Page:Journal of American Folklore vol. 12.djvu/567

 Record of American Folk-Lore, 219

described are at Xoxo, some two leagues south of Oaxaca. As the author notes, " the great importance attached to mortuary rites is shown by the elaborately constructed tombs containing mural paint- ings and hieroglyphic inscriptions." Moreover, the terra-cotta fig- ures and the funeral urns attest a high development among the Zapotecs of the art of modeling earthen objects. Mr. Saville also informs us that " the mural paintings of Xoxo are widely different from those of Mitla," and "the excavations give additional proof that the ancient palaces of Mitla are not to be attributed to Zapote- can culture, but are the remains of a city built by the great Nahuatl tribe." Some terra-cotta tubing found in one of the mounds "may perhaps be explained as serving some mythological purpose — per- haps to form an outlet for the escape of the shade of the dead." The remains of the paintings found, " were they complete, would be of great value in a comparative study of the old Zapotecan codices."

CENTRAL AMERICA.

Costa Rica. In " Globus " (vol. Ixxvi. 1900, pp. 348-353), Dr. KarlSapper describes " Ein Besuch bei den Guatusos in Costa Rica." Houses and domestic life, burial customs, marriage, clothing, weapons, etc., are treated of briefly. Some items of folk-lore and songs are recorded. The Guatusos are a very interesting people, and among them the couvade survives, also polyandry and communal houses, and hut-burial. — In the same Journal (vol. lxxvii. pp. 1-8, 28-31) the same authority publishes an illustrated article on " Ein Besuch bei den Chirripo und Talamanca-Indianern von Costa Rica." Houses and house-life, clothing, weapons, musical instruments, food, burial customs, songs, etc., are described, and some of the native tunes recorded.

Mayan. Imposing in its evidence of laborious industry and active imagination is Professor John Campbell's paper on the " Decipherment of the Hieroglyphic Inscriptions of Central America," which occupies pages 101-244 of vol. vi. of. the " Transactions of the Canadian In- stitute." After a general discussion of " Palenque and its Ruins," " The Tablet of the Cross," " Maya-Quiche Documents and the Material for their Decipherment," the author takes up the consid- eration of " The New System of Reading the Hieroglyphs " (pp. 123- 143). The Palenque inscriptions, those on the Copan altars, and those at Chichen-Izta are •" interpreted," text and literal and free translations being given. The author also discusses the " historical bearings " of the " facts " revealed by his interpretations of these monuments. Pages 206-217 are devoted to the consideration of what the author terms the Malay-Polynesian affinities of the Maya- Quiches, and pages 232-239 contain a " Comparative Vocabulary of

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