Ruins (1999)

Integrating archival sources with pseudodocumentary fabrications Jesse Lerners Ruins delves into the tangled legacies of Mesoamerican antiquarianism revealing how archaeologists art historians and museum curators have for centuries fashioned various theories about preColumbian civilizations from the stuff of colonialist fantasies and ingenious forgeries Structured around five key vignettes in this history Lerners film combines travelogues newsreels and educational films to examine the claims of various experts like early20th century dean of the Mayanists Sylvanus G Morley and archaeologist Michael Coe longtime curator of Yales Peabody Museum of Natural History