Note 443 — Chapter VI · [263] (continued 2)

From these sources of information, and especially from the number of the concentric rings in some old trees, and the incrustation of stalactites found on the ruins of Palenque, M. Waldeck computes their age at between two and three thousand years. (Voyage en Yucatan, p. 78.) The criterion, as far as the trees are concerned, cannot be relied on in an advanced stage of their growth; and as to the stalactite formations, they are obviously affected by too many casual circumstances, to afford the basis of an accurate calculation.{*}

{*} [Charnay (Ancient Cities of the New World, p. 260) shows the worthlessness of the argument from tree growth. He says, “In my first expedition to Palenque in 1859, I had the eastern side of the palace cleared of the dense vegetation to secure a good photograph. Consequently, the trees that have grown since cannot be more than twenty-two years old; now one of the cuttings, measuring some two feet in diameter, had upwards of 230 concentric circles, that is, at the rate of one in a month, or even less.” Reasoning on the idea that a concentric circle upon a tree represents a growth of one year, Waldeck had calculated the age of the structures at 2000 years.—M.]