[Aztlan] Oldest Mesoamerican Canoe found in Belize

[michael ruggeri]

Tue Oct 10 08:36:03 2006 Pacific Time
       Ancient Canoe Found by Wichita State University Professor on  
Belize Research Dig

        WICHITA, Kan., Oct. 10 (AScribe Newswire) -- An ancient canoe  
-- more than likely the oldest canoe ever uncovered in Mesoamerica --  
was discovered this summer in a cliff-top cave in Belize by an  
excavation team being led by Wichita State University archaeologist  
Keith Prufer.

        Prufer estimates that the canoe very likely dates to 200 to  
800 AD, based on previous findings in the area. Carbon testing is  
currently being wrapped up to confirm that the canoe is indeed the  
oldest found in Mesoamerica, the geographical region from around  
central Mexico extending down through Belize, Honduras, Guatemala and  
part of Costa Rica.

        It's also the first pre-Columbian canoe ever found in a Mayan  
area, Prufer said. The cave appeared to have been used as a royal  
burial crypt and has the remains of an ancient tomb.

        "It's unlikely it was a canoe just being stored in a cave  
that we had to use 200 feet of climbing rope to get to," said Prufer,  
about the canoe's placement.

        Mayan ancient religious beliefs involve travels over water in  
the underworld. Canoes also were associated with celestial patterns,  
Prufer said, referring to a Mayan myth involving "paddler gods" who  
travel through the Milky Way.

        In visiting with local villagers, who have helped Prufer and  
his research team in the excavations, Prufer was told they had seen  
the canoe more intact and filled with organic matter in the past.  
Looters had damaged the canoe and tomb by the time Prufer's team  
arrived.

        Prufer has been conducting archaeological research in  
southern Belize for more than 13 years, but in recent years he's been  
concentrated at Uxbenka, an important but rarely studied ruin in the  
remote rainforest of southern Belize.

        The Uxbenka project is part of Belize's mandate to "expand  
investigations in parts of the country where there have been few  
archaeological studies," according to Jaime Awe, director of the  
Belize Institute of Archaeology. Prufer recently was awarded nearly  
$124,000 from the National Science Foundation to continue his work at  
Uxbenka, which has a rich history despite being discovered just 30  
years ago.

        Prufer's interest in studying the political history of the  
rise and fall of smaller Mayan cities and how they interacted with  
larger, more powerful urban centers is evident as he relates some of  
what has been uncovered at Uxbenka.

        According to Prufer, ancient carved monuments at the site  
describe a relationship with Tikal, Guatemala, one of the most  
powerful states in the entire Mayan world when Uxbenka was first  
developing. Among Prufer's discoveries are ancient stone ballcourt  
markers. These immense, round markers were the equivalent of a goal  
or field marker in a game played with a weighted solid rubber ball.  
The game was a sort of ancient form of soccer, but in addition to  
showing athletic prowess among the Mayan villages, it also had  
political and religious ramifications.

        With the new NSF grant, Prufer hopes to set up a field school  
for WSU students to join him and his team for five weeks a year  
during the next three years. One of the items on his to-do list for  
next year is to recover the canoe and excavate the cave, which will  
be no small feat.

        "This will be a big deal," said Prufer, "since parts of the  
canoe are very fragile. Parts of it do have a lot of integrity, too."

        The canoe will be packed in a snug cocoon of foam, lowered by  
a boom down the 200-foot cliff and walked out of the rainforest by  
laborers and then picked up by helicopter.

        Some of Prufer's past archaeological finds -- a wooden bench  
and large wooden figurine used as a royal scepter -- are now on  
display in the Belize National Museum after having been restored. The  
canoe will eventually land there as well.

        In addition to the archaeological excavations, Prufer's team  
is also working with local Mayan villages around Uxbenka to make sure  
that local people, who are descendants of the ancient Maya, benefit  
from the research.

        Along with cultural anthropologist Rebecca Zarger from the  
University of South Florida, Prufer has been working to set up  
educational and tour guide training programs in the nearby village of  
Santa Cruz.

        "These people are living in the midst of an ancient site so  
it's a benefit for them to know what it is that we're doing," he said.

        "Uxbenka is located in a stunning park-like setting. It's the  
kind of location ecotourists would find perfect," Prufer said.

        - - - -

        CONTACT: Keith Prufer, 316-978-7078, keith.prufer at wichita.edu

       Media Contact: See above.



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