Page:American Anthropologist NS vol. 1.djvu/625

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560 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [».%..

military achievements; the warrior is unknown. The cities evidently sacred centers, yet the calamity which overwht them, or at least put a stop to their progress, if not the Sp invasion was domestic wars or invading foes or both. Th< dition of the Central American tribes at the time of the Sp advent is a problem that has not been satisfactorily solved; a full and satisfactory account in English of the early open of the Spaniards in Central America is yet to be written, only when the line between what must be attributed to and what preceded their coming has been carefully and crit drawn that the immediately preceding condition of the tribe properly be discussed.

Mr Goodman's important discovery of the significant several of the glyphs of the inscriptions, and Mr Maud large and clear photographic reproductions of the inscrip themselves, enable us to give a still higher estimate of the ct of the Mayas than heretofore ; they also enable us to co Dr Forstemann's interpretation of the high numeral series c Dresden Codex and to understand more clearly their sigr tion ; and they serve to show the close relation of the time syr and time systems of Copan, Tikal, Palenque, and the Drt Codex to one another, a relationship much closer than that v has been inferred from the historical records.

However, it must be said that while this new materia! an recent discoveries throw much additional light on the pa Mayan art and Mayan culture, they tend to confirm the ah growing belief that this culture was limited to a comparat few lines, chiefly architecture, art in painting and sculpture, counting, and the time system. When it is clearly proven b' inscriptions and the Dresden Codex that the Mayan c reached to and included the sixth order of units in the viges system, it gives us a high opinion of their mathema attainments.

In conclusion it may be said that the results of the exp

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