Marked human bones from a prehistoric Tarasco Indian burial place in the state of Michoacan, Mexico / by Carl Lumholtz and Aleš Hrdlička.

  • Carl Sofus Lumholtz
Date:
1898]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Marked human bones from a prehistoric Tarasco Indian burial place in the state of Michoacan, Mexico / by Carl Lumholtz and Aleš Hrdlička. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Article V.—MARKED HUMAN BONES FROM A PRE¬ HISTORIC TARASCO INDIAN BURIAL PLACE IN THE STATE OF MICHOACAN, MEXICO. By Carl Lumholtz and Ales Hrdlicka. Plates V-IX. I. By Carl Lumholtz. In the latter part of October, 1896, during my last expedition (1894-97) into Mexico, where I was sent by the American Mu¬ seum of Natural History of New York, I arrived at the pueblo of Zacapu, in the State of Michoacan. In the vicinity of this pueblo are many stone mounds, or yacatas, as they are called in that State. Most of these mounds are on or near the edge of an old flow'of lava, which stretches from Zacapu in a northerly direction for many miles. On one occasion I followed for sixteen miles this edge of lava, which rises as high as five or six hundred feet, and found that stone mounds, and fortifications consisting simply of walls built of rough stone without plastering, were of frequent occurrence. Houses could also be seen, but on account of the roughness of the country they could only be sighted at a distance. They seemed to be made of stone, or rather small lava blocks, and plastered with mud. This kind of country extended for miles, and I have heard that such monuments of antiquity are to be found for a stretch of thirty or forty miles from Zacapu northward. Directly above the village of Zacapu, on top of a ridge of this lava formation, stands a large stone fortress, called by the Mexi¬ cans ‘ El Palacio,’ it being erroneously believed that King Cal- zontzin, of Tzintziintzan, as they call him, had here one of his temporary country residences. One of the fabulous stories about him is, that food was carried to him directly from Tzintziintzan—
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