The world watched with shock when Noh Mul, the Mayan mound was destroyed by Denny Grijalva’s De Mar’s Construction. In early May, the Orange Walk contractor’s company pulled down sections of the ancient monument with a backhoe to get material to fill roads. Grijalva, a political aspirant in the United Democratic Party, was filling roads […]
At news time tonight, News Five has been unable to confirm if any charges have in fact been levied against anyone in connection with the destruction of the Noh Mul Mayan Archeological Site. The story was big news three weeks ago after it was discovered that on May ninth, a company owned by Orange Walk […]
On Tuesday, News Five reported that thousands of rotted bags full of Mayan artifacts which were left in a cement structure behind the site of Chau Hiix in the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary. We discovered that those artifacts, excavated between 1989 and 2007, were left there after the anthropologist on site, Dr. Anne Pyburn, completed […]
Attention is focused squarely on the Institute of Archaeology for the destruction of numerous Mayan sites. First it was Noh Mul in Orange Walk, which was pillaged to provide material for road-fill. And two weeks later, it was Chau Hiix, as land within the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary and in the middle of that Mayan […]
Even as the Institute of Archaeology tries to juggle priorities to deal with the issues facing them at the Mayan Archaeological site of ChauHiix in Crooked Tree, it is caught up in the Noh Mul situation. Noh Mul, one of the larger sites in northern Belize, was almost completely destroyed by a private contractor who […]
Noh Mul might be for all intents and purposes no more, but the public outrage both locally and internationally has lingered. And that is why the Mayan site of Chau Hiix (pronounced hish), located within the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary, has been thrust into the news after reports of bulldozing and private development on top […]
Earlier we told you about the thousands of artifacts that were found discarded in plastic bags in Crooked Tree. News Five tried to reach Dr. John Morris, or in his absence any director of the Institute of Archaeology this afternoon, on this deplorable situation but we were told that no one was available. While we […]
Much has been said over the past week about the wanton destruction of the Noh Mul Archaeological Site by De Mar’s Construction, a company owned and operated by U.D.P. supporter and onetime candidate Denny Grijalva. In the wake of the incident, there was an immense public outcry condemning the actions of those involved. While the […]
Denny Grijalva, the politically connected Orange Walk businessman in the very hot center of what has become worldwide condemnation of the destruction of Noh Mul, has been missing in action since Sunday. News Five attempted to contact him with no success, and we were told he was in Guatemala City and that he arrived back […]
And while the release from Grijalva makes no reference to Mayan mounds, the fact is that the land is full of them, and they are very obvious even to the untrained eye. Commissioner of Archaeology, Dr. Jaime Awe and members of his team have maintained that the destruction of the monument could not possible be […]
After our visit to the site today, it is clear that notwithstanding a release in which he refers to the matter as just an unfortunate accident, the authorities…at least those from the Institute of Archaeology, are not buying that story. In fact, speculation is that the destruction was deliberate since, as inconceivable as it seems, […]
The story and images of the irresponsible destruction of one of the largest Mayan Archaeological Sites in northern Belize has been picked up by most international news networks and there is shock, outrage and disgust expressed in every quarter locally. The scuttling of Noh Mul by U.D.P. political aspirant, Denny Grijalva, has reduced the more […]
The international media, including CNN, the BBC and other major syndicates across the world, are on fire after the destruction of the Noh Mul Archaeological Site in northern Orange Walk. There is widespread outrage, made worse by the knowledge that there is no hope of recovering what has been lost, either in infrastructure, historical value […]
There is huge public outrage over the reckless destruction of Noh Mul, one of the most important Mayan monuments in northern Belize. Noh Mul stood proudly ten miles north of Orange Walk; it was known as the Big Hill constructed over two thousand years ago. The site consisted of two twin ceremonial clusters surrounded by […]
It is not the first time that there has been destruction to Noh Mul. Our records show that in June 1998, similar destructive activity was reported by the Archeology Department on one of the smaller plazas. Fortunately, the damage was not as extensive as it is tonight to the main ceremonial plaza. But the motive […]
Belize is this week entering the history books as it hosts the forty-fifth Annual Association of Caribbean Historians for the very first time. Those historians, some of the most eminent from the Caribbean and the world, will be presenting papers, fielding questions and facilitating discussion on a wide range of topics affecting the Caribbean…past, present […]
A four million dollar project which is partly funded by the European Union was launched this morning. The project is part of the ongoing work by the Belize Tourism Board and is aimed to benefit communities located near archeological sites. It will be implemented over a two year period at six sites around the country. […]
The Government has signed on with the United States Government to place restrictions on the Illegal importation and exportation of archeological material particularly Mayan antiquities. Through a MOU signed today between Belize and the US, law enforcement agents from that country are authorized to restrict the antiquities from entering the US and have them returned […]
Dr. Jaime Awe, the Director of the Institute of Archaeology, is suing the makers of the 2008 Steven Spielberg film “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”. The claim, filed last Wednesday in the Illinois Federal Court, is described in the Hollywood Reporter as one of the most entertaining lawsuits of the year. […]
In the west, emotions are running high among the tour guides and vendors in Succotz Village over the planned two-week closure of Xunantunich next Wednesday. The closure by NICH coincides with the height of the Mayan calendar celebrations and the residents say they were not consulted and it will cut into their Christmas earnings. News […]
There was a major discovery of historical value in downtown Belize City this morning. Police cordoned off the area on North Front Street in front of the former Paslow building where two skeletons were unearthed by employees of Belize Water Services. While the event caught the attention of tourists and Belizeans in the area, archaeologists […]
The construction of a rappelling platform atop Cave Three at Nohoch Che’en has been a hot-button issue among tourism stakeholders since it was first discovered that work was being done on the face of the adjoining hill. On Monday, the Federation of Cruise Tourism Association of Belize held a press conference during which it strongly […]
As we reported on Monday night, the Federation of Cruise Tourism Association of Belize (FECTAB) is saying that when Chukka Belize erected a rappelling platform at an archeological site, it defiled the site and is subsequently endangering the lives of visitors. In the tourism industry, that is a serious charge on any tour operator; one […]
There is controversy brewing in the tourism industry tonight. It has to do with the construction of a rappelling platform at cave three at Caves Branch. And it’s FECTAB versus Chukka Belize Limited, the Jamaican based company with whom FECTAB was at war two years ago. At a highly charged press conference, FECTAB President Tom […]
The Belize Caves Branch Cave is a must visit on a tourist’s to do list. The Nohoch Che’en Reserve has attracted tourists from around the world for cave tubing and exploring; and it is there that tourists also go for zip lining. And while annually thousands travel to Caves Branch, in recent times the experience […]
