Lost Civilizations & Uncovered Ruins

This email is going out while I’m en route to Tulum, Mexico for vacation. I hope you’ll enjoy this shortened Sunday Reads, and interesting story about my family history in Tulum!

Everyone should study their family history. This story of ancient Mayan ruins, a shocking discovery and my upcoming trip to Tulum, Mexico proves it. You really never know what you might find. This story started with my friend from college suggesting we take a trip to “Tulum” when he visited me this month. I responded: “What is Tulum?” You’ll soon learn why this question was so stupid…

First, I should mention the Catherwood family has a long line of history nerds. This general historical interest eventually developed into a passion for studying our family history. My great-grandfather, Harold Matthew Stuart (H.M.S.) Catherwood, became pretty obsessive.

H.M.S. Catherwood spent decades tracing the Catherwood family tree back to 1154. Of course, this was all before Ancestry .com Last month, my Dad passed down my great-grandfather’s meticulous notes and correspondences spanning 30 years. Not even close to all of it:

One of the most interesting ancestors on this family tree is Frederick Catherwood, born in 1799. Frederick was an architect by trade, but earned global recognition for his meticulously detailed illustrations of cultural sites & ruins around the world (Egypt shown below).

However, his most important expeditions were with American explorer John Lloyd Stephens. After hearing rumors of an alleged “lost civilization” in the Central America jungles, the pair embarked on a treacherous search for these ruins. Their findings shocked the world.

First.. We must understand that in 1839, the West had no idea an Ancient Maya Civilization ever existed. “Yucatan, in fact, has been isolated from Europe since its discovery… no notice has reached the learned world of its ruined cities and temples [until now]”. (1844)

However, there were rumors and speculators of a “few” ruins and statues in Central America. That was it. Thus, Stephens & Catherwood were amazed by the vast number of ruins and grand pyramids they found upon arriving in Guatemala.

Over three years and two expeditions, the explorers traveled around Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico *documenting more than 40 ancient Mayan cities*. Catherwood carefully illustrating the ruins at each location, and Stephens writing detailed descriptions.

This journey was far from easy. Catherwood and Stephens arrived during a period of intense Civil Wars, and they were navigating Central American jungles without accurate maps! They literally hacked their way through jungles, caught Malaria and more.. but ventured on.

Their struggles paid off. In 1843 they published a two-volume book, ‘Incidents of Travel in Yucatan’, detailing their findings. It was an instant best seller and received widespread acclaim: “Perhaps the most interesting book of travel ever published” – Edgar Allen Poe

This bestselling book introduced the West to Ancient Mayan civilization at a time when Central America was viewed as a land of “savages”. This region being home to a sophisticated and complex ancient civilization was unthinkable.

When the explorers’ early findings were reported in newspapers (pre-book), the West *refused* to believe that the people of Central American built these structures. People argued these great structures were built by Egyptians, Phoenicians (!), etc. (Excerpt from 1840)

This same 1840 newspaper article continued to state: “It is absurd for a moment to cherish the belief that the original Mexicans and Peruvians were the architects of those splendid temples, obelisks and pyramids…”

However, ‘Incidents of Travel in Yucatan’ PROVED that these ruins were the product of an ancient civilization and empire built by the Maya people.

“[Catherwood’s] detailed lithographs revealed the Mayans to be not the primitive savages that many presumed them to be, but.. a highly sophisticated civilization, with a fully developed written language, advanced mathematical and astronomical systems and a taste for art..”

So, why my “What is Tulum?” question was so stupid: After being told where Tulum was, I flipped through my copy of ‘Incidents of Travel in Yucatan’ to see if Tulum was mentioned… Sure enough, they covered “Tuloom” extensively:

This lithograph is possibly Catherwood’s most famous piece of work, and just so happens to be the “Temple at Tulum”. In ‘Incidents of Travel’, Stephens describes how they *slept* (!) inside the temple during their stay in Tulum. So what?

Well… I’m going to Tulum on Sunday and this Temple (along with the many other ruins Catherwood documented) is just 10 minutes from our hotel. 180 years later, this James *Frederick* Catherwood will visit the ruins that Frederick Catherwood discovered and illustrated.

To know I’ll be walking in the same footsteps as another Catherwood 180 years earlier is something truly special and eerie (in the best way). It will be hilarious comparing his insanely detailed artwork with my iPhone selfie.