. Certain antiquities of eastern Mexico. ent shape from thatof a frog. On one arm there arecut a skull and a conventionalizedskeleton with upraised arms, andwith ribs, legs, and feet. On theother arm we find a head of a humanbeing, resembling sculpturing on theconvex side of the arch of yokes ofthe first subdivision. The remark-able and unique figure of a humanskeleton lies on one side when theyoke is in a horizontal position sothat the yoke must be placed verticalto bring this figure into a natural attitude. It will be noticed that ahuman face is represented in a depressed area or recess on t
. Certain antiquities of eastern Mexico. ent shape from thatof a frog. On one arm there arecut a skull and a conventionalizedskeleton with upraised arms, andwith ribs, legs, and feet. On theother arm we find a head of a humanbeing, resembling sculpturing on theconvex side of the arch of yokes ofthe first subdivision. The remark-able and unique figure of a humanskeleton lies on one side when theyoke is in a horizontal position sothat the yoke must be placed verticalto bring this figure into a natural attitude. It will be noticed that ahuman face is represented in a depressed area or recess on the upperside of the arch. Similar representations of death heads or skulls arenot uncommon decorations on stone yokes; so far as it goes, this factsuggests the sanguinary rites of human sacrifice which are knownto have been practised among the Totonac as well as among theAztec. Another stone yoke also on exhibition in the Museo Nacional, belongsto the second type and has a skull or deaths-head cut on the arch andother heads on each Fig. 52. Side view of etone yoke, second■ group. (Dehesa collection.) - 25 BTH—07- -17 258 CEKTAIN ANTIQUITIES OF EASTERN MEXICO [bth. ANN. 26 CUKVED STONES Among other problematical objects from the Totonac region—almostunknown elsewhere—may be mentioned curved stones, bearing somelikeness in form to sections of the yokes from which, however, theydiffer in size, shape, and superficial decoration. One of the best ofthese, already referred to and shown in figure .53, exhibited in theMuseo Nacional of Mexico, has a figure of a human being engravedin its outer or convex surface, with legs extending over one end ofthe object, the feet showing on the under or concave suiface of thestone. Commonly these curved stones have smooth surfaces andsimple forms, as shown in the figures, sometimes resembling flatirons(plate cxx, h) with curved surfaces and destitute of handles. Theremarkable object from the Museo Nacional of Mexico shown in figures
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