Archaeologists delve into nation’s past
A major archaeology symposium got underway this morning at the Princess Hotel…and as predicted on yesterday’s newscast, there was indeed some gold buried in those hills of academic jargon. I even managed to catch one lecture of profound personal interest.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
They have come from all across the country, and from Universities throughout North America…men and women with different expertise, but united in their quest to unearth the mysteries of the ancient Maya trapped in Belizean soil.
Decades of backbreaking work have exposed much of the larger sites, but today scientists spend their days sifting through the details of smaller sites that can reveal shocking secrets.
Dr. Patricia McAnany, Archaeologist, Boston University
“This projectile point is the sole Sibun artefact to date from this very shadowy pre-Maya time in the Sibun River Valley.”
And the pictographs and pottery shards found along the Sibun have shown the scientists the importance of studying these smaller sites.
Dr. Patricia McAnany is a professor of Archaeology at Boston University who has worked in the Sibun Valley for the past four years. Research has shown that even though the area is prone to rapidly rising floods, which would have been devastating to Mayan farmers, one theory is that the proximity of immense cave systems may have been a magnet for several settlements.
Dr. Patricia McAnany
“For instance, in the Sibun River Valley one thing we are finding is that while people living in the big sites, especially in Guatemala in the Peten in the Late Classic [period], well those people, the average person had access to hardly any meat in their diet. What we find when we excavate the small house mounds in the Sibun River Valley, if we find a midden next to that house mound, we’ll find tapir bones and peccary bones, suggesting that the farmer living in that location, say A.D. 900, had a much better quality of life than existed for people living right near and in some of the big seats of power. And that’s something we would not know… we would not be able to say that if we did not study and map and excavate in these smaller sites.”
The largest site in the Sibun is called Hershey and comes complete with its own ball court. But that site can’t compare to the size, scale and complexity of what’s been found in Actun Chanona.
Dr. Patricia McAnany
“Pottery that predates the seventh century has been collected however from the Chanona cave located at the base of the gorge.”
Human remains combined with impressive architecture found in Actun Chanona have led scientists to believe a large group of settlers lived in the area.
Dr. Patricia McAnany
“Despite the fact that people often characterize caves as, oh they were used for this or that kind of ritual, we really know what went on in a lot of those caves, so we have a lot studying to do. And despite the fact that the caves have been impacted by looters and people carrying pottery vessels out of caves, there is still a really strong imprint of Maya presence within those caves, and so there a lot that we can learn, especially we as archaeologists, we’re kinda super sleuths and we get down there and look at really find grain, little bits of information that people often wouldn’t take notice of at all.”
As archaeologists continue to ply their trade in the face of development, their hope is that their work will uncover the importance of understanding these ancient Belizeans.
Dr. Patricia McAnany
“It’s been exciting to find out that the valley was linked with North Yucatan during the Terminal Classic due to the presence of the circular shrine structures. And it has been exciting and very sobering in some ways to conduct research within the caves. Because we have realised that they are very fragile environments and that they are incredible culturally rich environment, but that they need a lot of protection.”
In case you were wondering, the cave really is called Actun Chanona, named after my family’s farm on the Sibun River. The archaeology symposium continues on Thursday and Friday.
