Although this article is based on canonical information, the actual name of this subject is pure conjecture.
Please see the reasons for this title in the "Behind the scenes" section below, and/or the relevant discussion on the talk page.
- "I'm not leaving till I see what's hidden in the center of that statue. It has to be important."
- ―Indiana Jones[src]
A set of Mayan ruins were near the coast, along the central coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. The settlement included step pyramids and stone houses. Underneath a city complex was a temple with a large calendar stone, and a stone statue of Kukulkan in the center.
History[]
In 1957, after several weeks of work, American archaeologist Indiana Jones had discovered the secret entrance to the underground temple. Despite George McHale's warnings of a storm, Jones continued, crawling across the massive calendar stone towards the central statue. Reading the glyphs as he passed, he saw that the outer ring contained the Mayan genesis story and the birth date of the world. The inner rings told the story of the K'iche Maya tribe, which normally settled in Guatemala, and whose presence had not yet been seen this far north. The story also included the origins of Kukulkan. The innermost ring listed the end of the Long Count calendar, which alleged that the Earth could end in 2012.[1]
Reaching the center, Jones saw a chamber inside the statue of the snake god, and descended into the deep chamber through the snake's mouth. Falling into an underground river, Jones was carried by the current and managed to snag some roots with his whip as he shot out of the cave at the coastal cliffs. Climbing up the cliff, Jones returned to his camp where he was captured by Colonel Antonin Dovchenko and his soldiers, who had also captured McHale and killed all of Jones' indigenous workers. The prisoners were taken to Hangar 51, Nevada, along with a bag of Jones' recently found artifacts: some potsherds, a Mayan fertility idol and a carved stone with rare glyphs.[1] Once at the secret base, Dovchenko informed Doctor Irina Spalko, his superior, about where he found Jones and McHale, dumping out the bag of artifacts on Hangar 51's tarmac by remarking he found them digging for "junk", destroying the pieces.[2]
Behind the scenes[]
James Rollins' novelization of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has an additional chapter that fleshes out how Indiana Jones was digging up for the coastal Mayan ruins.[1] David Koepp's shooting script for the film specifies that, by the time of the film's events, Indiana Jones had been working for seven weeks to uncover the coastal Mayan ruins, described as pieces of ancient pottery and figurines.[3]
In LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues, Charles Stanforth hires Indiana Jones and George McHale to uncover the coastal Mayan ruins to replace a broken Maya base they have at Marshall College. The Spetsnaz doesn't take nor destroy their findings, though, just leaving them intact where they were digging. In the portable versions of the game, for comedic purposes, one of the ruins is shown to be a teapot.[4]
Appearances[]
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (First appearance)
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull novel
- LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues (Non-canonical appearance)