Exploring Outside the Box
The Maya of Belize
clockwise
from above: The cave mouth beckons adventurers for a watery journey to
the underworld of the Maya; altar for burning offerings of blood or
food, pots wedged in place by stones placed there by the Maya as much
as 1,000 years ago; the Crystal Maiden, a complete skeleton encased in
sparkling calcite, was left as a sacrifice; the keyhole notch cut into
the pot releases the spirit within and indicates the pot was used for
ceremonial purposes.
by hilary wallace brelsford
Belize has long been a destination for ecotourists, adventure seekers
and enthusiasts of the Maya civilization. In our litigious
society—where you can be sued if fast food is too fattening—adventure
is not an easy thing to find. Not so in Belize. You can climb up steep
stone steps of sacred temples or down into an ancient sepulcher to
contemplate the lives of those long gone. You can view the altars used
by long-dead priests and see the bones of their sacrificial victims
without a glass shield between you and the artifacts. This is no
Pirates of the Caribbean ride, where you must keep your hands inside
the car at all times.
Journey to Xibalba
Our destination on this expedition is Actun Tunichil Muknal (a.k.a ATM)
cave. In Maya mythology, Xibalba (shi-BALL-bah) is the name given to
the underworld, a place of fear and death. For the Maya, caves such as
ATM were portals to Xibalba where they went to be nearer the gods. They
believed it was the duty of Mayan rulers to perform blood sacrifice
rituals in order to ensure that the world stayed in balance. Human
sacrifice was also performed to gain favor with the gods.
After a 45-minute walk through the jungle and several slippery river
crossings, we come to the very basic archaeological field camp,
nicknamed “The Xibalba Hilton,” near the entrance to ATM. The Maya name
roughly translates as “Stone River Sepulcher.” Our guide, Francisco
from PacZ Tours, equips us with red plastic hardhats with miner’s
headlamps attached.
The cave mouth is shaped like an hourglass and lit from within by light
reflected off a river of emerald water. We plunge into the water and
swim against the chilly current. Francisco settles us on a sandbar
inside the cave, tells us to turn off our headlamps and in the dusk
paints a word-picture of the priest and chief coming to perform
rituals. His story has the desired effect of whipping up our
imaginations for the journey ahead.
It is about 4.5 km from the mouth of the cave to the farthest point
visitors are allowed. We journey through the eerie dark of the cave,
sometimes on dry land but more often wading or swimming. Bats hanging
overhead are disturbed by our lights and the noise of our passage.
Francisco often stops and positions us. We turn off our individual
lights so that when he turns on his powerful light we go from absolute
darkness to a brightly lit scene. Near the entrance, he reveals a giant
rock, perhaps natural, perhaps helped along by human hands, that
resembles the Old Woman Goddess, the patron of death. Beyond the
well-lit stone, her enormous shadow is cast on the cave wall. In
earlier times, torches would have lit the scene. We pass many beautiful
stone formations: stalactites, stalagmites, a striated calcified drip
that looks like a huge slab of bacon and sparkling quartz encrusting
the cave walls.
About a third of the way in, Francisco points out a grotto where two
stone altars were found, one with an obsidian knife and one with a
slate carving of a stingray spine. It is presumed that the rulers would
stop at these altars to perform bloodletting rituals. The men would
pierce their genitals with the spine of a stingray and the women would
pull a knotted or thorny rope through their tongue. The blood would be
collected on paper and burned. With the help of drugs or alcohol, they
would read visions in the smoke sent by the gods.
left: A calcite and rock formation known as “The Nativity.”
Eventually, we reach a ledge where we take off our shoes and proceed in
socks only to protect the fragile stone formations. We follow in his
footsteps on the hardest part of the calcium deposits so we do not
destroy artifacts, some of which have been permanently anchored in
place by these deposits.
A great cavern opens before us, crisscrossed by calcium deposits and
strewn with coil-built earthenware pottery offerings, some as big as
three feet in diameter. They have been broken or disfigured by notching
the edge or punching a keyhole in the bottom to release the spirit that
had been held in the vessel, indicating that they were used in rituals.
Archaeologists have identified traces of corn, beans and cocoa in
some, and remains of blood sacrifice in others. More than 1,400
artifacts, dating from A.D. 1 to 1000, have been catalogued in the cave.
Everywhere we look, we see something extraordinary, such as altars
formed by an alignment of pots wedged in place by stones, positioned as
much as a thousand years ago by human hands. Each altar was only used
once, so there are literally hundreds of them.
There are also skulls and other human bones. Archaeologists have found
the remains of 14 individuals in the cave: six infants, one under seven
and the rest adults. On closer inspection of the skulls, we see the
slanted forehead that was formed by binding a board to the head in
infancy, along with filed and decorated teeth, which reveal that these
were upper-class people.
Up and down through more tortuous small caves and passages (which make
me grateful for the hardhat) lies the Crystal Maiden, the complete
skeleton of a 20-year-old girl completely encased in sparkling calcite.
The skull gapes open. It is assumed that she was clubbed to death and
left as a sacrifice.
As we make our way out we are silent, contemplating what we have seen
and heard. The stories we have been told are educated guesses, but they
have stirred our imaginations. One of the things we discuss quietly is
the uniqueness of this astounding visit made possible by Belize’s
commitment to sharing—as well as preserving—its history, and by the
well-trained, certified guides who insist that their guests respect the
cave, the artifacts and their history.
The Middle Realm: Caracol
above left: Jaguar frieze on one of
the temples. Unlike other Maya sites where the sculptures are made of
stone and can be moved to a museum for preservation, the masks and
friezes at Caracol are made of stucco. These are being preserved by
making fiberglass reproductions and placing them over the originals...
Caracol (“snail” in Spanish), the largest known Maya archaeological
site in Belize, was inhabited from approximately 600 B.C. until A.D.
1050. At its height, the population may have been in excess of 140,000.
The site is so remote that it was not rediscovered until 1937 by a
local logger, and although it is only 25 miles as the crow flies from
our base in San Ignacio, it takes 2.5 hours to get there on the dirt
“road.”
Our very impressive guide, Eduardo Alfaro, has excavated and restored
many Maya sites, including Xunantunich, Buena Vista, Nohoch Eck and
Tipu in the Cayo District. Since 2002 he has been a licensed tour guide
specializing in archaeological sites in Belize. His company, Hun Chi’ik
Tours (hunchiiktours.com), is based in his village of San Jose Succotz,
near San Ignacio.
The site is so remote that tourists have been robbed at gunpoint; it is
recommended that visitors stop at the Belize Defense Force post to pick
up an escort. Two jeeps with armed soldiers in camouflage follow us as
the track narrows and the trees cathedral overhead. When we step out of
the Yute Expeditions (inlandbelize.com) van, the humid subtropical air
is filled with the calls of birds and the buzz of insects, while howler
monkeys loudly dispute their territorial rights.
Since 1985, Caracol has been worked every dry season. Still, only a
small percentage of the 30-square-mile ruin has been excavated and/or
restored. Five plazas, an astronomic observatory and more than 35,000
buildings have been identified.
Caracol was one of many cities to be abandoned in the Maya Post-Classic
Period. Speculations as to why include climate change, overworking the
land and too much warring among the city-states. Whatever caused the
decline, the Maya civilization left behind great monuments and many
achievements, including the concept of zero. They also left their mark
on the population of Belize; about half its population proudly traces
its ancestry back to the Maya.
Hilary Wallace Brelsford has been art
director of Native Peoples for eight years. Her previous article on the
Maya in Guatemala appeared in the Nov./Dec. 2001 issue.
Cayo District Details
Belize’s western Cayo District boasts some of the most important Maya
ruins, as well as huge limestone cave systems, some with artifacts.
Maya Sites
Cahal Pech, “Place of Ticks,”
is a late Pre-Classic ceremonial center abandoned about A.D. 800. It
consists of 34 structures around seven courtyards, two ballcourts, and
perhaps a sweathouse.
El Pilar, “The Pillar,” straddles the Belize-Guatemala border.
There are more than 25 identified plazas here, ranking it equal to
major centers of the lowland Maya region.
Xunantunich, “Stone Woman,” overlooks the Mopan River near the village
of San Jose Succotz. The major Classic ceremonial center contains six
plazas surrounded by more than 25 temples and palaces. The largest
pyramid, “El Castillo” (the Castle), soars 130 feet above the main
plaza.
Chechem Hah, a cave near the border of Guatemala, was probably
used for grain storage, evidenced by its many large, undamaged clay
ollas. In a back chamber, artifacts suggest bloodletting and sacrifice.
The site is on private land and permission must be obtained.
Lodging
Ka’ana Boutique Resort, San
Ignacio (kaanabelize.com). The spa is a delight after scaling steep
temples. The charming duplex units, scattered around the well-tended
grounds, glow with locally crafted hardwood furnishings.
Guides, Cayo District
Hun Chi’ik Tours, San Jose Succotz Village, led by Eduardo Alfaro. hunchiiktours.com
PacZ Tours, San Ignacio. pacztours.net
Yute Expeditions, San Ignacio. inlandbelize.com
Other Maya Sites of Interest
Belize District
Altun Ha, “Water of the Rock”
in Mayan, is the most extensively excavated site in Belize. A
major Classic ceremonial and trading center.
Corozal District
Cerros, an important
Pre-Classic coastal trading center, is perched on a peninsula
overlooking Corozal Bay. The site contains three large acropolises with
plazas, pyramids and ball courts.
Santa Rita, located within the town of Corozal, is believed to be the ancient city of Chetumal.
Orange Walk District
Cuello, one of the earliest
known Maya sites (as old as 2500 B.C.), was a minor ceremonial site.
The site is not well developed for tourists.
Lamanai, “Submerged Crocodile” in Mayan, is one of Belize’s largest
ceremonial centers and was occupied continuously for over 3,000 years.
The main temple is the second largest known Preclassic Maya structure.
La Milpa, a major ceremonial
center deep in the jungle of northwestern Belize, has 11 plazas, about
50 structures and many Classic stelae.
General Information
Belize Tourism Board
P.O. Box 325/64 Regent St./Belize City, Belize
011-501/227-2420/Toll-free: 800/624-0686
travelbelize.org/e-mail info@travelbelize.org
Maya History in Belize
Located on Central America’s Caribbean coast, Belize has the highest
concentration of Maya sites in all of Central America. Archaeologists
trace Belize’s Mayan civilization as far back as 2000 B.C., when
nomadic hunters began to settle in villages and practice agriculture in
the Pre-Classic Period. One of the earliest known Maya settlements in
all the Mayan realm was Cuello, in today’s Orange Walk district.
In the Classic Period, around 300 B.C., independent and imposing
city-states including Altun Ha, Lubaantun, El Pilar, Caracol and
Xunantunich began to spring up, with agricultural communities farming
the land between. Temples, palaces, administrative buildings and
ballcourts were erected, faced with cut stone and detailed carvings. A
complex hieroglyphic writing system was developed and used to create
bark books and stone carvings, including stelae depicting historical
rulers and recording notable dates and events.
It is estimated that, at its peak, 1 to 2 million Maya lived in
present-day Belize, compared with a population of roughly 300,000
today. Their society was divided strictly into hierarchies. The
majority were farmers, living in thatched huts and eating mostly their
own crops of beans, tomatoes, squash, chiles and other vegetables,
wearing simple cotton clothes. At the top were rulers and
priests/shamans, who had stone palaces, ate wild game and fish as well
as local produce, and wore dyed fabrics, jewelry and elaborately
feathered headdresses. The coin of the realm was cocoa beans, but they
also traded in gold, silver, precious stones, feathers, shells, salt
and cotton.
The Maya had a complex cosmology that divided the world into three
parts: the celestial world, the middle world and the underworld. The
sacred ceiba (SAY-bah) tree, the “tree of life,” connected these three
worlds, with its roots in the underworld and its canopy stretching to
the heavens. The celestial world had 13 layers, each ruled by one of
the Oxlahuntik’uh, the gods of the upper world. The middle world was a
single layer and was where the Maya lived. The underworld, Xibalba, had
nine layers ruled by the Bolontik’uh, gods of the dark world.
