A MEXICAN POMPEII.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 3, Issue 61, 10 May 1912, Page 2

A MEXICAN POMPEII.

A Buried City Unearthed.

A buried city has just boon discovered in Mexico by Professor Niven, mombor of the New York Academy of Science This city was apparently overwhelmed by a volcanic eruption, liko Pompeii, in tho most flourishing period of tho ompiro of Nineveh, and the few houses at present excavated are in almost perfect preservation. The discoverer has found a goldsmith's shop, in which all tho instruments and objects of the trado are still displayed. Those comprise objects of art in gold, silver, and bronze, and over two hundred terra cotta models of statues, vases, or ornaments. Tho stylo.of these decorations is unlike that of any style which has previously boon associated with the ancient civilisation of Mexico, and boars resemblance to tho sculptures of ancient Egypt, and to tho art of Southern Asia. Tho interior of the goldsmith's bouse is decorated with paintings executed on a surface of polished stuccolike smbstanco, which retains their brilliance. Ono series represents the incidents of a shepherd's life, and recalls ihe Arcadian fashions of the European eighteenth century. Tho dominant colors used are red, blue, yellow, green, and black. Underneath the workshop the professor has made tho gruesome discovery of * tomb occupied by the skeleton of a murdered man. A hatchet of bronze is Itill fixed iv the skull. The excavation will probably prove the most interesting yet carried out in America