Catching up!

Sorry for the delay in posts but we have been sick around here the past week!  Head colds in the tropics are not so fun but our field crew is on the mend and we are continuing to enjoy our Ceren work.

Having had so many of us fighting through ear infections, fevers, coughs, and what not has given us a lot to catch up on. So here we go, we have opened many more excavations (we are beginning our 12th operation of the field season tomorrow - all 3m x 3m in size).

Our road I first posted about to you has been declared an official Sacbe by Maya experts due to its shape, size, and the level of investment put into not only building the road but also the canals on the sides. We have now documented the first earthen ancient Maya sacbe in two test pits. In the second test pit that exposed a section of the sacbe we had very well constructed canals on either side and again a width of approximtely 2 meters. There appear to be maize fields of either side of our sacbe and we suspect that the sacbe runs into an area where a ritual feast was underway when the volcano erupted. This has been hugely exciting!  We are now excavating an area even closer to the site where we think the sacbe runs and will likely expose this during this week. If the sacbe does extend to this area we will have confirmed approximately 40 meters in length of this road!

From Left to Right Maize Plant, Constructed Canal, and Ceren Sacbe

Plan View of Ceren Sacbe