This story is entirely fictional, but it was inspired by a real and accidental discovery made in 2001 by an American archaeologist. He was visiting some Mayan ruins in the Guatemalan forests and stumbled into a trench cut by ‘stone robbers’ who had been looking for ancient carvings to sell. The trench led to an underground chamber, and around the walls, although mostly hidden by a layer of mud, was one of the finest Mayan murals ever found.

The setting, then, is today’s Guatemala, a Central American country that was once part of the Mayan Empire. The Maya are famous for magnificent, stone-built cities with pyramid temple platforms. This great civilisation developed over at least 2,500 years, but came to an end in 1530 when the Spanish conquistadors invaded and established Spanish colonial rule. Mayan land was taken for large plantation agriculture and Mayan culture and beliefs were suppressed. Until recent times the ruling class were mainly people of Spanish descent. There is also a mixed race, Spanish-Mayan population known as Ladinos.

From 1960 – 1996 there was a civil war. Many thousands of Maya were killed or ‘disappeared’ by government forces. Even today, many Guatemalans do not know how or where their loved ones died. Often, as with Rico’s father, their only crime was to claim the right to wear Mayan dress, speak their own languages and pray to their own gods.

In Stone Robbers the Catholic Church where Rico is waiting for his grandmother has been built on top of a Mayan temple. This was done in the past by invading Spanish in an attempt to suppress Mayan beliefs. But now the Maya are allowed to worship there again in their own way, and their shamans, or day keepers, have come out of hiding. The church and the town of San Pedro are loosely based on the real Mayan market town of Chichicastenango, a favourite up-country destination for foreign tourists, who go there to see the colourful markets.

Although there have been many improvements since the civil war, life for most young Maya is still very hard. Their families are too poor to send them to school, so they have to work for a living as soon as they can. Many leave their villages to find work in Guatemala City, as Enzo does. Some end up living on the streets and turning to crime. Others, like Rico and Delfina, have to stay in their highland villages and rely on making some cash for necessities by taking their produce to the nearest market town, often a day’s walk from their homes.

The Maya are still second-class citizens in their own country, their languages and customs often looked down upon by the authorities and the non-Mayan ruling class. They are still seen as a source of cheap labour, and traditionally-dressed women may face discrimination. Tourists, too, although welcome for the money they spend, are often disrespectful of Mayan sacred places and beliefs. For Rico, living this kind of life makes it hard for him to feel proud of himself.