. Bulletin. Ethnology. Stirling] STONE MONUMENTS OF SOUTHERN MEXICO 21 It is impossible to estimate exactly the height of the box, because no portion of the upper edge remains. At present the greatest re- maining outside height is 29 inches. This monument is now in the National Museum in Mexico. MONUMENT D About 10 feet south of Monument B was excavated a barrel-shaped stone, 2 feet 10 inches in height, carved from basalt. The bottom is flat and the top contains a circular basinlike depression about 3 inches deep, with a rim SVa inches wide. Most of the rim had been battered off, but about 12
. Bulletin. Ethnology. Stirling] STONE MONUMENTS OF SOUTHERN MEXICO 21 It is impossible to estimate exactly the height of the box, because no portion of the upper edge remains. At present the greatest re- maining outside height is 29 inches. This monument is now in the National Museum in Mexico. MONUMENT D About 10 feet south of Monument B was excavated a barrel-shaped stone, 2 feet 10 inches in height, carved from basalt. The bottom is flat and the top contains a circular basinlike depression about 3 inches deep, with a rim SVa inches wide. Most of the rim had been battered off, but about 12 inches of the top surface is intact. It is possible that this stone served as a receptacle for offerings but it seems more likely that it was a sacrificial stone, as it would be of the correct dimensions for this purpose, and the basinlike bowl on the top would serve for collecting blood. Since the analogous carved stone boxes of the Mexican Plateau area were known to have been for the purpose of storing sacrificial blood, the existence of this stone in definite relationship to one of these boxes lends support to the idea that the Tres Zapotes stone boxes also were intended for this purpose (pi. 10, h).. Figure 5.—Monument E. Numerical Inscription carved on base rock on tlie bed of the arroyo. Tres Zapotes. MONUMENT E Just east of the Burnt Mounds the arroyo cuts through a massive rock formation. Carved from the living stone on the bed of the arroyo, and 3 to 4 feet under the surface of the stream at low water, is a rectangular slab, approximately 6 feet long and 5 feet wide, that projects 10 inches above the bedrock. On this is carved in relief, 2^^ inches high, a dot and two bars, as shown in figure Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnol
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