Alberto Ruz Lhuillier (27 January 1906 – 25 August 1979) was a Mexican archaeologist. He specialized in

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica ...

n archaeology and is well known for leading the

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(INAH) excavations at the

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a popul ...

site of

Palenque Palenque (; Yucatec Maya: ), also anciently known in the Itza Language as Lakamhaʼ ("Big Water or Big Waters"), was a Maya city state in southern Mexico that perished in the 8th century. The Palenque ruins date from ca. 226 BC to ca. 799 AD. ...

, where he found the tomb of the Maya ruler, Pakal. Ruz Lhuillier is sometimes referred to as the "Hitchcock of Archaeology".

Early life

Ruz Lhuillier was born in

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to a Cuban father and a French mother. He went to college in

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, where he learned about the impact of American interference in Cuban affairs and he became deeply involved in the socialist revolution to oust the current government. In addition, these early student life experience exposed him to other students who espoused the theories and ideas of

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. Later Ruz would use some of these theories to explain the development and fall of ancient Maya civilization. He moved to Mexico in 1936, later acquiring Mexican

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Career

After the unexpected death of Miguel Ángel Fernández in 1945, Ruz Lhuillier took charge of the INAH's investigations at Palenque. While he served as the INAH's southern Director of Pre-Hispanic Monuments, Ruz Lhuillier excavated much of the city and restored and conserved such edifices as the Palace. In 1948, he discovered the entrance to the tomb of the Maya ruler, K'inich Janaab' Pakal, hidden beneath the

Temple of the Inscriptions The Temple of the Inscriptions (Classic Maya: Bʼolon Yej Teʼ Naah () "House of the Nine Sharpened Spears") is the largest Mesoamerican stepped pyramid structure at the pre-Columbian Maya civilization site of Palenque, located in the modern-day ...

. After four seasons of clearing the rubble-filled stairway, he found Pakal's sarcophagus and body.Veber, May. "Pyramids in the Americas.
The World's Last Mysteries.

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, 1978. 180-187.

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. . Retrieved February 10, 2016. Ruz Lhuillier's team also found the Tablet of the Palace, which served as the back to a throne, and the Tablet of the Slaves which depicts a ''cahal'' amid bound captives. Ruz Lhuillier continued working at the site until 1958. Ruz Lhuillier died in

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

, Canada on 25 August 1979. Several of his books on the Maya, including ''Los Antiguos Mayas'', were published posthumously. Honoring his works, the Mexican Government permits that his remains rest in peace in front of the Necropolis that was discovered by him at the Maya site of Palenque, Chiapas.

Works

*''Los Antiguos Mayas, Una Antologia'' ( en, The Ancient Maya: An Anthology) - (January 1981) * ''El Pueblo Maya'' ( en, The Maya People) - (January 1982) * ''Frente Al Pasado De Los Mayas'' ( en, Facing the Past of the Maya) - (January 1987) * ''El Templo De Las Inscripciones, Palenque'' ( en, The Temple of the Inscriptions) - (January 1992) * ''Palenque 1947-1958'' - (January 2007)

References

External links

*
Fotobiografía de Alberto Ruz Lhuillier
short biography in Spanish with many photos {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruz Lhuillier, Alberto 1906 births 1979 deaths Mayanists Mexican Mesoamericanists Mesoamerican archaeologists Mexican archaeologists Cuban emigrants to Mexico 20th-century Mesoamericanists 20th-century archaeologists