Mexico's distinction as Latin America's leader in cultural assets recognized by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, was affirmed last year with the inclusion of the Indigenous Arts Center in Veracruz, which was included in the "Register of Best Practices for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage."

As of this moment, Mexico has 31 cultural, natural, and historical sites inducted into the UNESCO World Heritage List - which ranks it sixth worldwide and first in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Today, UNESCO's international listings have 936 registered sites located in 153 countries, 725 of which are cultural, 183 natural, and 28 mixed in both categories.

Last year the pre-Hispanic cities of Teotihuacan and Monte Albán held celebrations to mark their 25th anniversaries on the list, along with El Tajin and Uxmal, which celebrated 20 and 16 years respectively. The occasions were marked with various academic and cultural activities.

The Yucatan archaeological site at Uxmal continues its anniversary celebration with an exhibition appellated "Uxmal, Eight Decades of Exploration - 1920-2012." The exhibition showcases 12 photographs from decades past and 12 from present day or more recent work. The pictures reveal the gradual recovery of the pre-Hispanic site and the results of the archaeologist's hard work and passion.

"The attributes of the architecture of Uxmal and its surroundings led to this great city being declared a World Heritage Site on December 7, 1996," explained archaeologist José Huchim Herrera, the current director of the project.

The photographic exhibition, which belongs to the INAH (Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia) Technical File, is displayed in the tourist center of Uxmal. The earlier images show activity reports from 1910 until the early '50s. These old images are contrasted with a series of contemporary photographs in order to allow visitors to compare and appreciate the efforts of various specialists to preserve the important heritage site.