The Mayans were a civilisation known for their architecture, mathematics and astronomical beliefs, who date back to as far as 2000BC. Many of their impressive constructions can still be seen in the jungles of southeast Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and western parts of Honduras. Archaeologists are constantly racing against time to get their hands on a precious piece of history before local looters swarm in.
In 1973, the Merrin Gallery in New York sold a door lintel hacked out the temple roof at the site of El Zotz, in northern Guatemala.
Dating back to between 550AD and 650AD, the sculpture depicts a standing male figure carrying a diagonal ceremonial bar.
The El Zotz lintel was removed by looters who significantly damaged the piece by hacking away the back of it with a hatchet to reduce its weight.
It was then reportedly illegally trafficked to the US, where it was sold to law firm Berry & Stark Associates.
The company later donated the lintel to the Denver Art Museum, before archaeologist Ian Graham got his hands on it in 1978.
Dr Graham, who passed away in 2017, recognised the pattern and painstakingly pieced the sculpture back together before returning it to its rightful home.
He revealed during Amazon Prime’s “Mayan Treasure Hunters” documentary how the piece was almost completely destroyed before he recreated a “ghost from the past”.
Speaking in 1990, he detailed: “You can see here this cut is in a place accessible to the looters but they must have given up before they got very far.
“So they started again here, further towards the sculpture and destroying some of it.
“The panel shows a serpent’s jaw, with the eye, fangs and nose visible.
“The style is unique, but it can be found on the wooden lintel in Denver.
“The dimensions match, the wood is the same and traces of the same red paint can be seen on both.”