and financed by prestigious institutions abroad. The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, continuing to pursue its interest in the Maya region, organized twelve archaeological expeditions between 1892 and 1915. It also financed excavations at Altar de Sacrificios between 1958 and 1963 and at Ceibal between 1962 and 1966. In addition to the information that was recovered, these investigations amassed a large corpus of hieroglyphic texts (Morley 1937–1938, 83).

In the 1920s there was a growing curiosity on the part of Guatemalans regarding the pre-Columbian era and native traditions. In 1922 and 1925 the government issued new regulations concerning archaeological projects and trafficking in antiquities. In 1927 J. Antonio Villacorta and his son Carlos published, in Guatemala, a volume describing archaeological sites in the country. Adrian Recinos, a Guatemalan historian, translated and published the important Quiche document, the Popol Vuh, the Cakchiquel history known as the Memorial de Solola (also known as The Anales de los Cakchiqueles), and other native chronicles and land titles. Also furthering public interest, in 1931 the Guatemalan government inaugurated one section of the National Museum that was to be devoted to archaeology and designed to house the artifacts and monuments being discovered by the projects directed by U.S. institutions (Chinchilla 1999, 110–111).

One of the major groups with an interest in prehispanic Guatemala was the Carnegie Institution of Washington, which intensively explored archaeological sites in Peten and Yucatán from 1915 to 1937 under the direction of sylvanus g. morley. Uaxactun, a site near Tikal, was a principal focus of interest because the earliest dated inscriptions known up to that time had been found there. The new stratigraphic methods of excavation that had been devised by then were meticulously applied in this work, ultimately providing the basic chronological outline for the Maya lowlands—known today as the preclassic, classic, and postclassic periods. The Guatemalan artist Antonio Tejeda was hired to copy the murals of Uaxactun for publication (Morley 1937–1938, 86–97). He later copied the murals of bonampak’, as well as paintings of vessels recovered from numerous excavations. In addition, tatiana proskouriakoff was employed to make reconstruction drawings of most of the sites that had been investigated by the Carnegie Institution in the Petén and Guatemala highlands. From 1936 to 1942 and again in 1952 the Carnegie Institution financed salvage operations at Kaminaljuyu, an important highland center that was being destroyed by the expansion of the modern capital, Guatemala City. Under the direction of alfred v. kidder, two publications resulted from the work, and these remain the basic references on the site.

The Department of Middle American Research at Tulane University contributed to archaeological explorations in Guatemala by sending an expedition in 1928. The expedition covered the entire Maya area and drew up the first archaeological site map of the region. From 1931 to 1937 the university of pennsylvania museum made an extensive survey of the site of Piedras Negras. On the basis of this work Proskouriakoff made a momentous breakthrough in epigraphy, showing that hieroglyphic texts were historical, relating important events during the reigns of the different kings, and not devoted solely to calendrical or astronomical records as had been believed.

Unfortunately, in spite of the careful excavating methods used in the first half of the twentieth century, excavations were often left without backfilling, and no attempt was made to restore ancient architecture. This was partly due to the difficulties involved in traveling to most of the sites, especially in the Petén area, and also to a lack of regulations requiring restoration; moreover, it was not anticipated that the sites would become tourist attractions (Chinchilla 1999, 111). However, following the political revolution that overthrew Gen. Jorge Ubico in 1944, the government initiated social reforms, founded new institutions, and formulated new laws for the protection of national patrimony. The National Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology was reorganized, and the Institute of Anthropology and History was established for the protection, registration, and investigation of archaeological and colonial national patrimony.