Excerpt from American Anthropologist, Vol. 13

Slave owners can command and unpaid labor can be made to produce conditions looking to the superlative in comfort and luxury. Hence these high-terraced structural levels. There is no hidden mystery and no exotic origin, but a successful effort of a slave holding people to be as comfortable as they could be regardless of cost, life or labor cost. This is but common sense applied on a Slave-owning basis.

That the temples are built on high pyramids does not affect this question; all religions seek to give that which is best to their deities. If mortal man can secure reposeful comfort by the elevation of a few feet above the general level of the earth around him, then the mansions of the Deity must be placed as far above those of mortal man as He Himself is above mere manhood. That is the applied theo-logic of all times. It was applied in the Shape of high truncated pyramidal sub-structures on the peninsula of Yucatan. To this may be coupled the ever pervading idea that God is to be worshiped on high places. There is no deep mystery and necessarily exotic origin in these ideas either, for they are world wide, soul deep, and all time long in human kind.

The base, the sub-structure, as a part of the entire plan, being now removed as a factor of the problem, I will seek to prove my assertion that the stone edifice is but the development of the palm-thatched na.

My investigations have filled me with a respectful admiration of the na as a habitation. The typical palm - thatched na is as near the perfected structure of its Class as a structural formation can be, it is like a natural growth, a thing built of the elementary particles of the region, and is itself a part of the environment, like the knots of the tree, the nest of the squirrel, or that of the humming bird. One may pass close by it in the forest, and yet it will still be hidden, merged in the surroundings. On the edge Of the grassy savannah it is confounded with the thorny foliage caps and the low tree tops. It is perfectly ventilated, the Vitiated air escaping and the fresh air entering by percolation and not by draughts. It is cool in the hot weather and warm in the cool Season; no rains, however prolonged or heavy, can enter the roof of a well made na, while the smoke Of the koben or three-stoned fireplace, rising up to, and percolating through the thatch, keeps out the noxious insects and other vermin.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.