Years ago, visiting the remote ruins of Piedras Negras, I saw the moss-covered base of this monument, left behind by the looters. It’s still there. I would love to see them reunited someday.

New to me too (or I don’t remember). Holmes was clearly doing a bit of visual restoration and clean-up in these views, like he did elsewhere. The
stairway restoration he shows is pretty accurate. The site was actually kind of a mess in 1916, after the Peabody Museum investigations 20 years earlier.

I hadn’t seen this Holmes drawing before. I was a very small part in the excavation of that building in the late 80s and early 90s.

As a higher ed prof, I decided last semester to use only blue books and hand-written exercises in one class. It generally worked. Students and teachers are in the same boat, confused about differing expectations from course to course. Admins need to forge broad policies and consistent guidance asap.

Holds up, for sure.

The Ancient Maya: A New History. Coming 2026 via Princeton University Press.

The slow decipherment of Maya writing began around this time, in the 1870s, yet still unaware of this and similar documents. “Cracking the code” began just as the very last vestiges of the old writing system were being blindly copied. Something I think about as I finish up my book on Maya history.

Grrrrr….

Seen one, seen ‘em all.

Those details may show the ancient graffiti on the walls inside. This particular drawing is probably of Temple V.