The seventh Archaeology Symposium started in Belize City this morning. The annual event attracts dozens of archaeologists to present and listen to the most up-to-date research on the Maya in Belize and this year they’re really digging in the dirt. We found out more.
Jules Vasquez Reporting,
Dr. Jaime Awe, the Director of the Institute of Archaeology, told us that this year the theme is Ritual and Religion.
Dr. Jaime Awe, Director Archaeology
“I get excited with very symposium that we have, this year in particular because it focuses on ritual and religion. Like we said if you want an argument you either talk politics or religion. So we hope this will trigger some very interesting debate. Particularly because religion is one of those things that in archaeology is very hard to determine. And so what we’re hoping is that again focusing on religion that we will try to understand some aspects of the Maya past that we still poorly understand.”
And that discussion will inevitably involve some of the more controversial aspects of Mayan ritual.
Dr. Jaime Awe,
“When we say ritual and religion it is open to every thing. Some people
will be talking about human sacrifice. In fact I know in my presentation for instance I found some areas where I found four skulls. Either these people were decapitated or they took out these skeletons from somewhere else and placed them in there. We have deposits where we found like a baking pot, more than two hundred finger bones, and they were placed in little pots. Obviously somebody got their finger cut.
We’ve got lots of cave in Belize. The Mayas were going to these caves and having ceremonies. So really there is something there for everybody.”
But, most of the folks in the audience listening to the presentation, while they are experts on the Maya in Belize, they aren’t Belizeans. Awe made an appeal for Belizean to take part in the symposium.
Dr. Jaime Awe,
“I think that symposiums like these are especially good for students or for teachers. You know, anybody in academia. It is also very good for people
in tourism because we know that our tour operators or our tour guides take you or your family or a foreign visitor to Altun Ha or Lamanai and by coming to these symposiums they will get an up to date report of what is happening at these sites.”
This year the scholarly presentations have as much to do with politics as they do with archaeology, as was made clear by Dr. Richard Leventhal in his opening address about Mayan identity.
Dr. Richard Leventhal,
“What I’m trying to get at today is the Maya claim is one that it is based upon their construction of their own past and they are doing this not because they feel that they want to fight against Belize, they are doing it because they want recognition within Belize of their history and their past as much as being part of Belize and also been partly Mayan. Archaeology is about politics, it is about not archaeology is being used to understand the nature of not just the past but also the present.”
The symposium runs until July 3rd. Students enter free when they present their school ID and Belizeans enter for just $10 a day. As per tradition, the Institute of Archaeology will also be launching a compendium of research called “Archaeological Research in Belize.
