Page:Mexican Archæology.djvu/409

Rh early dates which appear on the stelæ, and I should place Tikal as perhaps the earliest Maya site of which we have definite knowledge, though it is evident that it was inhabited well on into later times when the Maya had become far more expert in stone-carving than when the first buildings were erected there. The neighbouring site of Naranjo bears certain similarities in plan to that of Tikal, and the reliefs are in very similar style. The dating of the monuments falls into two well-defined periods, the western court being earlier than the eastern; both however are considerably later than the earlier buildings of Tikal, of which Naranjo was probably an offshoot, outlasting the mother city by more than half a century. Seibal, where the ruins are far less extensive, is evidently a related site, though the reliefs are comparatively clumsy in style, and probably represent a decadent and "provincial" form of art. It is interesting to note that the earliest date at this site falls about the same time as the last of Tikal, the latest recording the same katun as the latest at Naranjo.

Menché, like Copan, is built upon the bank of a river, and the physical character of the site prevented anything like symmetrical arrangement. The courts do not correspond one with another in position, and careful investigation would be necessary before it could be stated that any of the pyramids were so placed as to provide for the observation of the rising of a planet over the surrounding hills. The dates would make Menché later than Tikal as far as its foundation is concerned, and the less massive nature of its architecture and the high quality of its relief-carving would imply the same. But it is noticeable that the most numerous reliefs consist of sculptured lintels, and though these are of stone, and not of wood as at Tikal, the technique is that of woodcarving, and the style is very similar to that of Tikal. The artistic quality of the Menché sculptures is relatively very high, and the lintels, one of which is figured