(narrator) in 1946, the photographer giles healey went to chiapas to make a film about the lacandon indians. they led him to a group of temples perched atop ruined pyramids at bonampak. the interior of the largest building on the site was sheathed in wall paintings that shattered the peaceful image of the maya. (mary miller) when they came to light in forties, at that moment, everyone had thought that, "oh, the maya had lived in a time of peace. they were people of enormous decorum and personal reserve." and suddenly, when these paintings emerged on the scene and you could see that they were, in some ways, intimate portraits of life at court... but most of all that there was warfare. (narrator) in 1952, a second discovery, this time at palenque, further changed modern conceptions of the maya. mexican archaeologist alberto z uncovered a tomb buried deep within the temple of inscriptions. a crypt cut deep into the bedrock beneath the pyramid contained a sarcophagus. (mary miller) i think we can imagine his heirs bringing him up here wrapped in a shroud, taking him all the way down through tho

(narrator) in 1946, the photographer giles healey went to chiapas to make a film about the lacandon indians. they led him to a group of temples perched atop ruined pyramids at bonampak. the interior of the largest building on the site was sheathed in wall paintings that shattered the peaceful image of the maya. (mary miller) when they came to light in forties, at that moment, everyone had thought that, "oh, the maya had lived in a time of peace. they were people of enormous decorum and personal reserve." and suddenly, when these paintings emerged on the scene and you could see that they were, in some ways, intimate portraits of life at court... but most of all that there was warfare. (narrator) in 1952, a second discovery, this time at palenque, further changed modern conceptions of the maya. mexican archaeologist alberto z uncovered a tomb buried deep within the temple of inscriptions. a crypt cut deep into the bedrock beneath the pyramid contained a sarcophagus. (mary miller) i think we can imagine his heirs bringing him up here wrapped in a shroud, taking him all the way down through tho