Of all the cultures of ancient Mesoamerica, perhaps none has drawn the attention and imagination of scholars and lay people more than that of the magnificent Maya. It was not until the middle of the nineteenth century that this complex civilization-which began in 300 BC-received the attention it so richly deserved. Traveler John Stevens (an American lawyer) and his companion, English artist Frederick Catherwood were the first to stumble across the Mayan splendor of Copan. The magnificent city lay hidden deep beneath jungle overgrowth near the Guatemalan-Honduran border in what is today believed to be the southeast section of the ancient Maya territory.
Stevens was in awe. "Savages never reared these structures, savages never carved these stones."
Expansive architectural complexes subsequently uncovered at dozens upon dozens of sites within the 125,000 square mile Maya territory were just the beginning of discovery. Amazing architectural sophistication--without benefit of metal tools or the wheel--revealed massive multi-layered pyramids nearly indescribable by the written word. Researchers found baffling achievements by the Maya in this land which spans the modern-day countries of Guatemala, Belize, western Honduras, along with the entire Yucatan Peninsula, and the Mexican states of Chiapas and Tabasco. The discoveries represented the awe-inspiring remains of a complex social, political, and economic organization that had accomplished so much during the course of the just four millennia representing their golden age, or Classic Period as it is referred to by scholars. Stevens who wrote a book about his discoveries called Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan, fueled the mystique when he wrote, "The beauty of the sculpture, the solemn stillness of the woods, disturbed only by the scrambling of monkeys and the chattering of parrots, the desolation of the city and the mystery that hung over it, all created an interest higher if possible, than I had ever felt among the ruins of the Old World."
After Stevens' discovery, what was found was an unsettling level of Maya mastery: Writing, astronomy, intricate stone-working, sculpture (including mass pottery production) were less tangible but no less monumental evidence of this complex civilization. Yet many questions remained unanswered. Some still do, though theorists continue to debate and research their findings. In The Maya, Children of Time, by National Geographic writer Howard La Fay, it is simply put. "From the depths of mystery they came and in mystery their unique culture fell." One of the key problems with the archaeological record of the Maya is the lack of their own written history.
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