author
Alfred Percival Maudslay
1850–1931
A globe-trotting explorer turned careful scholar, this Victorian archaeologist helped transform the study of the ancient Maya. His photographs, maps, and plaster casts preserved monuments that might otherwise have been lost.
2 Audiobooks
A note on the position and extent of the great temple enclosure of Tenochtitlan, and the position, structure and orientation of the Teocolli of Huitzilopochtli.
by Alfred Percival Maudslay
A Glimpse at Guatemala And Some Notes on the Ancient Monuments of Central America
by Anne Cary Maudslay, Alfred Percival Maudslay
About the author
After studying at Cambridge, he entered the colonial service and worked in places including Fiji, Tonga, and British Honduras before devoting himself to exploration and archaeology. He became one of the first researchers to document major Maya sites in a systematic way, traveling through Central America in the late 19th century.
His work at sites such as Quiriguá, Copán, Palenque, Yaxchilán, and Chichén Itzá set a new standard for accuracy. Using photography, detailed measurements, and plaster casts, he recorded inscriptions and monuments with unusual care, then published his findings in the landmark Biologia Centrali-Americana: Archaeology.
That combination of patience, field skill, and respect for the material made his work last. Even today, Maudslay is remembered as a pioneer of Maya archaeology whose records remain valuable to scholars and readers interested in the early history of archaeological discovery.