Co-written by the French Mayanist and iconologist Claude-François Baudez and art historian Sydney Picasso, and published in pocket format by Éditions Gallimard as the 20th volume in their "Découvertes" collection[1] (known as "Abrams Discoveries" in the United States, and "New Horizons" in the United Kingdom).

[2] As part of the Archéologie series in the "Découvertes Gallimard" collection, the authors recount in the book the rediscovery of Maya civilization, and the study of archaeological sites, objects and documents discovered in the region, from the beginning of the sixteenth century to the twentieth century.

1–9), that is, a series of full-page archaeological photographs from Alfred Maudslay's Biologia Centrali-Americana, published between 1889 and 1902.

It was shot in Mexico and Guatemala,[7] and broadcast on Arte as part of the television programme The Human Adventure.

[2][8] It has been dubbed into German under the title Stätten und Kultur der Maya,[9] and subtitled into English and Spanish.