University of Pennsylvania Finding Aids

The planning for the Tikal Project began in the mid 1940s when Museum President Percy C. Madeira along with engineer John Dimick and Board member Samuel B. Eckert conceived of a ten year long expedition to the Maya site in the dense forest region of Guatemala. Previous expeditions to investigate the Maya necessarily focused on more accessible sites such as Piedras Negras, Copan, Uxmal and Chichen Itza. Following the construction of a landing strip by the Guatemalan Air Force in 1950 the first scientists arrived in January 1956 for what would turn out to be a thirteen year expedition. For ten of the thirteen years, the project was directed by William Robertson Coe who accomplished major excavations in the Great Plaza, North Terrace and Acropolis sections of the project. Coe also conceptualized the data collection system and reporting guidelines that resulted in the publication of the seventeen volume Tikal Reports. The Tikal Project records contain 134 archival boxes of material that include correspondence, financial records, field notebooks, post excavation notes/analysis, pre-publication material for the Tikal Reports, plans, drawings, photographs, contact sheets and oversize items. Miscellaneous card files complete the collection. The original field cards are held in a forty-four drawer file cabinet installed in the Tikal Room at the museum.