Mexico and the Mexican Indian A series of six programmes
5: The People of the Rain Forest
The first sign of the unique Mayan civilisation was the appearance, about AD 200, of stone monuments in the tropical rain forest. The Mayan became the great astronomers of Middle America and their buildings reflect their interest.
Since the Spanish conquest only one small group of Maya, the Lacandon Indians, have preserved their traditional beliefs.
Even today they continue to worship their old gods in their old temples now ruined and concealed by the forests. But can the old ways last for much longer? Narrated by IAN HOLM
Film editor RAOUL SOREL
Photography COLIN WALDECK
Executive producer BRUCE NORMAN
Written/produced by ANNA BENSON GYLES