Ricardo Almendáriz
Encyclopedia
Ricardo Almendáriz was a Guatemala
n draftsman who accompanied Antonio del Río
to the first excavation of pre-Columbian
Maya ruins at Palenque
in Chiapas
, Mexico
. Undertaken in May and June of 1787, the expedition was performed under orders from Charles III of Spain
to investigate reports about the ruins from the inhabitants of the neighboring pueblo of Santo Domingo de Palenque. The team spent two weeks digging at the location followed by three weeks studying the site.
Almendáriz made thirty drawings of the bas relief sculptures at the Palenque ruins. These drawings were intended to accompany del Río's written report, which was dated June 24, 1787. According to George Stuart, writing for the Kislak Foundation, the del Río report "ranks as the first substantial archaeological report known in the Americas." Almendáriz's drawings of Palenque are "remarkably accurate for the era" and depict features of Palenque that have since been destroyed from exposure. For this reason they remain scientifically useful.
The Almendáriz drawings were copied for archival purposes. The most complete set of contemporary copies belongs to the library of the Royal Palace in Madrid
.
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
n draftsman who accompanied Antonio del Río
Antonio del Río
Antonio del Río was a captain who led the first excavation of the Mayan ruins of Palenque in Chiapas, Mexico. The expedition was undertaken in 1787 for Charles III of Spain, following reports of the ruins from native inhabitants. It took the team two weeks to dig, and it then spent three weeks...
to the first excavation of pre-Columbian
Pre-Columbian
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...
Maya ruins at Palenque
Palenque
Palenque was a Maya city state in southern Mexico that flourished in the 7th century. The Palenque ruins date back to 100 BC to its fall around 800 AD...
in Chiapas
Chiapas
Chiapas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas is one of the 31 states that, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 118 municipalities and its capital city is Tuxtla Gutierrez. Other important cites in Chiapas include San Cristóbal de las...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. Undertaken in May and June of 1787, the expedition was performed under orders from Charles III of Spain
Charles III of Spain
Charles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese...
to investigate reports about the ruins from the inhabitants of the neighboring pueblo of Santo Domingo de Palenque. The team spent two weeks digging at the location followed by three weeks studying the site.
Almendáriz made thirty drawings of the bas relief sculptures at the Palenque ruins. These drawings were intended to accompany del Río's written report, which was dated June 24, 1787. According to George Stuart, writing for the Kislak Foundation, the del Río report "ranks as the first substantial archaeological report known in the Americas." Almendáriz's drawings of Palenque are "remarkably accurate for the era" and depict features of Palenque that have since been destroyed from exposure. For this reason they remain scientifically useful.
The Almendáriz drawings were copied for archival purposes. The most complete set of contemporary copies belongs to the library of the Royal Palace in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
.