Surviving in the Rainforest:
The Realities of Looting in the Rural Villages of El Petén, Guatemala

Voices in the Forest

For those individuals in direct contact with nature and the Petén rainforest, archaeological sites can be considered sitios encantados (haunted or enchanted sites). The jungle has claimed entire cities which were abandoned hundreds of years ago by causes that are still misunderstood by most of the rural population. Wars, droughts, social unrest and environmental overexploitation, are some of the reasons the Mayas "disappeared". Unfortunately, non-local tales that are heard from unprofessional tour guides (like the stories about abductions by extraterrestrial beings) ³⁰   has now become part of the oral tradition. The presence of evil spirits and ghosts in the area prevent many people from walking about, but unfortunately, as time brings the modern world to them, not all individuals feel intimidated any longer. Some even see the ghosts as an adventurous challenge.

One of the most widespread beliefs, repeated by people of different ages and backgrounds, is the occurrence of supernatural phenomena at the archaeological sites, manifested by animal sounds, singing human voices, music, and pounding, among many others. Hunters and forest workers are usually the ones who tell the most stories about them, which are transmitted orally to their families and friends. Superstition among local people was noticed by the first explorers of the Maya region at the turn of the 20th Century. Although Theobert Maler did not have chicleros as guides, ³¹   he had his own opinions about the Indians he employed, considering them "lazy, incompetent, and superstitious" ³²   (Brunhouse, 1975:10). He even claimed that part of the vandalism he found, such as at the murals of the Temple of the Jaguar in Chichén Itzá, was caused by "ignorant and superstitious natives [who] had hacked at portions of the pictures with machetes" (Brunhouse, 1975:14).

When Maler arrived in Tikal in 1895, he had to carry a cast-iron corn grinder to provide tortillas for his fearful employees because they refused to dig carved stones from the ground to make the traditional metates or grinding stones. In the report of this expedition in 1911, Maler wrote down the legend the natives had told him about the site. Their stories tell of Tikal as "the place to which the ancestors returned to the earth at midnight, dressed as in antiquity, to roam inside temples and palaces." This was supposed to happen mainly during certain festivals, when voices could be heard in the air. Tikal had been discovered years before, in 1848, by Modesto Mendez and Ambrosio Tut, who named it Tikal, a Maya Itzá toponym which stands for "Lugar de las Voces" or "Place where the Voices can be Heard". The name could have been given after this phenomenon was noticed, which locals believe occurs in other archaeological sites and caves as well.

The effects of such stories proved to be strong indeed, when Maler noticed that "the half-breeds in the party became demoralized with fear as night approached; [while the] full-blooded Indians retained their composure day and night" (Maler, 1911:6, cited in Brunhouse, 1975:15). During the first days at the site, camping was indeed a problem. His local guides avoided sleeping inside the site’s buildings, and preferred to sleep in a nearby campsite. In fact, they left Maler alone in one of the palaces of the Central Acropolis (Structure 5D-65, known as Palacio Maler) which he used as house and laboratory from 1895 to 1904.

The most common superstition is derived from the sounds of crowing roosters and chickens in places where these birds are not supposed to be. Clapping hands and music made with whistles, drums, and trumpets, also scare people away from the sites. These tales are part of the popular knowledge and are mostly associated with sites that are still deep into the jungle and whose location is barely known. ³³ 

For the forest workers that are involved in looting, there are two phenomena that they experience. The first one is a voice behind the ear that tells where the exact location is to look for a tomb. Ironically, the same phenomenon that prevents unwanted visitors around the buried cities is the same one that can eventually help the looter. In superstition and myth, there are always two sides to an event, which provides some kind of equilibrium and helps to justify the outcome, whatever it may be. ³⁴ 

The second involves drinking liquor. For Mr. "Beta" (well known for his expertise and good taste in the material he loots and deals with) being drunk guarantees a good discovery. He strongly believes there is a "close relationship between hueche and guaro". ³⁵   At the time of this interview, for example, he was drinking a full bottle before "hitting the trail" (agarrar rumbo) promising he was coming back in two weeks with good objects. I have to note that at that moment he was still sober. The owner of the place where he eats, confirmed that he buys a lot of liquor before leaving, and is always drunk when he leaves the village. For him, being absolutely sober is only required for dealing. Answering to the question of how the "power" of liquor is manifested during looting, his answer was simple:

"It’s like a feeling or premonition; I just walk attracted by the place where I have to dig and I get it. Sometimes, I hear a voice but is like a murmur, so I just follow the direction where the voice comes from."

An interesting point about this particular issue is that the people who believe or have heard the murmurs, classify the voices in two categories. The first conveys all the voices that give a specific message; easy to understand by the listener. These are supposed to be in the Spanish language. The second category includes all the voices that are heard in murmurs, cries, or are loud enough but in haunted places. People who have listened to them believe they must be from the ancient Maya because they are not in Spanish, but in an unintelligible dialect that sounds like the Indian languages.

Self-suggestion seems to play tricks on those who claim they can hear those voices. However, the voices play an important role in keeping the sacredness of the ancient space in the locals’ minds, although, unfortunately, it can’t prevent the sites from being looted. Whether it is the wind, the sound of the leaves, or a real experience, oral tradition seems to confirm that one should not believe, nor avoid believing.

Endnotes

30. This non-local belief could have had some kind of support through the analogy with local sightings of "flying lights", common in Guatemalan and petenero folklore.

31. Chicleros were introduced in El Petén around the 1890’s, when the Wrigley Company started to operate and to sponsor the chicle sap extraction from El Petén, México, and Belize.

32. According to his memories (Maler, 1911) the guides were always complaining about the hard work and the harsh conditions under which the expeditions were made. Liquor seemed to be an added problem to the lack of good working performance. The words "lazy" and "incompetent" were not stereotyping adjectives used against indigenous people in general, but only reflect his workers’ behavior during his explorations.

33. Roosters were reported being heard in Yaxhá, Uolantun, and Naachtún (or Naactún), by three different informants. On the other hand, voices and cries have been reported mostly for Tikal, Uaxactún, and the Lacandón area. Singing has been mentioned only for Copán (Honduras) and some caves in Guatemala. [This information has been obtained through informal conversation during 4 years of contact with the people of Petén].

34. For Mr. "Epsilon", his good fortune vanished when after hearing a voice revealing the location of a mound with a tomb, he went to one of his best friends and told him about it. "I thought I could trust a close friend to help me excavate", he recalls, "but it seems that the encantamiento disappeared because I opened my mouth; if I haven’t said anything, maybe the spirit wouldn’t have gotten so angry and punish me with this misfortune. Since then, I never heard that voice again".  (Translation by the author).

35. Guaro: A generic term for corn based liquor, similar to "moonshine". It can be bottled as a patented brand or be a clandestine (home made) drink. In the Uaxactún area, the clandestine is called "chumpiate".

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