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 Early American Architecture. 29 of stone approaching each other, and meeting at the sum- mit, with external projections resembling dormer windows. The palaces differ but little from the Teocallis. The pyramids supporting them are generally lower and of an oblong form, and the upper buildings contain a larger number of apartments. The residence itself consists almost universally of a stone basement, with square doorways, but no windows, surmounted by a superstruc- ture often elaborately carved, and evidently borrowed from a wooden form. The palace of Zayi, and the Casa de las Monjas (the House of the Nuns) at Uxmal, are, perhaps, the finest buildings of this description in Central America. Many suppose them to be temples and palaces standing together, or groups of different palaces, which belonged to temporal officers of high rank. The palace of Zayi (Fig. 16) rises on a pyramid of three terraces, with architectural facades, and consists of tiers of buildings adorned with grotesque carvings. The Casa de las Monjas at Uxmal (Fig. 17) is raised on three low terraces, each about 20 feet high, one of which — that facing south — is pierced with a gateway leading into a court-yard, surrounded by buildings one story high, remarkable for the profusion of their decor- ations.