A Glimpse at Guatemala, and Some Notes on the Ancient Monuments of Central America

Alfred Percival Maudslay (1850-1931) was a British colonial administrator and archaeologist who is widely considered the founder of modern Mesoamerican archaeology. After graduating from Trinity Hall, Cambridge, in 1872 Maudslay made his first visit to Guatemala before becoming a colonial administrator working in Trinidad and Fiji. After retiring from colonial service in 1880 he returned to Guatemala and began exploring and excavating major Mayan sites including Chichen Itza, Copan, Palanque and Quirigua. Maudsley pioneered scientific exploration and recording of these monuments, using techniques which later became standard. First published in 1899, this volume documents Maudslay's last expedition to Guatemala with his wife Anne Cary Maudslay, and contains detailed descriptions and plans of the archaeological sites he had excavated during his previous expeditions. An appendix contains the first excavation reports of Quirigua and Tikal (1883) and Copan (1886), previously published in the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society.