Page:Nicaraguan Antiquities (1886).djvu/33

 cuspids. The muzzle was somewhat longer than necessary, the nostrils oval, somewhat widened; the eyes formed oval cavities, powerfully cut; the ears were rather small, with the margins, as it were, indented. Two volutes and a powerful intumescence at the sides were possibly designed to mark the strong muscles of the head. The human figure was carefully elaborated. The face was well preserved, with the exception of the mouth and the chin, that were cut off with a chisel, or some other keen instrument. The forehead was rather low and separated from the head of the jaguar, by a roll or fillet. The nose was large, almost straight; the eyes were rather small, the cheeks full, the cheek-bones not prominent. The ears were unusually small, of natural shape. The neck was particularly vigorous, the muscles of the breast well developed. The shoulders and upper arms were full, and well cut, the arms not quite detached from the sides. The back of the statue not being elaborated seems to indicate that it has been placed against or in a wall. That it has not served the purpose of supporting a roof, is proved by the finely hewn upper side of the jaguar's head with its erect ears. The head of the jaguar was 63 cm. long; its height from the top to the lower hinder corner was 42 cm. The height of the ear was 10 cm. The length of the face of the human figure was 24 cm.

Male, kneeling figure, supporting the head of a great vulture or «Rey de Zopilotes». It belonged to the same category as H, but has probably stood isolated, as the back was as neatly cut as the front. The head of the vulture was colossal in proportion to the human figure supporting it, and very carefully sculptured. The beak was very true to nature, the eye formed a semi-circular cavity, the anterior corner of the eye was well indicated. Backwards projected a massive round process, a sort of crest on the back of the head. On the top of the head was a tenon-shaped projection, which, however, could hardly have served the purpose of a tenon, as it was unusually thin in comparison with the tenons found on the statues around the mound 1. It may possibly have been designed to represent the comb of the beak of the vulture, though in such a case it was placed too far backwards. The