This
one-hour program is divided into five chapters. Choose any chapter below and
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In 1774,
Spanish explorer Jose Calderon
rediscovers the temples of Palenque and the ancient hieroglyphs of the Maya, a
people whose culture was decimated by the Spanish conquistadors.
running time 9:11
Toiling
away in the basement of Harvard's Peabody Museum, archeologist Tatiana Proskouriakoff
discovers that Maya monuments contain a decipherable history rather than mere
pictures and symbols.
running time 10:20
Working
behind the Iron Curtain, Russian linguist Yuri Knorosov posits
that Maya glyphs may represent sounds, but his ideas are discredited in the
West.
running time 10:31
David
Stuart submits his first scholarly paper on glyphs at age 12 and later becomes a major player in Maya studies with his
advances in script decipherment.
running time 8:27
An image of the ancient
Maya comes to life, and their descendants in modern-day Mexico and Central
America begin to relearn their lost language and history.
running time 10:34