Description
Photographs by Augustus and Alice Dixon
Le Plongeon document Maya architecture and sculpture at the archaeological sites of Chichén
Itzá and Uxmal in the Yucatán peninsula. Images of Yucatán towns, flora, fauna, and peoples
are also included in the collection.
Background
Augustus Le Plongeon was a medical doctor, photographer, antiquarian, and amateur
archaeologist of French origins. In the early 1860s, after spending time in Chile and
northern California, Le Plongeon moved to Lima, Peru, where he practiced medicine and
photography, and became interested in Peruvian archaeology. On a trip to London he met and
married Alice Dixon, daughter of the architectural photographer Henry Dixon. The couple
returned to North America where they devoted their lives' work to excavating, documenting,
and interpreting the Maya ruins and culture of the Yucatán peninsula. They spent over a
decade exploring Yucatán and Central America, excavating at Chichén Itzá and Uxmal.