Page:Nicaraguan Antiquities (1886).djvu/21



UNTA DEL SAPOTE forms a broad, rounded peninsula, the greatest length of which is in N.E. and S.W. Its middle part is a large plateau, about 150 m. high, sloping rapidly both towards the lake and the neck of the peninsula, and thus forming an isolated height of somewhat more than one kilometer in length by scarcely one kilometer in breadth. The central portion of this plateau is perfectly level and, judging by the numerous statues met with here, and the regular form of the stone-mounds, round which they were placed, appears to have been a sacred place during the Niquiran period. On the very isthmus between the peninsula and the island of Zapatera rose a conical stone-structure, 30 — 40 m. high; it consisted of enormous, unhewn blocks, placed upon one another in pretty regular layers. Its diameter at the base might be estimated at about 40 m. The top of the cone was truncated, and appeared to form a plane of 6 — 8 m. in diameter. The steep sides were so densely covered by spinous bushes and lians, that I was soon obliged to desist from my attempts to mount the summit. The whole structure resembled a kind of beacon, and has possibly been a place of sacrifice, although its dimensions were so large, that it cannot well be regarded as such a «sacrificial pillar» as is mentioned by under the name of «Tezarit». Maybe a little «casita» has stood on the platform above. Something of the same kind is known from Uxmal.

Due north of this cone, on the top of the above mentioned plateau, were six stone-mounds of oval form, but of very different size. The largest