Images

In the early 1840's Frederick Catherwood and John Lloyd Stephens extensively explored many of the ruined cities of the ancient Maya. Catherwood's drawings complemented Stephens' text in his best-selling books Incidents of Travel in Central...

This lithograph of Stela D at Copan was done by Frederick Catherwood and first published in 1844 in his book, Views of Ancient Monuments in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan. Like John Lloyd Stephens' works on the Maya, the book was very...

This is the face of the sun god Kinich Ahau in The Temple of the Masks at Kohunlich. The masks all face west so that the setting sun illuminates them. It was thought that Kinich Ahau traveled down into and through the underworld at night...

This photo shows a stone scoring hoop high on the wall of the Great Ball Court at Chichen Itza. The opposing team's hoop is directly across from the wall in this picture. Players of the game Pok-a-Tok (considered a precursor to the modern...

The Great Ball Court at Chichen Itza is the largest playing field in Mesoamerica. It measures 168 by 70 metres (551 by 230 feet) and the walls are 8 metres (26 feet) high. Here the game of Pok-a-Tok was played, the most popular and highly...

The Pyramid of the Magician at Uxmal, Yucatan rises 115 feet with a base of 227 by 162 feet. It is also known as The Pyramid of the Dwarf and features in the popular Maya legend of the dwarf who became king. Uxmal (whose name means `thrice...

Famously known as El Castillo (the castle)this is the Temple of Kukulcan at Chichen Itza. Note the rope in the picture descending from the top of the pyramid. This is to aid visitors in their climb to the top and back but, still, it is not...

Map of Akrotiri in the Bronze Age, ca. 1600 BC.

Bronze Age fresco of a ship procession from Akrotiri on the Aegean island of Thera (modern-day Santorini). From Room 5 of the West House, c. 2000-1500 BCE. (National Archaeological Museum, Athens)

A lion relief from the ruins of the ancient Bronze Age city of Thera on Santorini, Greece.