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paul_cornelius 's review for:
Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, Vol 1
by John Lloyd Stephens
A combination of travel writing and archaeological exploration. Stephens apparently is credited with igniting the interest in Mayan anthropology and archaeology, when he made successive trips to the Yucatan in the 1840s. This book describes events that took place in 1841, and he and his engraver, Frederick Catherwood, primarily take extended studies in the ruins of Uxmal, Tikul, and Kabah in this volume. I find it stunning. Apparently, the ruins had just decayed over the centuries since the Spanish conquest and the Mayan descendants had lost every vestige of their earlier ability to construct a complex civilization. Some of Stephens' "techniques" will sound abhorrent to modern readers. For example taking a crowbar to pry off wooden lentils and stucco and stone facing. But the fact he reveals is that the buildings were collapsing every year. Were the artifacts not saved, the chances Stephens contends are that they would have crumbled soon. The engravings depict pyramids, apartments, and long buildings that are covered by trees and heavy growth, as they had not been entered since the 16th century. Hardship, fever, thirst, and bogs wear down every step. Probably, not too many people are going to find the book(s) interesting, but they have absorbed me. And don't forget to read the appendices, especially the discussion on Mayan calendars and lunar observations. Oh, and just to give an idea of the sense of time in which the volume was written, Stephens notes that Yucatan is in a state of rebellion against the rest of Mexico and has hired war schooners from the Republic of Texas for 8000 per month to help guard Yucatan's seas and ports.