Improvement Era, February 1930

THE IMPROVEMENT ERA Vol. 33-41 3^ FEBRUARY, 1930 No. 4 Colonel and Mrs. Lindberg, Aid Archaeologists Part II — The Aerial Survey of the Maya Region (All photographs were taken by Colonel and Mrs. Lindbergh, except where otherwise noted) By DR. A. V. KIDDER Head, Staff of Early American History, Carnegie Institution of Washington COLONEL Lindberg's recent air-survey of the Maya re- gion of Central America affords a fine example of the va- lue of team play. When a great aviator, a great transportation company, and a great scientific agency put their shoulders to the same wheel, that wheel is bound to turn. The project grew out of a combination of agencies and of interests. Agencies Participating THIRST, there was Colonel Lind- bergh who is always seeking opportunity to demonstrate the utility of the aeroplane. Besides, on a former flight, his curiosity had been aroused by glimpses of ancient, jungle-buried cities. Then there was the Pan- American Airways, Inc. This company, engaged in spreading a network of flying-trails over La- tin America, is anxious to for- ward any project which promises to contribute to popular interest in the regions it serves. And, lastly, there was Carnegie Institution of Washington whose staff of archaeologists, earth- bound in the forests of Yucatan for years, had longed for the sweeping view which the aero- plane alone can give. Map of the Maya region showing the course of the day-by-day flights of Colonel Lind- bergh's party and the location of the ruins observed and photographed. General Objectives CUCH was the group that has <-* just successfully concluded the only aerial survey ever made of the Maya region of Central America. Belize, once a stronghold of buccaneers, now capital of British Honduras, was the rendezvous. We met there on October 5th. Col- onel and Mrs. Lindbergh were finishing their swing around the Caribbean. Oliver Ricketson, Carnegie Institution archaeologist came down from his headquarters in Guatemala City. W. I. Van Dusen of Pan-American Airways and I flew from Miami. That evening we laid plans and gather- ed equipment. /^\UR general objectives were: to ^ test the aeroplane as an agency for archaeological explora- tion in tropical countries; and to find out once for all whether the ruins of Maya cities could be lo- cated from the air. Above any- thing else, we wished to get an idea of what the Maya country really looks like. Although archaeologists have been pushing their way into the region for many years, they have been so buried in the welter of for- est, their outlook has been so stifled by mere weight of vege- tation, that it has been impossible to gain a comprehensive under- standing of the real nature of this territory, once occupied by Ameri- ca's most brilliant native civiliza- tion. Such understanding is ab- solutely necessary, because all people, ancient and modern, are largely products of their environ- ment. Hill and plain, water- course and cultivable land shape the destinies of nations more powerfully than do kings and battles.