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CONTRIBUTIONS
FROM THE
MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
HEYE FOUNDATION
VOLUME VI
TURQUOIS MOSAIC ART
IN ANCIENT MEXICO
PL. I
SHIELD OF WOOD WITH MOSAIC DECORATION
MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN HEYE FOUNDATION, NEW YORK
TURQUOIS MOSAIC ART
IN ANCIENT MEXICO
BY
MARSHALL H. SAVILLE
NEW YORK
MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
HEYE FOUNDATION
1922
CONDÉ NAST PRESS GREENWICH, CONN.
TO
GEORGE GUSTAV HEYE
In appreciation of his long-continued interest in all
that pertains to the study of the aboriginal race of
America, which has reached fruition in the opening of the
Museum of the American Indian
Heye Foundation
this volume is dedicated by the author and the
staff of the Museum
PREFACE
The writer has undertaken the present study of MexicanTurquois Mosaics in honor of the approaching opening to thepublic of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation,the only institution devoted exclusively to the study ofthe aboriginal American peoples ever established; and theproximate International Congress of Americanists to be heldat Rio de Janeiro this summer. Owing to lack of time it hasbeen impossible to obtain new photographic illustrations of allthe specimens of mosaic-work in European museums, but theauthor desires to express his thanks to T. A. Joyce, Esq., forhis courtesy in furnishing photographs of the examples in theBritish Museum. To Dr. Franz Heger, of the State NaturalHistory Museum, Vienna, we are under deep obligations forphotographs and description of the interesting Xolotl figurepreserved in that Museum. Dr. S. K. Lothrop has kindly hadphotographs made of the objects of this class in the Prehistoricand Ethnographic Museum in Rome, and has made certainvaluable observations concerning them. To Drs. A. M.Tozzer and H. J. Spinden special acknowledgment is due fortheir generous permission to illustrate the mosaics from ChichenItza, thus anticipating their own description of the objects inthe work now being prepared regarding one of the most importantdiscoveries ever made in ancient America. The fine drawingsare from the pen of William Baake, and the beautifulplates represent the best efforts of the Heliotype Company.Finally must be acknowledged the characteristic generosity ofone of the trustees of the Museum, James B. Ford, Esq., whohas made it possible for us to publish this paper, and to whomthe Museum is indebted for its acquisition of the preciouscollection of