Alice D. (Alice Dixon) Le Plongeon

Born in London in 1851, Alice Dixon Le Plongeon grew up in a photographic family and became known as an English photographer, traveler, and author. She worked closely with her husband, Augustus Le Plongeon, and spent many years in southern Mexico and Central America studying and photographing Maya sites.

She is especially remembered for her work at Chichén Itzá and Uxmal, where the Le Plongeons were among the first to excavate and systematically photograph the ruins. Alongside her fieldwork, she wrote books and articles that introduced many readers to the landscapes, monuments, and stories of the Yucatán.

Her work reflects both the excitement of early archaeological exploration and the limitations of nineteenth-century ideas about the past. Even so, her photographs, travel writing, and record of life around the Maya sites remain an important part of the history of archaeology and exploration writing.