Show JM Road Roller Roller of Prehistoric Builder fl Found in in- Yucatan by WASHINGTON Oct 16 ie ss SS What What is believed to be a prehistoric American Ameri Ameri- can road rond roller forerunner of the tho steam roller that levels out modern highways has been discovered in Yucatan The roller a piece of stone 13 feet long ong and over two feet In diameter was vas a giant cylinder which believe was used wed by slaves captives cap cap- tives ives or willing laborers who pushed it t over the road surface to smooth and level It Discovery of or the roller now broken In n half was made by an expedition sent out by the Carnegie institution of Washington with the aim of followIng follow follow- lag Ing ng one of the famous Mayan dayan roads from rom end to end The road in ques ques- tIon ion leads out from Coba Cobs once an Important Mayan city to which lies 62 miles away Today Toda the he line linC of the highway is obscured b by wild vegetation so that traversing it t f is Li difficult The expedition sent out by the Carnegie Car negie negle institution was l led by Alfonso Villa young schoolmaster ter who has assisted isted in scientific studies of the living Mayas Mayos Twelve Mayan Maan Indians accompanied Sr Villa The I party was three weeks pushing ft Its ft way through the 62 miles of bush and forest resL J The road they followed was on ones i ia j ja a magnificent highway 30 to 34 l t wide and raised several feet above 1 J the surface level of the ground The The Indian engin engineers ers built retaining walli walis for their roads and filled th the space between with boulders and small stones to fit the chinks The upper layers layer were finer tineI in quality and the top was of finely broken rock ham or rolled into a hard level surface and then coated with mortar cement Modern Indians in Yuca Yucatan 1 call the old stone roads which means white rO roads Under a 1 dazzling sun the great white whIle J of the Indian civilization must have NV t been impressive to Lo see 1 It was on the highway toward one Ofle one side that the ton five stone roller Was wai found round probably where it was left by builders or repair men centuries ago Harry E D. D Pollock of the Institution staff who has studied tho the ruins of ot of- J Coba estimates that the road was wa built before the end of the seventh seventh century A. A D. D |