Professor of Anthropology, Vanderbilt University
Here we are, as deep as I’m willing to go (for fear of getting completely lost) into the caves of the Raxruja Viejo project – a deep cave excavation in collaboration with, and under the direction of, my co-director Chloe Andrieu (CNRS) and assistant co-director, Julien Sion (Sorbonne).
In my last blog post, Colossal Cave Excavation, I shared a short video of my supervisory visit to the cave subproject, the Raxruja Viejo project, in collaboration with, and under the direction of, my co-director Chloe Andrieu (CNRS) and assistant co-director, Julien Sion (Sorbonne).
Are you ready for more? Below you can see Julien Sion and I entering the cave to give a tour at the bottom of the main entrance. Listen closely as we share updates about our ongoing progress.
In the next video, Don Amilcar takes us deep into the cave subproject to show off the grand, natural wonders as I discuss Mayan rituals practiced in this very location. As you can see, even with many flashlights, it’s difficult to find your way to the underground river below. Can you imagine the ancient Maya doing this journey in almost complete darkness?
This cave acted not only as a ritual space, but also as a gigantic tomb and cathedral. For more, follow along below.
In the past six months the archaeology, discoveries, crazy field politics, and natural disasters – two earthquakes and two weeks of tropical storms – have all hit simultaneously, making the last couple of weeks more than exciting! The huge tropical storms have completely destroyed the big camp at Cancuen and damaged others, costing an astronomical amount in hut and structure rebuilding, tents, solar panel replacement, and so on. These repeated disasters in the Peten region and also all the tremors and landslides at my other dig in the highlands have made me feel like a target of biblical castigation! It hasn’t been easy, but life would be quite dull without the give and take of rainforest living. Que sera, sera!
Continue reading “The Discovery of an Ancient Cancuen Trade System”