Page:Mexican Archæology.djvu/417

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THE MAYA: ARCHITECTURE
347

exceptions. Of the peculiarities which distinguish the architecture of Yucatan from that of the last region, many have already been mentioned, including the mosaic ornament with which the façades of buildings are decorated. But another important feature remains to be recorded. Throughout the whole of Yucatan only two dates in the long count have been discovered, and one of these is at Chichen Itza. The site is interesting as providing evidence of more than one stage of construction. One of the finest buildings, the so-called Monjas, shows plainly that a considerable addition was

Fig. 83.—The "Monjas" at Chichen Itza, showing how the original structure has been enlarged.
(After Holmes)

made to the foundation at a time later than the original building (Fig. 83). At the same period an additional storey was added, and one of the chambers in the earlier structure was filled solid with masonry to support the weight. Certain annexes were also built (PL XXIX, 2; p. 350), in the decoration of which ornamental fragments from the façades of previous "palaces" were included, but the inscriptions are in regular Maya characters, though no date in the long count is included. Other buildings in the immediate neighbourhood are in similar style and belong presumably to the same epoch. But further north is a large group of structures of an entirely different character of ornamentation.