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BRASS Letterhead New Fax.Templa GREETINGS, FOLLOWERS OF BRASS mission by sorting the ceramics from the Welcome to the 1996 edition of the eagerly previous year. This focused on the tunnel anticipated BRASS Newsletter! This year excavations of XikNa (EP7) where we was productive. We excavated stuff, penertrated 28 meters and 2500 years into found stuff, planted stuff, and conserved prehistory. stuff, all in the name of the El Pilar Archaeological Reserve for Maya Flora and Fauna You want to know the specifics? Read on . JUST GETTING THERE It was February 21, it was Santa Barbara, and it was raining when Anabel Ford and Andrew Kinkella began the 1996 Journey to Belize. Our truck, affectionately known as Big Blue, was running in rare form, and within three and a half days, we were at the Texas - Mexican border. Since this was obviously too much good fortune for the BRASS/El Pilar project, we were denied entry into Mexico because our truck was apparently full of the “unknown.” We The road to El Pilar .... remedied the situation by merely going to But even archaeological permits do get another border station, but we lost an signed after a time, and we were soon off to entire day of travel time. Mostly work at the site that dares to straddle the undaunted, we continued on through border, El Pilar. We were once again guided Mexico, tossing back many a margarita at in our endeavors by field director D. Clark day’s end and stopping at great Wernecke, who was assisted this year both Mesoamerican sites such as El Tajin, in the field and at BRASS Base by assistant Zempoala, Palenque, and Becan. Finally, field director Mel Grzybowski. Clark must on the afternoon of March 1, Big Blue have been feeling a little nostalgic, because rolled into the Santa Familia Monastery in the first unit he had us open was . Belize with three and a half thousand more miles on it than it had before. The rest of THE BAT CAVE, A K A ZOTZ NA the crew, having heard of a great new Yes, friends, the BRASS/El Pilar crew went invention known as the airplane, joined us back to Zotz Na yet again to expose some at BRASS Base within the week. more Maya architecture and find some artifacts along the way. Andrew Kinkella TOILING IN THE FIELD led the way, assisted by Ken Mitchell. The Things began a little slowly this time small shaft in front of the Zotz Na entrance around, as various dig permits were in the became a large opening, and the works, so the new BRASS crew began its precarious pathway down into Zotz Na was transformed into the “Andrew/Ken wall with some of the original red paint Memorial Stairway.” While enlarging the left on it. These were spectacular in Zotz Na excavation, Ken and Andrew ran themselves, but more striking is the up against a wall - literally! They exposed changes they wrought on the evolving a wall that had been missed by previous map of the H'Mena plaza clusters. There is crews by less than ten centimeters of dirt. no central stairway up to the top of the The wall, which runs perpendicular to the highest pyramid of El Pilar! The labyrinth Zotz Na entrance, was uncovered and we exposed in front may hold internal makes the unit very picturesque (tourists stairs, but for now we don't know. love it). Daniel sets up EP22W photos Fr. Mark explores Zotz Na The EP22W crew also contributed to the environmental movement; their freshly Besides Zotz Na, we also spent lots of exposed walls became a new home to a archaeological time at . local Motmot bird. PLAZA JOBO OF THE H’MENA COOL ARTIFACTS Some archaeological units are small and No archaeological dig would be complete precise. This is not one of them. EP22W without artifacts, and we got some good (which stands for El Pilar temple 22, West) ones this time around. Laura Sierra, our was an immense unit that was open for the cook’s daughter, found the most entire field season. Daniel Reynolds kept impressive object of the year while things together here, along with Bob working with us as part of a career week at Hibshman, Connie Kelly, Cory Conover her school, Sacred Heart College. She and Shari Clair. The crew was unearthed a ceramic mask portraying a disappointed at the lack of artifacts, but human/jaguar hybrid. Not only did this rewarded with lots of amazing find excite the rest of the crew, it also gave architectural features. Among their Carlin Moyer something to draw besides discoveries: El Pilar’s first cord-holder at a plants. doorway, two rooms with very well- preserved plaster benches, and a section of undertaking, with the foundation walls of the largest houses being exposed near the end of the season. It is destined to become an example of a MAYA HOUSE, which will display how the Maya lived from day to day, featuring a variety of household activities based on interpretations from the Jaguar Head archaeology. It will also be closely by Carlin Moyer associated with the . FOREST GARDEN Ken found a nice jade ear spool, while Maya pyramids are impresive to look at, Andrew and Ian Lindsay satisfied the but they aren’t the only thing in the Maya explorer-within discovering finely shaped universe. What about food, medicine, oils, spear points. timber, resin, fuel, and tools? Work began this year on the MAYA FOREST GARDEN, TZUNU’UN, THE MAYA HOUSE a veritable smorgasbord of the most As the rest of the crew slaved away in the important of Maya plants, all living and main center of El Pilar, Mel was busy at growing right before your eyes on the her very own elite residential compound Lakin trail. Constanza Ocampo-Conover along the Lakin Trail across from the main oversaw this venture, with Sharon Watson site. Since Mel was starting from scratch, helping out interviewing the traditional she had to begin with post-hole and test farmers — "consejeros. " Our work with pits. Helping her out were Ian, Erica the consejeros has revealed that the Mayan Mohar, Erica Gardener, Hanna Sanders, language holds some of the secrets to and Kate Piva. Test pits are hard work, stewardship of the forest. We are anxious and when the tired crew was finally to explore these links. The Forest-Garden finished and began with the structures, of El Pilar is strategically situated around they were treated to a symphony, courtesy the MAYA HOUSE, which should give the of your friendly neighborhood cicadas. humble visitor to El Pilar a sense of the relationship between inhabitants and food source. Plan of Tzunu'un, by Paul Bailly Actually, Tzunu’un became a rather large Consejeros— Don Beto, Don Cocom, Don Lut and Feliz Tzul community, and near the end of the day, at El Pilar the rain let up long enough to let the Hog’s Head dancers of Bullet Tree Falls do their AMIGOS DE EL PILAR thing. The generator even ran when needed, providing hot Belizean tunes courtesy of Radio Rhythm. BE PUKTE MEXICAN CONSERVATORS The development of the community based TO THE RESCUE organization of Amigos de El Pilar moved El Pilar has lots of things, but one thing it forward with the establishment of the Be doesn’t have is building consolidation - Pukte, or Bullet Tree Road in Mayan. until now. A contingent of conservators There is now a building and nacent garden from the Instituto National de at the small Maya mound site in Bullet Antropologia e Historia (INAH) in Mexico Tree Falls. This is a focal point for the spearheaded the first ever consolidation at Amigos meetings and sposored events. our site, and the results were very fine indeed. They chose the slowly crumbling BURN, BABY, BURN doorway of Zotz Na as their target, and While Constanza and crew were busy Zotz Na crumbles no more! The conserving the forest, Ernie Bury was busy conservators painstakingly took out every burning it down. He did some stone in the doorway facade, and re- experiments on the intensity of the flame cemented them back in using new mortar. that a Corozo palm produces. The wood They also filled in some of the looter’s was weighed, placed in a “calera” or lime holes inside the Zotz Na tunnel. The Maya kiln (a crib-like structure) and burned. would be proud. Limestone was placed on top, which would turn into quicklime with the FROM THE DESK OF ANABEL FORD addition of flame. The experiments proved While the rest of the crew was busy conclusively that Corozo does indeed finding neat stuff at the site, Anabel was burn, and buckets of quicklime are very busy slogging through Central-American heavy. amounts of red tape at the Belizean capital of Belmopan, and in Guatemala as well. FIESTA ‘96 Was her trowel sharp enough to cut We came. We saw. We got rained on. So through it all? Here’s what Anabel has to what if it rained? So what if the All Star say: “If the ancient Maya are mysterious, Steel Band had to cancel because the bass there is nothing more mysterious than the drum player was sick? Some two creation of the El Pilar Archaeological thousand of our closest friends from Reserve for Maya Flora and Fauna, and the Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico joined us alphabet soup that has surrounded the El this year, and were entertained by the Pilar vision like a magnet.” In some order primary and secondary winners of the of appearance: GOB, DOA, BTIA, Cayo Arts Festival.
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