Old Maya Guide Speaks
I often prefer books written for the juvenile audience to adult books. A good example is the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.
In the field of books on the ancient Maya, I’ve just discovered the delightful The Mystery of the Maya: Uncovering the Lost City of Palenque. It describes personal experiences and is richly illustrated with photographs. The author Peter Lourie tells of his excursion in the snake-infested jungles of the Mexican state of Chiapas with archeologists who are uncovering the fascinating ruins at Palenque.
I especially enjoyed reading the words of an elderly Maya man, Moises Morales, who has been a guide for Palenque archeologists for many decades, his home being a gathering place for researchers starting in the 1970s.
Moises said that he did not think that scientists could be the best interpreters of the Maya mysteries since the basis of their knowledge and belief of the Maya comes from theories they have studied in text books. He believed that the best interpreters would be people who had an unbiased and open mind.
