Augustus Le Plongeon

Augustus Le Plongeon (1825-1908) was an archaeologist who was the first to excavate the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza in Yucatán, Central America. He wrote a lengthy history of Mayan culture, going so far as to propose a theory that Mayans had founded Ancient Egypt, a theory which has since been discredited by the scientific community.

Travels in Peru

Le Plongeon started full time research on the Maya civilization, and pioneered the use of photography as a tool for his research. He began using the wet collodion glass-plate negative process he used for studio portraits to record his exploration. He traveled extensively all over Peru for eight years visiting and photographing the ancient ruins.

Related Topics:
Collodion - Negative - Peru

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In 1870, he left Peru and traveled back once again to San Francisco where he gave a number of illustrated lectures at the California Academy of Sciences on Peruvian archaeology and the causes of earthquakes. His travels then continued on to New York, and by 1871 he was at the British Museum in London studying Mesoamerican manuscripts. His reading of the works of the French scholar Brasseur de Bourbourg culminated in a stirring belief that civilization had its origins in the New World.

Related Topics:
1870 - California Academy of Sciences - Earthquake - New York - 1871 - British Museum - London - Mesoamerican - Manuscript - Brasseur de Bourbourg - Civilization - New World

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