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Show i9oo] SOUTHWESTERN INDIANS 193 connection with other interests and industries many new deities with their associated ceremonies and priesthoods had been introduced. The religious rites were elaborate and prescribed with minuteness, and animal and even human sacrifices were not uncommon. Systems of picture- writing or hieroglyphics had also been developed. Among the Nahua there were numerous books, a few of which have been preserved and are still very imperfectly understood. These works, commonly called " codices," were painted on prepared paper or skins; some of them seem to be religious calendars, others historical records. The Maya had a somewhat different system of writing, of which there are a number of specimens on the monuments and a few codices. Some of these also, especially those relating to the calendar, have been partially deciphered. A third kind of inscription has recently been found in Zapotec ruins, but nothing has been accomplished in the way of interpretation. In many places wall paintings are found, which frequently remind one strongly of certain figures in the codices, which, like the figures in the sculptures, throw much light upon the dress, ornaments, and even the implements and weapons of the people. In general it may be said that the culture of these peoples, especially of the Nahua and Maya, was much higher than that found farther north, but still a development indigenous to the country and based VOL. II.- 13 |
