northern Yucatan, though not in the central area. These courts have the floor and walls carefully plastered, and the stone rings which project, one from each wall, are usually well carved. The court at Chichen is the largest known, and is associated with a special temple with serpent columns in the style of Tulan (Pls. XXVIII and XXIX, I; pp. 348 and 350). The western courts resemble very closely those of the Zapotec area. The question of the introduction of the game into the Maya area has already been discussed on p. 302.
Living as they did in a climate with an abundant rainfall, 
Fig. 80.—Details from frescoes.
| A. Santa Rita, British Honduras. | |
| B. Mitla, Oaxaca. |
the Maya were not under the necessity of constructing elaborate irrigation works as were the ancient inhabitants of Peru. One watercourse alone is known, and that appears to be rather in the nature of a drain to carry off superfluous water than an aqueduct. This is at Palenque, and consists of a stone-lined subterranean channel, roofed with the typical Maya vault.
As regards the arrangement of buildings it is impossible to discuss in detail the ground-plans of the various sites, but attention may be called to the prevailing tendency to group the most important structures round square or rectangular courts. Beyond this, little community of plan is observed, and indeed in the central area the builders were often obliged to suit their arrangement to the exigencies of the site. Thus Palenque and Copan, being built in river-valleys, exhibit less regularity of arrangement than such sites as Tikal,
