Well, we have completed Week 2 of the Stann Creek Regional Archaeology Project at the Alabama Site, and other than nursing some very tender feet and sore muscles, we couldn’t be happier with our progress!

All week we (myself, Sonja, Morgan, Julilla, and three assistants from the village) were out surveying the settlement within a kilometre of the site epicentre. This involved walking MANY an orchard row and GPSing and mapping the mounded features discovered (which we will hopefully begin testing and excavating in a couple years), presumed to be primarily the houses of the commoner Maya of Alabama. We have been extremely surprised to see how much is actually still visible at ground surface despite the many decades of modern agricultural activity in the area. This work will provide the foundation for our larger research questions regarding the development of the urban centre over time. Next week we will continue survey and also visit some of the potential quarry areas (stone and clay) that the Maya of Alabama were likely accessing.

Life in the village is still as charming as ever. We really are so happy at how welcoming and friendly everyone has been!

Meaghan

We’ve completed one week at the site, and we are so excited about how the work is proceeding! Meaghan, Morgan, Julilla, and I got settled into the village a week ago. We were warmly welcomed by folks in the village, quickly finding some rooms to rent, and a family to cook for us, as well as a few local workers to assist us in the field. We were lucky this week to have great weather– despite being in the Stann Creek District in the rainy season! We completed an assessment of the site epicenter– and we were all excited to locate a few buildings at the site that were previously unknown. We assessed the amount of looting that has occurred at the site, and did rudimentary maps and photographs to record this damage. We’ve now moved on to focus the work on the outlying settlement survey– locating and taking GPS coordinates on mounds that are in the vicinity of the site center. This settlement work will continue this week in a more systematic fashion, and we hope to update everyone again next weekend!

Sonja 🙂

We have been in-country for a week (June 2014), and both of us (Dr. Peuramaki-Brown and Dr. Schwake) have been busy getting things set up for the field season! The most important news we have to share is that we secured our research permit from the Government of Belize last week! We are presently in the village making arrangements for when the project starts next month. We met with the village alcalde (mayor), and we were welcomed to the village with a delicious traditional Maya caldo and cacao drink. Our team member, Morgan Moodie, has also arrived in Belize, so we have just one more person to arrive from abroad- Julilla Paul will join us shortly. So far, things are going smoothly– we will update you again soon! Sonja and Meaghan

Each week, directly from the field, a project member will update you on our adventures and discoveries. Enjoy!