Page:Researches in the Central Portion of the Usumatsintla Valley.djvu/23

Rh wide, and formerly had wooden lintels, which were either torn out by ruthless hands or were destroyed by some other means. As a result, the corresponding pieces of the frieze and the vaulted ceiling have fallen down and the passage is obstructed. The interior of the temple is two hundred and thirty-three centimetres wide, three hundred and ninety long, and four hundred and sixty-three high, from the cemented floor to the truncation of the



pointed arch of the vault, which at its base is separated from the face of the wall by a cornice. The walls of the room had evidently been covered over at different times with fine white stucco. Near the inner edges of the door jambs, both above and below, there is always a wall-ring hollowed out of a stone protruding from the masonry, which served to hold the wooden pegs of the mats or basket-work screens which covered the doorways.

The exterior of the temple is as follows: A stone bench, projecting about thirty centimetres, runs all around, forming a strong foundation.