Some of the Mirador basin was surveyed in 1885 by Claudio Urrutia, who noted the presence of ruins. But El Mirador had little attention paid to it until Ian Graham spent some time there making the first map of the area in 1962.[1] A detailed investigation was begun in 1978 with an archaeological project under the direction of Bruce Dahlin (The Catholic University of America) and Ray Matheny (Brigham Young University).