Palenque: Eternal City of the Maya

Description

Palenque, known as the 'queen of Maya cities', fell into ruin when Mayan civilization suffered a mysterious collapse over a millennium ago. Here, father-and-son team George and David Stuart lead the reader on a journey with pioneer artists and archaeologists from the 18th century on as they rediscovered Palenque and attempted to document the city's graceful and ornate palaces, temples, bas-reliefs and hieroglyphic inscriptions. The Stuarts portray a lost world of palace intrigue, of war and peace, of brilliant architects and sculptors, of patron gods and revered ancestors, of a city teeming with craftsmen, traders and farmers. Today Palenque, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a place of new reverence and relevance for millions of modern Maya, archaeologists and all those fascinated by the history of the Maya.

David Stuart is Schele Professor of Ancient Mesoamerican Art and Writing at the University of Texas. George Stuart is president of the Boundary End Archaeology Research Center in western North Carolina. He has devoted more than 50 years to the study of the Maya people, both ancient and living.

The story of a great ancient city that should not be missed.-- "American Archaeology"