I was invited by a UCR anthropology colleague to join their central Yucatan Mayan archeology expedition as the token geologist. The hope would be that I could better understand the context and variability of clay materials available to Mayan potters to better understand their sources, techniques and trade patterns. Certainly a daunting task but one that does interest me. As a bonus almost zero work has been done on the topic to date. Due to a change in plans things started slow in Merida the first couple days, giving me time to explore the city's downtown. It seemed a friendly and fascinating place, and very safe. It was a world apart from tourist exploiting near-border Baja, my only previous experience with Mexico. As I arrived, many of the archeology expeditions were wrapping up. All the Americans made the effort to meet at a hotel in Merida (where I stayed) for an ex-pat-style 4th of July party. Everyone was friendly but I was certainly the odd one out of the group and everyone else knew each other well.
The third day we finally got around to doing some work. Travis, Nelda, and I drove out to visit a potter and to look at her clay source, which apparently had been used for countless generations. On the way we also stopped at the first of many "bancos del materiales", recent road quarries that provide one of the few cross sections through the stratigraphy and karst. I efficiently took notes and sampled as I swatted mosquitoes and sweat gallons. The old clay source near Mama was also quite interesting- between the two I had seen about a half dozen distinct clays in colors I'd never seen before.
The fourth day was a delayed and slow drive to the expedition site near the small Mayan town of Yaxunah. Here I met Jonathon who showed me to my shack- thatched roof, stick & mud walls, concrete floor, a fan, a hammock, an electrical outlet, and a primitive attached bathroom- quite civilized really. I found out later these primitive but comfortable accommodations were the swankest in town and the villagers generally lived in much more squalid conditions.
Day 5 I actually got to see some Mayan ruins at the ancient city center of Yaxunah, east of town. I got a good look at several test pits in the process of being dug and logged and got to see the difference between forest claimed monuments and ones that had been "consolidated", effectively excavated, reconstructed and mortared to restore to their original pre-collapse appearances. Also impressive were the sacbes, calcite-paved roads the ancient Mayan used as raised highways to connect cities and landmarks. Yaxunah had one 7m-wide sacbe that extends dead straight over 100 kilometers east to Cobah, truly an impressive feat of engineering for the time!
We then drove towards the tourist center of Piste to see Balankanche Cave near Chichen Itza. This amazing cave was used by Mayans for almost 3000yrs as a water source and place of worship. Halfway through the cave a sealed wall was discovered in 1959. Beyond was a treasure trove for archeologists- incense burners, elaborately carved water vessels, altars, and one incredible column similar in appearance to the Mayan's World Tree (Wacah Chan), central to the Mayan belief system. The cave was incredibly fascinating but did little to improve my understanding of the complex karst history of the region. There was little structural control to the cave passages.
I ended the day with a visit to the cenote in the middle of Yaxunah. Wow what a place! Excellent cliff jumping, perfect temperature blue waters, ancient tree roots twisting their way down to the water. An absolutely beautiful place!
Day 7 I saw a bit more of the Yaxunah site, including a walk to the north to visit some interesting structures. In the afternoon Travis and I visited another potter in the nearby San Francisco. He too took us out to show us some of his clay sources and some of his finished materials back at his shop. Day 8 was mostly a wrap up day at camp. A notable highlight was finding a large iguana in my hut and carefully catching it. In the evening we drove through heavy rain back to Merida, and the next afternoon I was on a plane back home. It was a really interesting trip and I think I found enough interesting research questions to justify another trip back. All the same after a week of near-constant sweating I was ready to return to the dry heat of southern California.
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