Editing Tikal (section)

===Modern history===
[[File:Tikal1882.jpeg|thumb|right|One of Maudsley's photos of Tikal from 1882, taken after vegetation had been cleared]]
{{multiple image
| align             = right
| image1            = Tikal (Eusebio Lara).jpg
| width1            = 185
| alt1              = 
| caption1          = Drawing of Tikal by mid-19th-century visitor Eusebio Lara
| image2            = EdShookCropped.jpg
| width2            = 250
| alt2              = 
| caption2          = Archeologist [[Edwin M. Shook]], field director of the Tikal Project; Shook was also instrumental in having Tikal established as Guatemala's first National Park.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20040829163820/http://www.obitcentral.com/obitsearch/obits/misc/anthro16.htm Edwin Shook at ObitCentral.]}}</ref>
| footer            = 
}}

In 1525, the Spanish [[conquistador]] [[Hernán Cortés]] passed within a few kilometers of the ruins of Tikal but did not mention them in his letters.<ref>Webster 2002, pp.83–4.</ref> After Spanish friar Andrés de Avendaño became lost in the Petén forests in early 1696 he described a ruin that may well have been Tikal.<ref>Jones 1998, pp. 218–219. Means 1917, p. 167.</ref>

As is often the case with huge ancient ruins, knowledge of the site was never completely lost in the region. It seems that local people never forgot about Tikal and they guided Guatemalan expeditions to the ruins in the 1850s.<ref name=w261/> Some second- or third-hand accounts of Tikal appeared in print starting in the 17th century, continuing through the writings of [[John Lloyd Stephens]] in the early 19th century (Stephens and his illustrator [[Frederick Catherwood]] heard rumors of a lost city, with white building tops towering above the jungle, during their 1839–40 travels in the region). Because of the site's remoteness from modern towns, however, no explorers visited Tikal until Modesto Méndez and Ambrosio Tut, respectively the commissioner and the governor of [[Petén Department|Petén]], visited it in 1848. Artist Eusebio Lara accompanied them and their account was published in [[Germany]] in 1853.<ref name=k139/> Several other expeditions came to further investigate, map, and photograph Tikal in the 19th century (including [[Alfred P. Maudslay]] in 1881–82) and the early 20th century. Pioneering archaeologists started to clear, map and record the ruins in the 1880s.<ref name=w261/>

In 1951, a small airstrip was built at the ruins,<ref name=k140/> which previously could only be reached by several days' travel through the jungle on foot or [[mule]]. In 1956 the Tikal project began to map the city on a scale not previously seen in the Maya area.<ref>Adams 2000, p.19.</ref> From 1956 through 1970, major archaeological excavations were carried out by the [[University of Pennsylvania]] Tikal Project.<ref name=a30>Adams 2000, p.30.</ref> They mapped much of the site and excavated and restored many of the structures.<ref name=w261/> Excavations directed by [[Edwin M. Shook]] and later by [[William Robertson Coe II|William Coe]] of the university investigated the North Acropolis and the Central Plaza from 1957 to 1969.<ref name=mg43/> The Tikal Project recorded over 200 monuments at the site.<ref name=w261/> In 1979, the Guatemalan government began a further archaeological project at Tikal, which continued through to 1984.<ref name=a30/>

Filmmaker [[George Lucas]] used Tikal as a filming location for the fictional moon [[Yavin 4]] in the first ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'' film, which premiered in 1977.<ref>Webster 2002, p.29.</ref><ref>StarWars.com</ref> Subsequent Star Wars movie [[Rogue One]] (2016)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://architizer.com/blog/practice/details/the-architecture-of-rogue-one-a-star-wars-story/ |title=The Architecture of “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” |date=2016-12-15 |access-date=2025-05-19}}</ref> and [[Andor season 2|season 2 of TV series Andor]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/andor-season-2-star-wars-yavin-4-canon |title=Andor Season 2 Will Forever Change One Iconic Star Wars Location |date=2025-02-25 |access-date=2025-05-19 }}</ref> (2025) were also filmed at Tikal for the same fictional location.

Temple I at Tikal was featured on the reverse of the [[Guatemalan quetzal|50 centavo banknote]].<ref>Banco de Guatemala.</ref>

[[Eon Productions]] used the site for the James Bond film ''[[Moonraker (film)|Moonraker]]''.<ref name="DVD booklet">{{cite book|title =Moonraker Special Edition, Region 2 booklet|year=2000<!-- |access-date = 3 October 2008--> |publisher=United Artists}}</ref>

Tikal is now a major tourist attraction surrounded by its own national park.<ref name=w261/> A site museum has been built at Tikal; it was completed in 1964.<ref>Coe 1967, 1988, p.10.</ref>