In 1787, the military governor of Guatemala sent soldier Antonio del Río to excavate a Maya ruin near Palenque, marking the dawn of scientific archaeology in the Americas.  Del Río and his men spent two weeks clearing the site and three more weeks studying, drawing, and exploring.  Del Río recounted the work in a remarkable report that was illustrated with thirty drawings made by Ricardo Almendáriz. Del Río’s manuscript has been preserved in Madrid, but the original drawings were only recently found in a private European collection.