Abstract
MEXICAN ARCHÆOLOGY.—Since the days of the Spanish occupation, the neighbourhood of Mexico City has supplied a rich field for the exploration of the antiquities of the pre-Columbian period. The most important problem to be solved is the investigation of the strata showing the succession of cultures—the Archaic, Toltec, that is pre-Aztec or Teoti-huacan, and Aztec. Some progress in this direction is outlined in a report by Mr. A. M. Tpzzer, published in Bulletin 74 of the Bureau of American Ethnology. It is at present impossible to determine with exactness the demarcation between the Toltec and Aztec cultures, the inference being that the former flourished towards the end of the first millenium A.D., and their influence in Yucatan, at least, extended into the fifteenth century. The artifacts discovered belong principally to the Toltec culture, those of the Aztec period being few in number and relatively unimportant, while a few things which are clearly pre-Toltec or Archaic were encountered. It is interesting to record that the methods of scientific archaeology are being applied to this area, with expectations of important discoveries in the near future.
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Research Items. Nature 109, 624 (1922). https://doi.org/10.1038/109624a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/109624a0