. I urge you to resist the
urge to follow that last link, lest you be hopelessly (wonderfully)
sidetracked and never return to read the rest of this narrative.
The Mayan people have lived in eastern Mexico and northern Central America
from at least 1800 BC until the present. Beginning a few centuries BC
they began to develop cities, and build temples and pyramids for religious
and astronomical purposes. Their emerging civilization developed unique art
and architecture, as well as writing, mathematics, and remarkably
sophisticated astronomy.
Tikal is one of the largest and most famous of Mayan sites. There are
others that are larger, and some that are more developed, but at Tikal
archaeologists have uncovered and restored a couple hundred of the largest
of the thousands of buildings there. There was a city here from before the
birth of Christ until sometime after 900AD. At its height its population is
estimated at 100,000. Tikal was our introduction to the many enigmas that
surround this vanished culture. Tikal has been turned into a national park
by Guatemala, which makes it more tourist friendly while at the same time
affording a measure of protection to the artifacts.
After checking into the Jaguar
Inn we reconnoitered
and lunched, and engaged a guide for an evening visit to
the adjacent park. Most visitors come by bus for day tours, and are only on
site from 10am to 4pm. We entered the park at 4:00 with two other visitors
and our guide, in whose company we would be allowed to stay in the park
after closing time.
Most striking are the several huge pyramids large enough that their summits
emerge above the canopy of the surrounding jungle. The sheer scope of the
city was unexpected -- the largest temples that might have constituted
'downtown' were spread over an area almost two miles square. Our excursion
was interrupted after about an hour by an unexpected (by us, anyway) rain
shower that forced us to sit under a palapa (thatched shelter) for over an
hour, by which time the sun was down,m it was getting dark, and the trails
were muddy and slippery. Jane and I found our way back across the park,
discovering for our first time the Gran Plaza and its surrounding pyramids
and acropolis. I have some pretty great photos I took when we returned the
next morning, which will be online 'real soon now.'
The Jaguar Inn is a find old establishment, but it is still a bit of a
jungle outpost. Electricity is available (it says) from 9am to 4pm and
again from 6 to 9pm. Hot water is available from 6 to 9 am and from 6 to 9
pm. Fortunately we were exhausted early each evening. Unfortunately the
hot water and the electricity schedule was only approximate. We dealt with
it. We had to search a bit to find food that was local in flavor. Most of
the kitchens seemed only to be able to prepare steak and potatoes in this
land of rice and beans. Tikal might have been Mayan but now it is Touistan.
Tuesday we visited the two local museums, one of which contained helpful
exhibits. WE then wandered into the park without a guide, but armed with an
authoritative guidebook. In a couple of hours we got hot and tired, and saw
(and climbed) another half dozen of the most significant sites. Numerous
jungle-covered mounds indicate other temples and buildings not yet
uncovered. Doing so involved huge expense and exposes the building\s to
further erosion. The trees and roots that disguise them also serve to hold
them together and protect them from further erosion. The decision whether
they ought to be uncovered is not an easy one.
It is hard to imagine what the site might have looked like all paved and
plastered and shiny, let alone not being in the middle of a fully developed
jungle. They are pretty sure that the whole city served as a rain
collector, judging by the reservoirs and lack of other water source. As I
write this portion I have found a computer that seems to have an SD card
slot with which I could upload some of my photos, but it does not seem to be
working. Alas. Welcome to the third world! For the time being you will
have to use your imagination, gentle reader, but be patient with me,
please. Pictures will be forthcoming, and some of them are indeed
acceptable.
Wednesday we were transferred (by minivan) across the border into western
Belize, to a lodge called Maya Mountain Lodge
just outside San Ignacio, the area's largest city. I signed up for an ambitious
package which included lots of touring ruins and exploring ancient caves and
canoeing jungle rivers and the like. It was wonderful but it was a little
exhausting. We stayed in a thatched roofed hut, and were fed a varied and
interesting aray of foods. The other guests were self-selected interesting
types for the most part. We were thrown together with various of them on
our tours and met some interesting people. There were no restrictions on
hot water or electricity -- that is, until 6am Sunday when we were told that
the whole region's power would be off for the day for 'upgrades' in the
power system.
So it goes.
Thursday we drove almost three hours - probably only about 40 miles, but you
should have seen the road -- to an ancient Mayan site called
Caracol.
Here we saw the remains of an even bigger city than Tikal, perhaps 150,000
people. By contrast it is hardly uncovered at all. Only a few temples have
been unearthed. The good news is that its remote location means that it is
hardly visited at all. The day we came there were less than 20 visitors.
Also where we had to climb up wooden steps to get to the top of the pyramids
at Tikal, here we could climb right up the steps, a far more authentic
experience.
Friday afternoon we toured Xunantunich,
more pyramids, temples, and ruins. By this time we were becoming familiar
with these ancient cities, and knew more what to expect. The pyramids were
ceremonial, where sacrifices were made to the thirteen gods of the sky and
the nine gods of the underworld. Contrary to Mel Gibson's movie, the
sacrifices were *not* performed on the tops of the pyramids, but on special
stones on the ground in front of them. In fact, the movie Apocalypto had
been viewed bymany whom we met here. While they criticized its many factual
errors, many were appreciative of the attention directed at the ancient
Mayan culture.
What we learned from these three different sites is the importance of
hearing the different takes of each of the guides whom we accompanied. In
fact lots of what we think about the Mayans is speculation, and there is
plenty of room for informed disagreement. What remains of their culture is
mostly evidence of the privileged 10% of their society. Rather less is
known about the many thousands of peasant farmers who provided wealth,
labor, (and sacrificial victims?) in support of these cities. Major
questions abound. Where are the kitchens or cooking facilities? How did
they get rid of waste? What factor(s) led to thm to abandon their cities and
return to small village agrarianism around 900AD? And meta-questions, like:
Should we continue to uncover these ruins, and open them to throngs of
tourists who will surely ruin them?
I promise that if we get answers to any of these questions YOU will be the
first to know. We are on the case!
Addendum: I have deliberately used the popular term 'Mayan' as the
adjectival form. Puirists might want to know that 'Maya' is the preferred
adjective, as in 'Maya culture' or 'Maya ruins.' Go figure!