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Major Maya archaeological find in San Ignacio’s downtown

GeneralMajor Maya archaeological find in San Ignacio’s downtown
Director of the Institute of Archaeology in Belize, Dr. Jaime Awe, told Amandala today that he and a team of university and high school students, citizens, visitors and his staff have been working to excavate and document a significant archaeological find right in the heart of San Ignacio.
  
Apart from finding a range of artifacts, they also discovered, in “dead center” of one of San Ignacio’s main streets, Burns Avenue, the remains of what appears to be a Maya elder, who was buried in a fetal position about two meters below the surface, Awe said. He probably lived around 200 CE/AD (the late pre-classic period).
  
The location where the remains were found, said Awe, was obviously part of the ancient Cahal Pech community, which may have become flooded, forcing people to vacate the area.
  
The Maya used to bury below their floor, Awe told us.
  
As to the significance of Saturday’s discovery, Awe said, “The find is quite significant, for it tells us that there were households in the area of downtown San Ignacio during the first two centuries before Christ. These households were part of the urban population of Cahal Pech. Our excavations suggest that the households may have been flooded following a major storm in the past. 
  
“Even in modern times, this part of San Ignacio has been inundated after hurricanes and major tropical storms. This may have forced the inhabitants to relocate, abandoning the site for higher ground. This explains why we have not found any remains which date to the Christian era.”
  
The find was made in the course of town infrastructure works being done as a part of the Sustainable Tourism Project, which involves major refurbishment works in the market area and in the vicinity of Broaster Stadium, as well as drainage works along Burns Avenue.
  
The Institute of Archaeology was called in on Saturday, January 21, and Awe told us this afternoon that the section of Burns Avenue where the discovery was made is still blocked off, while they have been digging through the foundation of what was apparently a thatched house with windows of about 2 meters.
  
“We will continue to excavate in the area for a few more days.  Unfortunately, given the location of the finds, the excavations will have to be closed so that the storm culverts can be put in place and the street resurfaced,” said Dr. Awe.
  
“As you well know, Burns Avenue is the main thoroughfare in San Ignacio, so we cannot hold back traffic for ever. Ideally, I would love for the entire Burns Avenue to be made a pedestrian only walk. It would really serve to beautify San Ignacio and good for the tourism business,” he added.  
           
He told us that they also discovered several whole ceramic vessels, deer antlers modified for tools, fragments of obsidian blades, as well as fragments of fresh water shells of organisms that were probably common as food at the time.

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