The largest and best-known archaeological sites in Chiapas belong to the Mayan civilization. Apart from a few works by Franciscan friars, knowledge of Maya civilisation largely disappeared after the Spanish Conquest. In the mid-19th century, John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood traveled though the sites in Chiapas and other Mayan areas and published their writings and illustrations. This led to serious work on the culture including the deciphering of its hieroglyphic writing.