Maya: Treasures of an Ancient Civilization

When John Lloyd Stephens described the Maya ruins of Copán in 1839, his writings reflected a tremendous sense of awe but also conveyed a feeling of disappointment: The beauty of the sculpture, the solemn stillness of the woods, disturbed only by the scrambling of monkeys and the chattering of parrots, the desolation of the city, and the mystery that hung over it, created an interest higher, if possible, than I had ever felt among the ruins of the Old World. … I made up my mind, with a pang of regret, that we must abandon the idea of carrying away any materials for antiquarian speculation, and must be content with having seen them ourselves.