100). This story told by the sarcophagus is an important one because of the way it provides us with insights into Maya religion and history. However, it is also important because it has become one of the artifacts that 20th-century writers have used to spin fantastic stories about how the earth has been visited by extraterrestrial creatures, whose images appear on the sarcophagus lid of Pacal, in addition to other places.

As Feder (2010) writes (he is only one of many critics who take up this subjects), there is absolutely no truth to claims that the images on this sarcophagus lid that represent anything but the religion of classical Maya civilization. So why should people think that there are? This question is related to a timely one, which is why many people (many of whom should certainly know better)...

But many people in all times and places want simple answers to the complicated questions about how life works. And in the search for such simpler answers, they often turn to the great works of art from the past.
References

Feder, K. (2010). Encyclopedia of Dubious Archaeology: From Atlantis to the Walam Olum. Wesport CT: Greenword.

Ferguson, W. & Adams, R. (2001). Mesoamerica's Ancient Cities. Santa Fe: University of New Mexico Press.

Kubler, G. (1984). The Art and Architecture of Ancient America: The Mexican, Maya and Andean Peoples. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Laughton, T. (2011). Exploring the Life, Myth, and Art…