Carl Bovallius

“ The ears were the only portions of the head exhibiting curved outlines; their form was almost human. The human figure, as has been said before, was of far coarser workmanship than the statue K. The face was well preserved, the forehead high, the nose small, the mouth half-opened, the ears large and hanging, resembling those of a dog. The neck was very long and thick. The muscles of the breast were vigorous. The arms were fleshy and vigorous, straight, stretched down, leaning with the palms against the upper surface of the block, on which the figure was seated. ”

“ By comparing these monuments with those of Mexican culture, somewhat better known in certain respects, we may hope finally to arrive at the solution of some of the intricate problems concerning the ancient nations of Central America and their history.
The antiquities figured by me were found for the greatest part in the island of Zapatera, the rock-carvings in the islet of Ceiba close to Zapatera, only some few ceramic objects are from the island of Ometepec. ”

“ But the vegetation here is so powerful and luxuriant, that it has changed those piles of black [Pg 11] stones into smiling islands, which the traveller is never tired of admiring. Only on the outside of the archipelago, where the often angry lake of Nicaragua has checked the development of the verdant cover, the black, gloomy basalt is still open to the view, lashed by white-foaming waves. ”

“ Those few statues that I have seen in the neighbourhood of Granada and in Las Isletas immediately off Granada, as well as the statues and high-reliefs in the little volcanic island of Momotombito in Lake Managua, the former belonging probably to los Dirianos, the latter to los Nagrandanos, appear to me to be much more rudely executed, without any attempt to copy the human body; whereas many of the statues of Zapatera testify to a pretty accurate study of the human body, often presenting faithfully elaborated muscle portions etc., so as to make it probable that the Niquiran artists used models. ”

“ Having left Ometepec about the beginning of February, my next visit was to «tierra firme», where I made some easily executed, but not very successful excavations, immediately to the north of San Jorge. From Departemento de Rivas’ I sailed to Las Isletas, also called Los Corales, an extremely beautiful little archipelago, just southwards of Granada. The whole group owes its existence to the volcano Mombacho, which towers high above it, the islands consisting exclusively of the remains of one or more eruptions of Mombacho. ”

“ Hardly one kilometer to the west of the burying-place examined by Dr. Bransford, a symmetrical mound, rising one meter and a half above the ground, was dug through (Station 1) . It contained a little bowl, pieces of a larger urn of an unusual thickness, feet and fragments of a tripod vase, and a little bronze figure of a saint, the last one evidently a foreign guest among the other objects. At Los Angeles (Stat. 2) two statues, both very badly frayed, were measured and sketched; some insignificant fragments of pottery were digged out. ”

“ A human figure; the face in profile, high and narrow, with pointed nose and thick, round chin. The eye was a pretty large, oval cavity. Above the head were three plumes, broadening towards the end. Opposite to the face was placed a figure possibly meant to represent the head of an animal, its eye marked by an oval cavity. The neck of the human figure was represented by a rectangle; the body appeared in profile, the breast was convex, the back slightly concave. The arms and legs were represented «en face», the left arm in two parts, the right one in one ”

“ Thus the investigator of the comparatively modern culture of Central America is obliged to travel by more toilsome and doubtful roads than the student of the ancient forms of civilization of Egypt and India, although these were dead several thousands of years ago. ”

“ The intelligent and well built Indians on the island of Ometepec are doubtless the descendants of the Niquirans; this is corroborated by their language, which the successful investigations of Squier have shown to be of Mexican origin and presenting a very close similarity to the pure Aztec tongue. ”

“ Relief representing a male figure with the face of a skull. It was of much rougher workmanship than the reliefs before described. The face was [Pg 41] formed only by an evenly curved, broadly oval elevation, with two circular cavities to mark the eyes, an irregularly triangular one for the nose, and a linear one for the mouth. The chest was evenly rounded, the arms only indicated by two round bands along the breast, ending abruptly with five narrow, round staves, placed at right angles to the arms, and designed to represent the fingers. The lower part of the slab with the legs was lost. ”

“ The mound I was that nearest to Bahia de Chiquero, the mound V the nearest to Laguna de Apoyo. In this locality no statues were found that could with any degree of certainty be regarded as remaining in their original places, nor were any lying or standing in such a position that it could be decided, whether they had been placed in the peripheries of the mounds, within the buildings, or in the open spaces between the mounds. In this respect the former locality was by [Pg 34] far more interesting. ”

“ To the west it slopes pretty abruptly towards the Bahia; to the north it shelves gradually towards the low promontory, Punta de las Figuras, which is separated from the south-eastern point of the islet of Ceiba, Punta de Pantheon, by a sound, 50 m. broad; to the east the plateau descends rapidly towards the lake of Nicaragua, and to the south it falls steeply towards the little crater-lake Laguna de Apoyo. ”

“ The head-cover may be considered to exhibit the form of a helmet; this reached to the shoulders at both sides, hiding the ears completely; but nearly at the place of the ears there was on each side a shallow circular depression with a small excavation, probably representing a hole, in the centre. From the lower part of the helmet a thick elevation, grooved length-wise in front, came down over the chest. ”

“ The Atlantic coast with its luxuriant vegetation but damp climate and the adjacent mountainous country with its vast primeval forests were the home of more or less nomadic tribes, remaining at a low stage of civilization. ”

“ At a height of nearly 350 m. above the level of the lake on the west side of the majestically beautiful volcanic cone (Stat. 5) , while digging in a rather extensive stone-mound, a very pretty, vaulted earthen urn with lid, painted in three colours, was found, and, besides, a great many fragments of pottery. I made excavations also at six other places in Ometepec, for inst. in the isthmus between Ometepec and Madera, but without any results worthy of record. ”

“ OMETEPEC, ZAPATERA and CEIBA.
1. Pl. 33. Human figure of terra cotta; painted with a blackish colour; still well preserved. Height 72 mm. Ceiba.
2. Pl. 33. Human figure, sitting, with the arms against the hips; of terra cotta; painted with brown-red and black colours on a light yellow ground. Height 144 mm. Ometepec, stat. 4.
3. Pl. 33. Headless figure, resembling the preceding; terra cotta; painted only in two colours, light yellow and brown-red. Height from the shoulders 90 mm. Zapatera, Punta del Sapote, from the mound 1. ”

“ In a valley, or rather ravine (Stat. 4) , near Alta Gracia, where a heap of pretty large, partly cut stones seemed to indicate the site of a large building, several fragments of pottery were found together with a cup of earthen ware, and a well preserved little sitting image of painted terra cotta, pretty similar to that figured by Bransford, l. ”