar in its cen
tre, is a feature not elsewhere noted. There can
hardly be any doubt that these and other portions of
the Edificios were devoted to religious
O rites.
While Quemada does not compare as a specimen
of advanced art with Uxmal and Palenque, and is
inferior so far as sculpture and decoration are con
cerned to most other Nahua architectural monu
ments, it is yet one of the most remarkable of
American ruins, presenting strong contrasts to all
the rest, and is well worthy of a more careful exam
ination than it has ever yet received. Such an
examination is rendered comparatively easy by the
accessibility of the locality, and would, I have no
doubt, be far from unprofitable in an antiquarian
point of view. Los Edificios, like Copan and Pa
lenque, have, so far as has yet been ascertained, no

place in the traditional annals of the country, yet

they bear no marks of very great antiquity; that is,
there is more reason to class them with Xochicalco,
Quiotepec, Monte Alban, and the fortified towns of
Yera Cruz, than with the cities of Yucatan and
Chiapas, or even the pyramids of Teotihuacan and
Cholula.

At San Juan Teul, nearly a hundred miles south

ward from Quemada, the Spaniards found a grand
aboriginal temple when they first came to this part of
the country; and Frejes, an early writer, says, "there
are ruins of a temple and of dwellings not far from
the present pueblo." There is, however, no later
information respecting this group of remains. At a
place called Tabasco, about fifty miles from Quemada,
Esparza mentions the discovery of some stone axes.
No other antiquities have been definitely reported in
the state of Zacatecas, although Arlegui tells us that
the early missionaries were much troubled, and hin
dered in their work of conversion by the constant
 AGUASCALIENTES AND SAN LUIS POTOSt 593

discovery of idols and temples concealed in the

39
mountains.

I have no record of any relics of antiquity in the

state of Aguascalientes: San Luis Potosi has hardly
proved a more fruitful field of archaeological research.

Mayer gives cut representing a stone axe from this

a
state Cabrera reports some ancient tombs, or cuicillos,
;

which he calls cuiztillos; the word being written

differently by different authors, and as applied to dif
ferent states in the suburbs of the city of San Luis
Potosi and
; according to a newspaper report two idols
and a sacrificial basin, cut from a concrete sandstone,
were found in the sierra near the city and brought to
New Orleans. One of the idols was of life size, had
two faces and a hole for the insertion of a torch in its
right hand; the basin was two feet in diameter, and
held by intertwined serpents. 40

In southern Tamaulipas relics are quite abundant

and of a nature very much the same as that of those
which have already been described south of the Rio
Panuco, the boundary line between Tamaulipas and
Vera Cruz. At Encarnacion, in the vicinity of Tam-
pico, MrFurber reports the stone idol shown in front
and profile view in the cut. The sculpture is described
as rude, and with the idol, three feet high, were dug
41
up several implements and utensils. Near a small
puehlo [Ten!] por cabeza un cerro al prmcipio cuadrado
39 Tiene este

como de pefia tajada, y arriba otro cerro redondo, y encima del primero
hay tanta capacidad que caben mas de veinte mil indios En este monte
estaba una sala, en donde estaba su idolo, que llamabaii el Teotl. .. .tiene
mas una pila de losas de junturas de cinco varas de largo y tres de ancho,
y mas ancha de arriba que de abajo. .Esta pila tiene dos entradas; la
. .

una en la esquina que mira al Norte, con cinco gradas, y la otra que mira
en esquina al Sur, con otras cinco: no lejos de esta pila, como dos tiros
de arcabuz, estan dos montecillos que eran los osarios de los indios que
sacrificaban. Tello, in Icazbalceta, CoL de Doc., torn, ii., pp. 362-4; Id.,
in Beaumont, Cro n. Mechoacan, MS., p*. 300; description of the temple,
Mex. Gcog., Boletin, torn, viii., p. 497; mention of ruins, Frejes,
Gil, in Soc.
in Miiseo Mex., torn, i., p. 186; stone axes, Esparza, Informe, p. 7; con
cealed temples and idols, Arlegui, Chrdn. Zacatecas, p. 95_
40
Mayer s Mex. as it Was, p. 98; Cabrera, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin t .

Sdaepoca, torn, iv., p. 24; Annual Scien. Discov., 1850, p, 361,

* Furies Twelve
Months Volunteer, pp. 387-8.
VOL. IV. 38
594 ANTIQUITIES OF TAMAULIPAS.

Idol from Tamaulipas.

salt lake between Tula and Santa Barbara, Mr Lyon

found a ruined pyramidal mound of hard earth or
clay, faced with flat unhewn stones, with similar
stones projecting and forming steps leading up the
slope on one side. This pyramid is thirty paces in
circumference at the base, and is divided by a terrace
into two stories, the lower of which is twenty feet
high, and the upper in its present state ten feet.
Some stone and terra-cotta images have been taken
from this mound, and another much smaller but simi
lar structure is reported to exist somewhere in the
42
same vicinity.
On the Tamissee River, which flows into Tampico
Bay, traces of ancient towns have been found in two
localities near the Carmelote Creek. They consist of
scattered hewn blocks of stone, covered with vegeta
ble mold and overgrown with immense trees and rank
vegetation. At one of these localities the remains
include seventeen large earthen mounds, with traces
of a layer of mortar at the bottom. In them have
been found broken pottery, rudely carved images of
natural size in sandstone, and idols and heads in terra
*2
Lyoii s Journal, vol. i., pp. 141-2.
 TOPILA REMAINS. 505

cotta. Mr Norman gives cuts representing two of

43
these heads.
In the south-western part of the state, in the To
pi] a hills, near
a creek of the same name, is a large
group of remains at a locality known as Rancho de
las Piedras. Mr Norman, who spent a week in their
examination, is the only authority for these remains,
and as he was obliged to work alone and unaided, his
examination was necessarily superficial. Over an area
several miles square the ground is strewn with hewn
blocks of stone and fragments of pottery and obsidian.
Many of the blocks bear decorative sculptured fig
ures. Afemale face carved from a block of fine dark
reddish sandstone, was brought away by Mr Norman
and presented to the New York Historical Society.
It is shown in the cut. The face is of life size, very

Stone Face Topila Ruins.

symmetrical in its form, and of a Grecian type.

Another monument sketched by the explorer was a
stone turtle, six feet long, with a human head. The
sculpture, especially of the turtle s shell, is described
as very fine; the whole rests on a large block of con
crete sandstone, and is called by the finder the Amer
ican Sphynx. This relic was somewhat damaged, but
the features of the human face seemed of a Caucasian
rather than a native type.
The Topila ruins include twenty mounds, both cir
cular and square, from six to twenty-five feet in
height, built of earth and faced with uniform blocks
of sandstone, eighteen inches square and six inches
thick. The facings had for the most part fallen, and
43
Nor mail s Rambles by Land and Water, pp. 1C9-70.
596 ANTIQUITIES OF TAMAULIPAS.

that invariably inward in the smaller mounds, indi

cating perhaps their original use as tombs. Many of
the blocks are scattered through the forest in places
where the mounds had entirely disappeared. Of all
the mounds only one has any trace of a terrace, and
in that one it is very faint; and there is no evidence
that mortar was employed in laying the stones. The
largest covered about two acres, and bore on its sum
mit a wild fig-tree one hundred feet high. At its
base is a circular wall of stone, the top of which is
even with the surface of the ground perhaps a well
and which is filled with stones and broken pottery.
Its top is covered with a circular stone four feet and
nine inches in diameter and seven inches thick, with
a hole in its centre and some ornamental lines sculp
tured on its upper surface. Another round stone,
twelve feet in diameter and three feet thick, on the
front of which is carved a colossal human head, is
shown in the cut. The author speaks vaguely of

Colossal Head Topila Ruins.

"vast
piles of broken and crumbling stones, the ruins
of dilapidated buildings, which were strewed over a
vast space;" and his cuts of the relics which I have
copied show in the background, not included
in my

copies, regular walls of hewn stone.

Norman re Mr
gards this group as the remains of a great city, the
site of which is now covered by
a heavy forest. In
another locality, seven miles further north-west on
the Topila Creek, and a few miles from the Panuco
River, is another group of circular mounds, one of
 BOLSON DE MAPIMI. 597

them twenty-five feet high, and the lower portions

faced with flat hewn stones. Hewn blocks of various
forms arid sizes are also scattered about the locality,
but none of them are sculptured. 44 Lyon tells us
that "remains of utensils, statues, weapons, and even
skeletons," have been often found in digging for the
foundations of new buildings in the vicinity of Tam-
pico, or Tamaulipas. He made drawings, which he
did not publish, of two very perfect basalt idols, and
mentioned also some bone carvings and terra-cotta
idolsfound in this region. 45 In northern Tamaulipas
I find only one mention of aboriginal monuments,
and that at Burrita, about twenty miles east from
Matarnoras, respecting which locality Berlandier says,
a small hill which is seen two or three hundred
"on

paces from the rancho of Burrita are found in abund

ance (as the rancheros say) the bones of ancient
46
peoples."
Nuevo Leon, adjoining Tamaulipas on the west,
is another of the states within whose limits no an
tiquities have been reported; and in Texas on the
north almost the same absence of aboriginal remains
is to be remarked,
although one group of rock-in
scriptions will be noted in a future chapter at Rocky
Dell creek, in the north-western part of the state
bordering on New Mexico. In the region bordering
on the valley known as the Bolson de Mapimi, com
prising parts of the states of Coahuila, Durango, and
Chihuahua, the natives at some time in the past seem
to have deposited their dead in natural caves, and sev
eral of these burial deposits of great extent have
been discovered and reported. None of them are
accurately located by any traveler or writer, nor is it
possible to tell in which of the three states any one

44 Norman s Rambles
by Land and Water, pp. 121-37.
45
Lyon s Journal, vol. i., pp. 21, 28, 114. Mention of Tamaulipas an
tiquities from Norman and Lyon, in Mayer s Mex. Aztec, etc., vol. ii., pp.
207-9; Id., in Schoolcraffs Arch., vol. vi., p. 581. Newspaper account of
some relics of Christianity, in Cronise s California, p. 30.
46
Berlandier and Thovel, Diario, p. 151.
598 ANTIQUITIES OF COAHUILA.

of them should be described. As antiquities, how

ever, these burial caves do not require a long notice.
The one of which most has been written is that dis
covered by Juan Flores in 1838. The entrance to
the cave was at the foot of a hill, and within were
seated round the walls over a thousand mummies
dressed in fine blankets, made of the fibres of lechu-
"

guilla, with sandals, made of a species of liana, on

their feet, and ornamented with colored scarfs, with
beads of seeds of fruits, polished bones, &c.," as Wiz-
lizenus says. Miihlenpfordt tells us that Flores to
find this cave traveled eastward from the Rancho San
Juan de Casta, which is eighty- six leagues northward
from Durango. Another traveler heard of several of
these caves, and that the remains found were of gi
gantic Mayer gives a report that in latitude
size.
27 28 there are a multitude of caverns excavated
from solid rock, bearing inscribed figures of animals
and men, the latter dressed like the ancient Mexi
cans. Some of them were described by Fr Rotea as
fifteen by thirty and identical probably with
feet,
Chicomoztoc, the famous seven caves/ A
writer in
Sillimans Journal, referring perhaps to the same
cave, extends the number of mummies from a thou
sand to millions, and speaks of necklaces of marine
shells. Mr Wilson locates one of these mummy-de
posits on the western slope of a high mountain over
looking the ancient pueblo of Chiricahui, in Chihua
hua probably. Several rows of bodies, dried and
shrunken but not decayed, were exposed by an exca
vation for saltpetre. Each body sewn up in a strong
well-woven cloth, and covered again with sewn palm-
leaves, lay on its back on two sticks, with knees
drawn up to chin, and feet toward the mouth of the
cavern. The cave was a hundred feet in circumfer
ence and thirty or forty feet high, and the bottom for
a depth of twenty feet, at least, was composed of al
ternate layers of bodies, and of earth and pebbles.
The preservation is
thought to be attributable to the
 BURIAL CAVES. 599

dryness of the air and the presence of saltpetre.

Parts of the mummies, of the wrapping-cloths, bone
beads and beads of blue stone, with parts of a belt
and tassels, were presented to the California Academy
of Natural Sciences in July, 1864. Sr Avila de
scribes two of these caves situated in the vicinity of
San Lorenzo, about thirty-five leagues west of Par-
ras, in Coahuila. One had to be entered from the
top by means of ropes, and the other had some of its
rocks artificially cut and painted. In both of these
deposits bones were found instead of mummies, but
they were as in the other cases wrapped in cloth and
gaily decked with *beads, sticks, and tassels. Hair
was found on some of the heads, and a white hand
was noticed frequently painted on the walls. Padre
Alegre speaks of the existence of caves in this region,
with human remains, and painted characters on the
cliffs.
Respecting the latter, Padre Ribas says "the
of that hill and of the caves were marked with
cliffs

characters and a kind of letters, formed with blood,

and in some places so high that nobody but the devil
could have put them there, and so permanent that
neither the rains nor winds had erased or diminished
47
them."

Besides the burial caves, the only account I find

of any antiquities in the state of Coahuila, is con
tained in the following quotation, of rather doubtful
authenticity, perhaps, respecting some remains on the
hacienda of San Martero, about twenty-six miles
from Monclova. "The
spot bears every appearance
of having once been a populous city. Stone founda
tions are to be seen, covering many acres. Iimumer-

47 Wizlizenus 1

Tour, pp. 69 70. This author says the bodies are sup
posed to belong to the Lipans. Muhlenpfordt, Mejico, torn, ii., pt ii., p.
518; Severn s Journal, vol. xxx., p. 38; Mayer s Hex. as it Was, pp. 239-
40; Id., Mex. Aztec, etc., vol. ii., p. 333; Suliman s Jour., vol. xxxvi., p.
200; Cal. Acad. Nat. Sciences, vol. iii., pp. 160-1; Pac. Monthly, vol. xi.,
p. 783; Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1839, torn. Ixxxi. , pp. 126-7; Lem-
rr Notes in Mex., p. 135; Avila, in Album Mex., torn, i., pp. 465-8;
pri<
.y

Aleyrc, Hist. Comp. de Jesus, torn, i., p. 418; Ribas, Hist, de los Trivm-
phos, p. 685.
600 ANTIQUITIES OF DURANGO.

able columns and walls rise up in every direction,

composed of both limestone and sandstone. The col
umns are built in a variety of shapes, some round,
others square, and bear every imprint of the work of
human hands .... For miles in the vicinity, the basin
is covered with broken pottery of burnt clay, fantas

tically painted and ornamented with a variety of in

48
explicable designs."

In Durango, besides the sepulchral deposits al

luded to, Ribas in his standard and very rare work
on the triumphs of the faith in the northern regions,
mentions the existence of idols* columns, and the
ruins of habitations at Zape, in the central part of
the state; and Larios tells us that in the vicinity
of the church which was beinof O built in his time,
there were found at every step burial vases, con
taining ashes and human bones, stones of various
colors, and, most wonderful of all, statues or images
of men and
animals, one resembling a priest. At 49

San Agustin, between the city of Durango and San

Juan del Rio, Arlegui notes the existence of some
bones of giants. The good padre did not rely in
making his statement on mere reports, but saw
with his own eyes a jaw-tooth which measured over
eight inches square, and belonged to a jaw which
must, according to his calculations, have measured
nine feet and a half in the semicircle. 50 In the vol
canic region extending south-eastward from the city
of Durango, known as La Brena, there are large
numbers of very curious natural caves, the bottoms
of which are covered with a thick layer of fine dust,
containing much saltpetre. In this dust, Sr Jose
Fernando Ramirez discovered various antiquarian
relics, which he deposited in the National Museum
of Mexico. The only one specially mentioned was a
48 Donnavari s Adven., pp. 30-1.
Larios, in Alegre, Hist. Comp. de Jesus, torn, ii., pp. 54-5; Eibas,
49

Hist, de los Trivmphos, p. 583; Orozco y Berra, Geogrofia, p. 318.

50
Arlegui, Chron. Zacatecas, pp. G, 67.
 REMAINS IN LA BREfrA. 601

very small stone turtle, not over half an inch in di

ameter, very perfectly carved from a hard material.
The region of La Brena has always been a land of
mystery popularly supposed to contain immense con
cealed treasure, thelocalities of the deposits being*
marked by small heaps of stones which occurred
frequently in out-of-the-way places not covered by
the torrent of lava. Most of these stone heaps, per
haps altars or burial places of the ancient inhabitants,
have been destroyed by the treasure-seekers, always
without yielding the sought-for deposits of gold or
silver. The only other relics of aboriginal times in
La Brena are certain small cup-shaped excavations
in the living rock, supposed to have been used

originally for offerings to the deities worshiped by

the natives. 51

I find no record of any ancient monuments in

Sinaloa, and across the gulf in the state of Lower
California, with the exception of some idols, said to
have been brought to the priests by the natives they
were attempting to convert, and a smooth stone about
six feet O bearingO a kind of coat of arms and
lon<^,
*

some inscribed characters, 52 the only accounts of an

tiquities relate to cave and cliff paintings and inscrip
tions, which have never been copied, and concerning
which consequently not much can be said. Clavigero
says that the Jesuits found, between latitude 27 and
28, "several great caves excavated in living rock,
and painted with figures of men and women decently
clad, and of several kinds of animals. These pic
tures, though rude, represented distinctly the objects.
The colors employed in them were obtained, as may
be plainly seen, from the mineral earths which are
found about the volcano of Virgenes." The paintings
were not the work of the natives found in possession

51
Ramirez, Noticias Hist, de Durango, pp. 6-9; Id., in Soc. Mcx. Geog.,
Boletin, torn, v., pp. 10-11.
52 Doc. Hist.
Mcx., suric iv.., torn, v., pp. 213, 254.
602 ANTIQUITIES OF LOWER CALIFORNIA.

of the country, at least so the Spaniards decided, and

it was considered remarkable that they had remained

through so many centuries fresh and uninjured by

time. The colors were yellow, red, green, and black,
and many designs were placed so high on cliffs that
it seemed
necessary to some of the missionaries to
agency of the giants that were in those
*

suppose the
days. Indeed, giants bones were found oru the
peninsula, as in all other parts of the country, and
the natives are said to have had a tradition that the
paintings were the work of giants who came from
the north. Olavigero mentions one cave whose walls
and roof formed an arch resting on the floor. It was
about fifteen by eighty feet, and the pictures on its
walls represented men and woman dressed like Mexi
cans, but barefooted. The men had their arms raised
and spread apart, and one woman wore her hair loose
and flowing down her back, and also had a plume.
Some animals were noted both native and foreign.
One author says they bore no resemblance to Mexi
can paintings. A
series of red hands are reported on
a cliff near Santiago mission in the south, and also,
towards the sea, some painted fishes, bows, arrows,
and obscure characters. A
rock -inscription near
Purmo, thirty leagues from Santiago, seemed to the
Spanish observer to contain Gothic, Hebrew, and
Chaldean letters. From all that is known of the

Lower California rock -paintings and inscriptions,

there is no reason to suppose that they differ much
from, or at least are superior to, those in the New
Mexican region, of which we shall find so many speci
mens in the next chapter. It is not improbable that
these ruder inscriptions and pictures exist in the
southern country already passed over, to a much
greater extent than appears in the preceding pages,
but have remained comparatively unnoticed by trav
elers in search of more wonderful or perfect relics of
53
antiquity.
53
Clavigero, Storia delict CaL, torn, i., pp. 107-9; Doc. Hist. Mex., serie
 CERRO DE LAS TRINCHERAS. 603

Only one monument is known in Sonora, and that

only through newspaper reports. It is known as the
Cerro de las Trincheras, and is situated about fifty
miles south-east of Altar. An isolated conical hill
has a spring of water on its summit, also some heaps
of loose stones. The sides of the cerro are encircled
by fifty or sixty walls of rough stones; each about
nine feet high and from three to six feet thick, occur
ring at irregular intervals of fifty to a hundred feet.
Each wall, except that at the base of the hill, has a
gateway, but these entrances occur alternately on op
posite sides of the hill, so that to reach the summit
an enemy would have to fight his way about twenty-
five times round the circumference. One writer tells
us that Las Trincheras were first found probably
by the Spaniards in 1650; according to another, the
natives say that the fortifications existed in their
present state long before the Spaniards came and ;

finally Sr C. M. Galan, ex-governor of Sinaloa and

Lower California, a gentleman well acquainted with
all the north-western
region, informs me that there is
much doubt among the inhabitants of the locality
whether the walls have not been built since the Span
ish Conquest. Sonora also furnished its quota of
54
giants bones.

There are three or four localities in the state of

Chihuahua where miscellaneous remains are vaguely
mentioned in addition to the burial caves already re
ferred to in the extreme south-east. Hardy reports
a cave near the presidio of San Buenaventura, from
which saltpetre is taken for the manufacture of pow
der, and in which some arrows have been found, with
some curious shoes intended for the hoof of an ani
mal, arranged to be tied on heel in front, with a
view of misleading pursuers. The cave is very large,
iv., torn, v.,pp. 213, 254; Taylor, in Cat. Farmer, Dec. 21, 1860, Nov. 22,
1361, Jan. 10, 18G2; Hesperian, vol. iii., p. 530.
54 San
Francisco Evening Bulletin, July 16, 1864; Cal. Farmer, March
20, 1863, April 4, 1862; Doc. Hist. Hex., serie iii., torn, iv., pp. 626-7.
604 ANTIQUITIES OF CHIHUAHUA.

and the natives have a tradition of a subterranean

passage leading northward to the Casas Grandes,
over twenty miles. 55 Lamberg mentions the exist
ence of some remains at Corralitos, and announces
56
his intention to explore them. Garcia Conde says
that ancient works are found at various points in the
state, specifying, however, only one of them, which
consists of a spiral parapet wall encircling the sides
of a hill from top to bottom, near the canon of Ba-
chimba. 57

One celebrated group of ruins remains to be de:

scribed in this chapter the Casas Grandes of north
ern Chihuahua. These ruins are situated on the
Casas Grandes River,
which, flowing northward,
empties into a lake near the United States boundary,
about midway between the towns of Janos and Ga-
leana, and one hundred and fifty miles north-west of
the city of Chihuahua. They are frequently men
tioned by the early writers as a probable station of
the migrating Aztecs, but these early accounts are
more than usually inaccurate in this case. Robert
son found in a manuscript work a mention of the
Casas Grandes as "the remains of a paltry building
of turf and stone, plastered over with white earth or
Arlegui, in his Clironica, speaks of them as
58
lime."

"grand
all of stone well-hewn and polished
edifices
from time immemorial." So nicely joined were the
blocks of stone that they seemed to have been born
so, without the slightest trace of mortar; but the
author adds that they might have been joined with
Clavigero, who
59
the juice of some herbs or roots.
claims to have derived his information from parties
who had visited the ruins, since the hostile attitude
55
Hardy s Trav., p. 467.
56
Lamberg, in Sor. Mcx. Geoff., Bolctin, torn, iii., p. 25.
57 Garcia Conde, Ensayo sobre Chihuahua, p. 74.
58 Robertson s Hist. Atner., vol. i., p. 269.
59
Arlegui, C/trd/t. Zacatecas, pp. 104-5. Same in Padilla, Conq. N.
Galicia, MS., pp. 484-5.
 CASAS GRANDES OF CHIHUAHUA. 605

of the Apaches own residence in

at the time of his
the country made a visit impracticable was the first
to give any definite idea of these monuments, al
though he also falls into several errors. He says:
"This
place is known by the name of Casas Grandes
on account of a vast edifice still standing, which ac
cording to the universal tradition of the people was
built by the Mexicans in their pilgrimage. This edi
fice is constructed according to the plan of those in
New Mexico, that is composed of three stories and a
terrace above them, without doors in the lower story.
The entrance to the edifice is in the second story;
so that a ladder is required." 60
Sr Escudero examined the ruins in 1819, and de
scribes them as group of rooms built with mud
"a

walls, exactly oriented according to the four cardinal

points. The blocks of earth are of unequal size, but
placed with symmetry, and the perfection with which
they have lasted during a period which cannot be less
than three hundred years shows great skill in the art
of building. It is seen that the edifice had three
stories and a roof, with exterior stairways probably of
wood. The same class of construction is found still
in all the independent Indian towns of Moqui, north
east from the state of Chihuahua. Most of the rooms
are very small with doors so small and narrow that
they seem like the cells of a prison."
61
writer in A
the Album Mexicano, who visited the Casas Grandes
in 1842, wrote a description which is far superior to
anything that preceded it.
62
Mr Hardy visited the
63
place, but his account affords very little information;
and Mr Wizlizenus gives a brief description evidently
drawn from some of the earlier authorities and con-

6
Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, torn, i., p. 159; Heredia y Sarmi-
ento,Sermon, pp. 89-90.
61
Escudero, Noticias Estad. del Estado de Chihuahua, pp. 234-5; re
peated in Garcia Cotide, Ensayo sobre Chihuahua, p. 74; Orozco y JBerra,
Geografia, pp. 110-11.
62
Album. Mrx. torn, , i., pp. 374-5.
63
Hardy s Tvav., pp. 465-6.
606 ANTIQUITIES OF CHIHUAHUA.

Finally Mr Bartlett explored the

6*
sequently faulty.
locality in 1851, and his description illustrated with
cuts is by far the most satisfactory extant. From his
account and that in the Album most of the following
information is derived. 65
The ruined casas are about half a mile from the
modern Mexican town of the same name, located in a
finely chosen site, commanding a broad view over the
fertile valley of the Casas Grandes or San Miguel

river, which valley or at least the river bottom is

here two miles wide. This bottom is bounded by a
plateau about twenty -five feet higher, and the ruins
are found partly on the bottom and partly on the
more sterile plateau above. They consist of walls,
generally fallen and crumbled into heaps of rubbish,
but at some points, as at the corners and where sup
ported by partition walls, still standing to a height of
from five to thirty feet above the heaps of debris, and
some of them as high as fifty feet, if reckoned from
the level of the ground. The cuts on this and the

Casas Grandes Chihuahua.

opposite pages represent v iews of the ruins from three

different standpoints, as sketched
by Mr Bartlett.
64 WizUzcnus Tour, pp. 59-60.
1

Bartlett s Pers. Nar., vol. ii., pp. 347-64. Other compiled accounts
maybe found in Mayer s Mex. Aztec, etc., vol. ii., p. 339; Arniiu, Das Hcu-
tige Mcx., pp. 269-70; Mollhaustn, Tayebuch, pp. 312-13; Muhlenpfordt,
Mcjico, torn, ii., pt ii., p. 525; TJiummel, Mexiko, p. 347; Banking s Hist.
Researches, pp. 282-3; Wappaus, Geog. u. Stat., p. 216; Willson s Anir.r.
Hist., p. 561; Gordon s Ancient Mex., vol. i., p. 105; Gregory s Hist. Mcx.,
p. 71.
 CASAS GRANDES. C07

Casas Grandes Chihuahua.

The material of the walls is sun-dried blocks of

mud and gravel, about twenty-two inches thick, and
of irregular length, generally about three feet, prob
ably formed and diied in situ. Of this material and
method of construction more details will be given in
the following chapter on the New Mexican region,
where the buildings are of a similar nature. The
walls are in some parts five feet thick, but were so
much damaged at the time of Mr Bartlett s visit
that nothing could be ascertained, at least without
excavation, respecting their finish on either surface.
The author of the account in the Album states that
the plaster which covers the blocks is of powdered
stone, but this may be doubted.There is no doubt>
however, that they were plastered on both inte
rior and exterior, with a composition much like that
608 ANTIQUITIES OF CHIHUAHUA.

of which the blocks were made; Escudero found

some portions of the plaster still in place, but does
not state what was its composition. The remains of
the main structure, which was rectangular in its plan,
extend over an area measuring O about eisfht
O hundred
feet from north to south, and two hundred and fifty
from east to west. 66 Within this area are three great
heaps of ruined walls, but low connecting lines of
debris indicate that all formed one edifice, or were at
least connected by corridors.
t/
On the south the wall,
or the heaps indicating its existence, is continuous
and regular; of the northern side nothing is said;
but on the east and west the walls are very irregular,
with many angles and projections.

The ground plan of the whole structure could not

be made out, at least in the limited time at Mr Bart-
lett s disposal. He found, however, one row of apart
ments whose plan is shown in the cut. Each of the

LTITITJ
Ground Plan Casas Grandes.

six shown is ten by twenty feet, and the small struct

ure in the corner of each is a pen rather than a room,
being only three or four feet high. In the Album,
the usual dimensions of the rooms are given as about
twelve and a half by sixteen and a half feet; one
very perfect room, however, being a little over four
feet square. Bartlett found many rooms altogether
too small for sleeping apartments, some of great size,
whose dimensions are not given, and several en
closures too large to have been covered by a roof,
doubtless enclosed courtyards. One portion of stand
ing wall in the interior had a doorway narrower at
66
Although the dimensions in the Album are given as 414 by 1380 feet,
probably including some structures reckoned by Bartlett as detached.
 CASAS GRANDES. C09

the top than at the bottom, and two circular openings

or windows above it. The explorer of 1842 speaks
of doorways long, square, and round, some of them
being walled up at the bottom so as to form windows.

Not a fragment of wood or stone remained in 1851 ;

nor could any holes in the walls be found which

seemed to have held the original floor-timbers; and
consequently there was no way of determining the
number of stories. In 1842, however, a piece of rot
ten wood was found, over a window as it seems; and
the people in the vicinity said they had found many
beams. No traces of any stairway was, however,
visible. No doubt the earlier accounts spoke of
wooden stairways, or ladders, because such means of
entrance were commonly used in similar and more
modern buildings in New Mexico; later writers con
verted the conjectures of the first visitors into actual
fact; hence the galleries of wood and exterior stair
ways spoken of by Wizlizenus and others.
It is difficult to determine where the idea orig
inated that the structure had three stories for the
;

walls still standing in places to a height of fifty feet,

notwithstanding the wear of three centuries at least,
would certainly indicate six or seven stories rather
than three. These high walls are always in the in
terior, and the outer walls are in no part of a suffi
cient height to indicate more than one story. The
general idea of the structure in its original condition,
formed from the descriptions and views, is that of an
immense central pile similar to some of the Pueblo
towns of New Mexico, and particularly that of Taos,
of which a cut will be given in the following chapter
rising to a height of six or seven stories, and sur
rounded by lower houses built about several court
yards, and presenting on the exterior a rectangular
form. Notwithstanding the imperfect exploration of
this ruin and its advanced state of
dilapidation, the
reader of the following chapter will not fail to un-
VOL. IV. 39
610 ANTIQUITIES OF CHIHUAHUA.

derstand clearly what this Casa Grande was like

when still inhabited; for there is no doubt that this
building- was used for a dwelling as well as for
other purposes, and this may be regarded as the
first instance in the northward progress of our in

vestigation where any remains of authentic aboriginal

dwellings have been met.
About one hundred and fifty yards west of the
main building and somewhat higher on the plateau,
are seen the foundations of another structure of simi
lar nature and material, indicating a line of small

apartments built round an interior court, according

to the ground plan shown in the cut, the whole form-

lllilllj

fTTTTTTT
Ground Plan Casas Grandes.

ing a square with sides of about one hundred and

fifty feet. There are some other heaps in the vicin
ity which may very likely represent buildings, of
whose original forms, however, they convey no idea,
besides some remains of what seemed to Mr Bartletfc
to be very evidently those of modern Spanish build
ings. Between the two buildings described there are
three mounds or heaps of loose stones each about fif
teen feet high, which have not been opened. Escu-
dero, followed by Garcia Conde, states that through
out an extent of twenty leagues in length and ten
leagues in width in the valleys of the Casas Grandes
and Janos, mounds are found in great numbers over
two thousand, as estimated in the Album and that
such as have been opened have furnished painted pot-
 BROKEN POTTERY. 611

tery, metates, stone axes, and other utensils. One

visitor thought that one of the mounds presented

great regularity in its form and had a summit plat

form.
Escudero and Hardy report the existence of an
aqueduct or canal which formerly brought water from
a spring to the town. The following cut shows

Pottery from Casas Grandes.

specimens of broken pottery found in connection

with the ruins. The ornamentation is in black,
red, or brown, on a white or reddish ground. The
material is said to be superior in texture to
any
manufactured in later times by the natives of this
612 ANTIQUITIES OF CHIHUAHUA.

region. The whole valley for miles around is strewn

with such fragments. Unbroken specimens of pot
tery are not abundant, as is naturally the case in a

country traversed continually by roving bands of na

tives to whom it is easier to pick up or dig out
earthen utensils than to manufacture or buy them.
Three specimens were however found by Mr Bartlett,
and are shown in the cut. Mr Hardy also sketched

Pottery from Casas Grandes.

a vase very similar to the first figure of the cut, and

he speaks of "good specimens of earthen images in
the Egyptian style, which are, to me at least, so per
fectly uninteresting, that I was at no pains to procure
any of them." According to the Album, some idols
had been found by the inhabitants among other relics,
and the women claimed to have discovered a monu
ment of antiquity which was of practical utility to
themselves, as well as of interest to archaeologists
namely, a jar filled with bear s grease! The pipe
shown in the cut, has a suspiciously modern look,

Pipe from Casas Grandes.

although included in Bartlett s plate of Chihuahuan

antiquities.
 FORTRESS AT CASAS GRANDES. 613

The inhabitants pointed out to Bartlett, on the top

of a high mountain, some ten miles south-west of
the ruins described, what they said was a stone fort
ress of two or three stories. Escudero describes this
monument, which he locates at a distance of only
two leagues, as a watch-tower or sentry-station on
the top of a high cliff; and says that the southern
slope of the hill has many lines of stones at irregular
intervals, with heaps of loose stones at their ex
tremities. This is probably, in the absence of more
definite information the more credible account. The
Album represents this monument as a fortress built
of great stones very perfectly joined, though without
the aid of mortar. The wall is said to be eighteen
or twenty feet thick, and a road cut in the rock leads
to the summit. At this time, 1842, the works were
being destroyed for the stone they contained. Clavi-
gero speaks of the hill works as fortress defended
"a

on one side by a high mountain, and on other sides

by a wall about seven feet thick, the foundations of
which yet remain. There are seen in this fortress
stones as large as millstones; the beams of the roofs
are of pine, and well worked. In the centre of the
vast edifice is a mound, built as it seems, for the
purpose of keeping guard and watching the enemy."
Clavigero evidently confounds the two groups of
ruins, and from his error, and a similar one by others,
come the accounts which represent the Casas Grandes
as built of stone. He mentions obsidian mirrors
among the dug up here, probably without any
relics

authority. The cut from Bartlett shows a stone

metate found among the ruins.

Metate from Casas Grandes.

So far as any conclusions or comparisons suggested

614 ANTIQUITIES OF CHIHUAHUA.

by this Chihuahuan ruin are concerned, they may

best be deferred to the end of the following chapter.
The Casas Grandes, and the ruins of the northern or
New Mexican group, should be classed together.
They were the work of the same people, at about the
same epoch.