In the late 1800s and early 1900s, explorations into the jungles of South and Central America uncovered ancient ruins hidden under vegetation — revealing the rich history of the people who once lived there.
The ancient Maya ruins of Palenque, located in the modern-day Chiapas state of Mexico. Photographed by British explorer Alfred Maudslay. Circa 1880s-1890s.British Museum Located in the modern-day Yucatán state of Mexico, the ancient Maya city of Chichén Itzá was largely reclaimed by the jungle for years until excavations began to remove the vegetation in the 19th century.British Museum Around 1860, the French archaeologist Désiré Charnay photographed this facade at Chichén Itzá. Bibliothèque nationale de France The Maya Palace of Palenque. Circa 1880s-1890s.Wikimedia Commons Temple B at Tikal, as it appeared when British explorer Alfred Maudslay visited this ancient Maya site in Guatemala. Circa 1880s-1890s.British Museum Monuments sitting in a field in the ancient Maya civilization of Copán in modern-day Honduras.British Museum One of the earliest photographs of Tikal shows three structures almost entirely covered in vegetation. Alfred Maudslay took this picture in 1882.Wikimedia Commons A chamber in Copán, Honduras, with numerous statue heads (and one torso) lined up on a wall. Two children sit on the edge of the chamber.British Museum Canadian archaeologist George Gordon standing beside the Hieroglyphic Stairway in Copán. Circa 1900.Penn Museum A Honduran man stands next to a massive stela in Copán. Circa 1880s.British Museum The Palace at Palenque, showing House B and House C. British Museum The Temple of the Inscriptions, located in Palenque, and photographed in 1890.British Museum A tall monolith known as Stela D in Quiriguá, a Maya site in Guatemala. The monolith dates to 766 C.E. and was photographed on one of Alfred Maudslay's expeditions.Pitt Rivers Museum Anne Maudslay, the wife of Alfred, views the ruins of Quiriguá, Guatemala. Circa 1890s.British Museum On one of Alfred Maudslay's expeditions, his team stands by the Palace at Palenque to show the size.British Museum A leaning stela at Quiriguá in Guatemala.British Museum A 1912 photograph of Machu Picchu, a 15th-century Inca citadel in Peru. This picture was taken during Yale professor Hiram Bingham III's expedition.National Geographic/Wikimedia Commons Although Hiram Bingham III didn't discover Machu Picchu, he was the first person to take photos of it and carry out an excavation there. Because of this, some believe that he inspired the fictional Indiana Jones.Wikimedia Commons A Peruvian farmer named Melchor Arteaga, pictured crossing the Urubamba River near Machu Picchu in 1911. Arteaga was one of the local people who helped guide Bingham to the historic site. Wikimedia Commons An 1885 photograph shows a Maya stela in Copán, located in present-day Honduras.British Museum Turn-of-the-century explorers often had to make use of the spaces available to them, as seen in this 1900 photograph of Alfred Maudslay at Chichén Itzá.British Museum Maudslay captured this image of Chichén Itzá's Casa de Monjas by standing on the roof of another structure.British Museum A 780 C.E. monument known as Zoomorph B in Quiriguá, Guatemala. Photographed circa 1880s.Pitt Rivers Museum The east side of a monument known as Stela D, which dates to 766 C.E. Alfred Maudslay took this photograph in Quiriguá in the 1880s.Pitt Rivers Museum A monolith tilting on its base, photographed by Maudslay in Copán, Honduras.Pitt Rivers Museum People stand in the doorway of Casa de Monjas at Chichén Itzá to give an idea of the building's size.British Museum The Great Ball Court at Chichén Itzá. Photographed by Alfred Maudslay. British Museum The Palace at Palenque, photographed by Maudslay.British Museum The condition of this tower at Palenque reveals the difficult tasks that archaeologists faced in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Tree roots intertwined with long-abandoned structures made it extremely challenging to preserve the ancient ruins. British Museum The stairs at the Temple of Kukulcan in Chichén Itzá.British Museum A monument known as Stela D in Quiriguá, Guatemala. This structure is believed to depict K’ak’ Tiliw Chan Yopaat, an eighth-century Maya ruler.Pitt Rivers Museum Hiram Bingham III's Peruvian military escort, Sergeant Carrasco, pictured at Machu Picchu in 1911.Pi3.124/Wikimedia Commons (cropped) This photo shows the interior of one of the structures at Machu Picchu. National Geographic/Wikimedia Commons The Temple of the Sun in Palenque, Mexico.British Museum A photograph of one of the temples of Tikal in Guatemala, taken by Alfred Maudslay.British Museum A monolith in Quiriguá, Guatemala tilts precariously in this 1894 photograph.British Museum The ancient ruins of Palenque, Mexico, photographed by Alfred Maudslay.British Museum A monument known as Zoomorph P, located in Quiriguá, Guatemala. The carving represents the Cosmic Monster in Maya mythology.Pitt Rivers Museum Hiram Bingham III standing on top of a jungle bridge at the Espiritu Pampa ruins in Peru. Hand-colored glass slide, from an original image by Harry Ward Foote.Yale University Manuscripts & Archives Digital Images Database/Wikimedia Commons
39 Historic Photos Of Expeditions Into Mesoamerica And South America, From Chichén Itzá To Copán View GalleryIn the 19th century, rumors began to spread about the ancient ruins hidden away in the jungles of Mesoamerica and South America.
After all, the Maya had built a towering civilization centuries before Europeans made their way to the "New World." But when the civilization collapsed, the jungles reclaimed the Mesoamerican cities. And when the Inca Empire crumbled in Peru, Machu Picchu also became a lost city.
But 19th and 20th-century expeditions and explorations would uncover archaeological marvels that were once thought to be lost forever.
Early Expeditions Into The Jungles
After the fall of ancient empires in Mesoamerica and South America, Spanish explorers and conquistadors sometimes stumbled upon ruins in the jungles. And many Indigenous people in the regions knew of ruins on the Yucatán Peninsula, in the jungles of Central America, and in South America.
Still, the "golden age" of Central and South American expeditions did not begin until the 1800s. Stories from early explorations often inspired new journeys. Notably, drawings and paintings of jungle ruins encouraged later travelers to bring their cameras to capture what they saw in photographs.
In 1839, U.S. President Martin Van Buren appointed an explorer named John Lloyd Stephens as the American Ambassador to Central America. Not long afterward, Stephens set out to explore the ancient Maya ruins in the region with an English archaeologist named Frederick Catherwood.
British MuseumAn 1885 photograph of a Maya monument hidden in the jungles of Honduras.
With the help of a local guide, Stephens and Catherwood soon reached the ancient city of Copán in modern-day Honduras. It was one of a small number of Maya sites that were still known to Indigenous people.
"Working our way through the thick woods, we came upon a square stone column," Stephens wrote, according to World History Encyclopedia. "The sight of this unexpected monument put at rest at once and forever, in our minds, all uncertainty in regard to the character of American antiquities."
This expedition inspired many future journeys into the wilderness.
The Explorations Of Alfred Maudslay
In 1881, the British explorer Alfred Maudslay set off in search of Maya sites in Central America. But at first, he could not find any ruins in the jungle.
"It seemed as though my curiosity would be ill satisfied," Maudslay remembered, according to the Penn Museum, "for all I could see on arrival was what appeared to be three moss-grown stumps of dead trees covered over with a tangle of creepers and parasitic plants."
But then, the team cleared away the vines, moss, and plants. Underneath, they found carved monuments, unlike anything they'd seen before.
British MuseumAlfred Maudslay riding a mule on one of his expeditions.
"As the curious outlines of the carved ornament gathered shape it began to dawn upon me how much more important were these monuments, upon which I had stumbled almost by chance, than any account I had heard of them had led me to expect," Maudslay marveled at the sight.
Over the next two decades, Maudslay made eight expeditions into Central America. On one trip, he even brought his wife along.
And even though he was an amateur, Maudslay took a scientific approach. He carefully recorded his team's progress and brought back detailed drawings and photographs of Maya buildings and monuments.
The Historic Climb To Machu Picchu
On July 24, 1911, a Yale professor named Hiram Bingham III climbed the mountains of Peru, led by local guides. During this South American expedition, the archaeologist located the now-famous Machu Picchu.
Bingham did not discover the 15th-century Inca citadel. Local people already knew of the site. However, Bingham took the first photographs of the ruins and began the first archaeological excavations there.
The first documented trip to the Inca stronghold inspired many future trips. And today, Machu Picchu is Peru's most visited tourist destination.
Wikimedia CommonsAn early photo of the famous Inca site Machu Picchu, taken in 1914.
Unfortunately, Bingham and his team of researchers removed thousands of artifacts from Machu Picchu, according to NPR. And although Peruvian authorities were promised that the artifacts would be returned whenever they asked for them, it took nearly a century for Yale to reach an agreement with the Peruvian government to send back most of the artifacts.
Today, South and Central American expeditions like these are mostly remembered for capturing the imagination of the public. They also inspired fictional characters — Indiana Jones may have been based on Bingham.
These turn-of-the-century explorations shared key features. The amateur explorers and archaeologists on Central and South American expeditions were driven by curiosity. They also wanted to discover "American antiquities" that could rival the artifacts that had been found in the rest of the world.
Vintage photographs of these expeditions show that they were largely successful in this regard. But, unfortunately, not enough credit went to the local Indigenous people who made these historic journeys possible.
After looking through vintage pictures of Central and South American expeditions, read about why the Maya civilization collapsed. Then, check out stunning historical photos of Antarctic expeditions.
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