Through pen-and ink drawings and watercolours, this book recount the 19th century epic of the art of illustration and the rediscovery of history's great Maya civilization. Frederick Catherwood produced artwork-depicting views of ancient monuments with great accuracy. Although he was trained as an architect, his real passion in life was art, particularly portraying ancient cultures. He was a man who loved to travel which was a significant influence on his art. At the age of 40, Catherwood accompanied a successful writer named John Lloyd Stephens to Central America. What they found on their trip amazed them: wonderfully majestic but deserted cities. The ruins in these cities were the inspiration of Catherwood's art, created by using a camera lucida (an optic device that preceded the invention of photography) to aid him in his drawings. The artwork that Catherwood produced was vivid and intriguing and became a best seller. Central America was not the only place that Catherwood went to get inspiration for his artwork. Before devoting himself to the discovery of the Mayas, he disguised himself as a.

In 1839 Frederick Catherwood and John Lloyd Stephens climbed the steps of the Mayan pyramids of the lost city, Copan. This text reconstructs the two expeditions they made into Mayan territory, with historical and architectural annotations, and Catherwood's illustrations for Stephens travel diaries.

Culled from a variety of sources, the rare photographs, documents, paintings, and drawings in this history of America's famous pyramid builders answers some of the most puzzling questions about the Mayan civilization.

From the NEW HORIZONS series of pocket-sized information books, a look at the ancient Mayan cities, their civilisation and the lives of their inhabitants. With foldouts and double-page spreads.

Hailed by The Guardian and other publications as “a real-life Indiana Jones,” Slovenian archaeologist Ivan Šprajc has been mapping out previously unknown Mayan sites in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula since 1996. Most recently, he was credited with the discovery of the Chactún and Lagunita sites in 2013 and 2014, respectively, helping to fill in what was previously one of the largest voids in modern knowledge of the ancient Maya landscape: the 2,800-square-mile Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in central Yucatán. Previously published in Šprajc’s native Slovenian and in German, this thrilling account of machete-wielding jungle expeditions has garnered enthusiastic reviews for its depictions of the efforts, dangers, successes, and disappointments experienced as the explorer-scientist searches out and documents ancient ruins that have been lost to the jungle for centuries. A skilled communicator as well as an experienced scholar, Šprajc conveys in eminently accessible prose a wealth of information on various aspects of the Maya culture, which he has studied closely for decades. The result is a deeply personal presentation of archaeological research on one of the most enigmatic civilizations of the ancient world. Generously illustrated, this book follows the chronology of Šprajc’s discoveries, focusing on what he considers the most interesting episodes. Those who specialize in Mesoamerican prehistory and archaeology will certainly relish Šprajc’s reports concerning his many field surveys and the discoveries that resulted. General readers, too, will enjoy his accounts of previously undocumented sites, ancient urban centers overtaken by the jungle, massive sculpted monuments, and mysterious hieroglyphic inscriptions.

The #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, named one of the best books of the year by The Boston Globe and National Geographic: acclaimed journalist Douglas Preston takes readers on a true adventure deep into the Honduran rainforest in this riveting narrative about the discovery of a lost civilization -- culminating in a stunning medical mystery. Since the days of conquistador Hernán Cortés, rumors have circulated about a lost city of immense wealth hidden somewhere in the Honduran interior, called the White City or the Lost City of the Monkey God. Indigenous tribes speak of ancestors who fled there to escape the Spanish invaders, and they warn that anyone who enters this sacred city will fall ill and die. In 1940, swashbuckling journalist Theodore Morde returned from the rainforest with hundreds of artifacts and an electrifying story of having found the Lost City of the Monkey God-but then committed suicide without revealing its location. Three quarters of a century later, bestselling author Doug Preston joined a team of scientists on a groundbreaking new quest. In 2012 he climbed aboard a rickety, single-engine plane carrying the machine that would change everything: lidar, a highly advanced, classified technology that could map the terrain under the densest rainforest canopy. In an unexplored valley ringed by steep mountains, that flight revealed the unmistakable image of a sprawling metropolis, tantalizing evidence of not just an undiscovered city but an enigmatic, lost civilization. Venturing into this raw, treacherous, but breathtakingly beautiful wilderness to confirm the discovery, Preston and the team battled torrential rains, quickmud, disease-carrying insects, jaguars, and deadly snakes. But it wasn't until they returned that tragedy struck: Preston and others found they had contracted in the ruins a horrifying, sometimes lethal-and incurable-disease. Suspenseful and shocking, filled with colorful history, hair-raising adventure, and dramatic twists of fortune, THE LOST CITY OF THE MONKEY GOD is the absolutely true, eyewitness account of one of the great discoveries of the twenty-first century.

Chichén Itzá Although many ancient civilizations have influenced and inspired people in the 21st century, like the Greeks and the Romans, none have intrigued people like the Mayans, whose culture, astronomy, language, and mysterious disappearance continue to captivate people today. Chichén Itzá, the most visited and most spectacular of the Late Classic Maya cities, is at the center of the fascination. In the later years of Maya civilization, Chichen Itzá had been inhabited for hundreds of years. In developing columns and exterior relief decoration, Chichén Itzá probably had over 30,000 residents at its peak, with a spectacular pyramid, enormous ball court, observatory, and several temples to boast. The sacred cenote at Chichén Itzá, a sinkhole used for Maya rituals surrounding water, is of particular interest. The Maya regarded it as a primary concern because adequate water was rarely found on the limestone-based Yucatan surface. The underwater archeology conducted in the cenote at Chichén Itzá found that offerings (including people, possibly) were thrown into the sinkhole in honor of the Maya rain deity Chaac. Despite its long history, Chichén Itzá had a relatively short period where it dominated the region, lasting from 800-950 CE. Nowadays, guides take tourists to one of the temples called the Nunnery for no good reason other than that the small rooms remind them of a nunnery back home.

An in-depth discussion of the latest archeological findings about the Mayan civilization explores the sophistication of this long-misunderstood culture and addressing such issues as why the civilization disappeared, why they built cities in jungles, and more.

Some cities that once thrived have now disappeared, the sites sometimes turning into empty, ominous ruins. What dark secrets are hidden in these vanished cities? In this book, readers will explore the mysteries of the world’s most famous lost cities and learn how these intriguing places were rediscovered. Among the 11 spooky places highlighted are the abandoned remains of a futuristic vacation town that was said to be cursed, and the crumbling ruins of an industrial town on an eerily deserted island. Fascinating histories and haunting photographs will keep kids turning the pages for more.