PALENQUE, ph-lAn'kti. An ancient city of vast extent lying near the village of canto Do mingo del Palenque, in the State of Chiapas, Southern Mexico. and bordering on Guatemala. It is located on the steep slopes of the Tumbala foothills amid the most beautiful tropical sur roundings. Almost impenetrable vegetation cov ers the country, so that up to the present only six existing ancient structures have been de scribed, though it is believed many more exist in the forest. By a series of walled terraces level areas on the slopes have been prepared for the buildings. These were set on steep pyramids, the sides of which were faced with stone or cov ered with steps. Twelve of these pyramids re main in the Palenque group. the greatest height being about SO feet. The largest building is called the Palace: the others are named Temple of the Inscriptions. of the Sun. of the Cross, of the Cerro, and of the Beau Relief. The plan of the temple is simple. showing an oblong, rec tangular area. divided into two vaulted chambers, the front wall pierced with from one to five door openings, the middle wall pierced with as many doorways as there are compartments in the hack chamber. The two vaulted chambers are the unit of construction, the complicated plan of the pal ace being made up of a series of such units. The vaults are corbeled and have the form of the so-called Mayan arch, a variety of the triangu lar. In the rear chamber were set on the back wall finely carved slabs of sacred character, which the building was intended to inclose as a sanctuary. The exterior, of the buildings present several remarkable architectural features: above the vertical walls the roof slopes away at the slant of the arch within. resembling a mansard; the top of the roof slopes gently to the ridge. which is crowned with a high. narrow. perforate comb in the form of an arch. the walls having openings crossed with slabs resembling a grille. The exterior of the buildings was surfaced with plaster and decorated with relief models tinted with color. The mansard slope had complicated relief work in stucco representing masks and figures of gods. The latticework roof comb also bore stucco figures in high relief. The chiet feature of the palace is a unique square tower 40 feet high, of which at present four stories and a blind story remain. The builders of
Palenque decorated their edifices with sculpture and modeling exclusively in bas-relief, while those of Yucatan sculptured in the round. The most remarkable of the Palenque reliefs are the tab lets from the sanctuaries adorned with figures and hieroglyphics. Two of them bear figures in the form of a square cross between standing fig ures which have attracted world-wide notice. They are in low relief and arc worked out with a delicacy of form and refinement of finish superior to that of any other work of stone in this hemi sphere. In stucco work also the Palenque artists were the greatest modelers in America. Colors were lavishly used and included black, white, blue, two reds, yellow, and green. While sonic dressed stone was used, the finish of the walls was almost invariably in plaster. Two impor tant pieces of engineering are found at Palenque, one an arched bridge of masonry 30 feet wide and 40 feet long across the Otolum. and the other a subterranean arched waterway 500 to 600 feet long, 10 feet high, and 7 wide, massively built and inelosing the same stream. New artifacts have come to light at Palenque: some tombs in the pyramids have been excavated and terra cotta figures showing the characteristic head profile and costume, beads of jadeite, spindle whorls, lance-heads, obsidian knives, etc., have been found. As to the age of the structures it does not seem possible to arrive at any deter mination. Comparative areleology. however, shows that the builders were of the Mayan stock, which is responsible for the wonderful architec tural remains of Chiapas and Yucatan.
Consult: Stephens, Incidents of Trarel in Cen tral America, Chiapas, and Yucatan (New York, IS18) ; Bancroft, The Xatire Races of the Pacific States (ib., 1874-76) Bandelier, Report on an Arelpralogieal Tour in Mexico 1881 (Cambridge. 1SS5) ; Maudslay. Biologia Centrali-Amerieana, rehmology (London. 1597) Holmes, Ancient Cities of Mexico (Chicago, 1595) : C'harnay. The Ancient Cities of the New World (New York. 1857) ; Peflafiel, Honumentos del ark mexicana antigun (Berlin. 1S90) ; Morgan. Houses and House Life of the American Aborigines (Wash ington, 1581).