To understand the situation and historical significance of the more
important antiquities in Southern Mexico and Central America, we must
keep in view their situation relative to the great unexplored forest to
which attention has been called. Examine carefully any good map of
Mexico and Central America, and consider well that the ruins already
explored or visited are wholly in the northern half of Yucatan, or far
away from this region, at the south, beyond the great wilderness, or in
the southern edge of it. Uxmal, Mayapan, Chichen-Itza, and many others,
are in Yucatan. Palenque, Copan, and others are in the southern part of
the wilderness, in Chiapa, Honduras, and Guatemala. Mr. Squier visited
ruins much farther south, in San Salvador, and in the western parts of
Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
The vast forest which is spread over the northern half of Guatemala and
the southern half of Yucatan, and extended into other states, covers an
area considerably larger in extent than Ohio or Pennsylvania. Does its
position relative to the known ruins afford no suggestion concerning the
ancient history of this forest-covered region? It is manifest that, in
the remote ages when the older of the cities now in ruins were built,
this region was a populous and important part of the country. And this
is shown also by the antiquities found wherever it has been penetrated
by explorers who knew how to make discoveries, as well as by the old
books and traditions. Therefore it is not unreasonable to assume that
Copan and Palenque are specimens of great ruins that lie buried in it.
The ruins of which something is known have merely been visited and
described in part by explorers, some of whom brought away drawings of
the principal objects. In giving a brief account of the more important
ruins, I will begin with the old city of which most has been heard.