Tulum: an Archological Study of the East Coast of Yucatan

Abstract

IN this volume, Dr. Lothrop has placed on record the results of three expeditions of the Carnegie Institution of Washington to the east coast of Yucatan under the leadership of Dr. Sylvanus G. Morley in 1916, 1918, and 1922. The main objective was Tulum, the most important ruin in this region, but other sites also were visited. Dr. Lothrop, however, has not confined himself to the work of these expeditions, but aims at giving a complete account of present knowledge of the archaeology of this area by summarising previous publications covering sites not visited on these occasions. The Maya culture of this part of Central America presents certain peculiarities in architecture, art, and religion which mark it off from the rest of Yucatan. Such are, for example, an absolutely new type of building-the shrine, and the sanctuary, the latter occurring in structures here called “palaces,” as they appear to have served as residences rather than as temples. The frescoes, of which a large number have survived, are comparable with the drawings of the codices and are regarded by Dr. Lothrop as but little inferior to the Dresden codex which is the high-water mark of Maya art. Dr. Lothrop's detailed and lavishly illustrated account of this localised development of Maya civilisation, and his analysis of its cultural and ethnical affinities, is a contribution to American archaeology which will rank high.