MRP News

From Bob

Having been at  parts of Session 1  and 2  I can say there is a very good group of student volunteers and an equally good group of non-academic volunteers. The palapa is back in service and was sorely missed as the premier gathering spot.  The palapa dedication ceremony was great fun and the opening party featured limbo and leg wrestling contests.    Food  is good and on occasions, has taken a slightly different direction (with the assisting Hispanic staff) and might be called Mexonoite.  Breakfast and lunch are the same as previous years. The Hurricane a few weeks ago has left the Rio Azul and Rio Bravo at continued high levels and unfortunately cut short excavations at the buried Birds of Paradise field house. Excavations are continuing at Rosita and at Najal Noh.  Day temps have been mostly in the mid 80s but a few nights have been chilly beyond a sheet, so a l ight-weight blanket is good to have.  Other changes in the Blue Creek community include more restaurants but 3 Flags is still the go-to place. Day-off trips have included both Chan Chich and Lamanai where there is Maya architecture to see in various states of condition and resorts to take advantage of.

Rosita Update

Major excavations at the RS-9 patio group were wrapped up at the end of Session 1 with the exhumation of a burial from beneath a large bench located against the back wall of structure 24. The Bench measured over 3 meters in length and .6 meters in width. A niche was located on its centerline into which the sherds belonging to one or more pottery vessels were located.

When the bench was removed, the outline of a very large cut could be seen in the floor of the room. The cut is approximately 2 meters in length and is sealed by a thick plaster cap. Underneath the cap a series of large flat stones protected a cut into the hill’s bedrock. The stones were originally arranged in an inverted “V” which tented the contents of the crypt.

Preservation of the burial was less than optimal. Two rodent nests were discovered during the excavation, and the crypt was filled with damp organic soil. No human remains were discovered inside the crypt or in the surrounding area. A combination of animal and environmental impacts led to any remains being destroyed. Four jade beads were discovered at the head of the crypt. One of the beads was carved into a zoomorphic shape resembling the head of a jaguar. No ceramics were discovered in the crypt. This makes the dating of the actual burial impossible to determine at this time.

Pictures of the excavation can be seen by following this link.

Huricane Alma

Six hours before the official start of this years huricane season. The first named storm of the year made ladfall 25 miles due east of the Blue Creek camp. within moments the camp was innundated with winds and rain. Happily other than getting a heavy soaking everyone came out of the storm alright. No one was hurt and no damage occured to the camp. A few of the cabanas are leaking but we will take care of them as soon as the rain stops.

Right now all of the volunteers are sitting at the Lamanai Outpost bar drinking high priced Pina Coladas (if they are over 21) or Shirley Temples (if they are not). Excavations will resume tomorrow. We lost a day and a half to rain, but we will get it back when the whips get unpacked.

The camp is still here.

Tom, Pieta, Justin, and I have been in camp for the last few days and have only good things to report. First off the camp is still here and in good shape. The ater works, the cabanas aren't falling down and the beer coolr is keeping things cold. What else could you ask for.

Besides the condition of the camp, I also have more good news. We have our permit. This means that we can actually start excavations when the rest of the staff and volunteers arrive. The even better news is that  all of the buildings that we want to excavate are still standing.Tim and Sheryl Beach will be starting excavations on the field house along with Tom this week. All other excavations will have to wait for a few days.

There is not much else to say so far. We can't wait for everyone to arrive. I will be seeing you all in a few days, or in sdome cases a few weeks.

Tim

Regular Updates

The first session at Blue Creek starts in about a week. If you are part of the first crew than you will quickly get know everything that is going on in camp and at the excavations. If you are not joining us until later in the summer, don't worry, you will not have to feel left out of the happenings in camp. I am planning on making regular posts to this blog with all the news direct from Blue Creek. This way you will be able to keep up to date with both the excavations as well as the torrid camp romances (just kidding, I won't write about the excavations).

As with all good deeds this one might not pan out. Posting news on the internet requires that one has an internet connection, and this is not always the case, even in the capital let alone out at camp. However, I will do my best. Keep an eye here as well as on the Forum, and I will try to keep everyone up on current events.

Off to Belize.

Well it is finally that time, I leave for the airport in the early tomorrow morning. Way too early, I have to catch the 3:00am Airporter. On Thursday afternoon I will be in Belize and by Saturday I will be in camp. Don't worry, it doesn't take 2 days to get to camp, only 2 hours. Before I leave I just want to jot down a few last minute reminders.

1. If you have not already told Tom what flight you are arriving on, email him as soon as you get that information. We really need to know what time you are getting in and on what flight. We really don't want to leave anyone at the airport.
2. When you arrive, we will be waiting for you just outside of customs. Look for either a sign, or someone wearing an MRP t-shirt. If you can't find us -- don't panic, we are there somewhere. Don't wander off There is an area just to the right as you exit customs. That is where we meet up and count heads. Once you get checked in, then you will be able to look around.
3. You will not need a cab or someone to haul your bags, so ignore all the people looking for money.
4. Don't leave your luggage unattended, It probably won't be there when you get back.
5. Lastly, there are a lot of good tips on the MRP Message Board. I reccomend checking it out, you don't have to join to read up on the tips.

Both Tom and I will be checking email on a regular basis, but we can't be online all of the time. At most, we will only be online once a day. Either one of us can also be reached at mrp@btl.net. An email sent to that address will definately reach us within 24 hours.

That's about it. Have a safe trip and I'll see you all in Belize.

Tim

Using the MRP Forum

Hi everyone,

I have been very happy with the response that the message board has generated. Quite a few people have visited the forum to read the posts and keep up with preparations for the field season. We also have about 20 members who have joined the forum. Forum members can post new topics as well as comment on old conversation threads. I would encourage everyone to go ahead and join the forum. This is just another way to interact with the MRP community.

Unfortunately, small as our organization is, we are not immune to attacks by "spammers". Over the last week I have had to remove posts with both an "adult theme" as well as ads for certain pharmaceuticals. As far as I know, I was the only one who saw them. I hope that no one was offended if they stumbled across those posts. The large number of spam topics forced the closing of the previous MRP message board. I do not want that to happen again. I have increased the forum's security level to try to circumvent thos with a malicious intent. I am also changing the way that individuals register to become forum members.

From now on I will have to OK new members. When you sign up to become a member, an email will automatically be sent to me with your request. I will try to respond and activate your account within 24 hours. I know that this seems unwieldy, but  I hope that the trade off of an ad free forum will offset the minor inconvenience. There is one major down side to this system. I am leaving for Belize in one month. At that point I will have limited access to the internet and will not be able to activate new account. So get out there and sign up n ow.

This is a new system and there are bound to be a few bugs involved with its implementation. Please bear with me and send me an email with any problems that you encounter.

Tim Preston.

This Summers Research

We have finalized our research goal for the 2008 Summer Field Season. While no plan ever survives contact with the enemy, I can give everyone an overall idea of what will be going on this summer.

I will be finishing up my research at the site of Rosita. My plans call for the reopening of an excavation started by Sarah Clayton in 2004 as well as completing excations of the Structure 9 patio group that started last year. If everything goes as planned these excavations will be completed by the end of the first two session. Starting in session 3 I will be moving to a new phase of research that includes examining several large elite courtyards along the edge of the escarpment. These excavations will further my on going research that is aimed at examinig conditions at the end of the Classic Period. I will be joined in these excavations by by Leslie Reyes of Humbolt State University. She will be leading excavation teams under my supervision. Leslie and I will be conducting these excavations over all four sessions.

Barbara Hughes will be conducting stripping opperations on a small house mound in the site of Rosita, adjacent to the main road through the Blue Creek community. This excavation will serve the dual purpose of furthering our knowlege about Rosita as well as educating the community on what we are duing in Blue Creek. Barbara will also be conducting test excavations of several small agricultural features, check dams and terraces. Barabara will be with us for the entire field season.

Jason Barret will be leading a team that will bemapping the site of Najah Na and excavating a proposed ballcourt at that location. Najah Nah is a site located 20 kilometers northwest of the Blue Creek site core. It appears to be a minor center with a dispersed settlement pattern. Jason will be joining us for the first two sessions.

Other projects being undertaken this summer include the ongoing investigations of the ditched field agricultural system below the escarpment as well as surveying Sunnyside Farm. Tim and Sheryl Beach have been excavationg a series of ditched fields below the Rio Bravo escarpment for as long as I have been involved with MRP (since 2001) Their work will continue this year. Tom and Steve Shaw will be surveying sites in the extreme northwest of our permit area, the Sunnyside Farm. We know that there are several large sites in this area , but they have not been documented at this time.

Welker Scholars

Congratulations to our 2008 Welker Scholars!

Henry Bernberg- University of Kansas
Diane Carrier – University of California, Riverside
Jenna Dockery –University of California, Berkeley
Micah Emerson - Metropolitan State College, Denver
Kelly French - Alabama-Birmingham
Gail Hammond - University College London
Hamilcon Inciarte  - Williams College
Priscilla Mollard  - San Francisco State University
Cassiday Rickels – Louisiana State University

We will also shortly be announcing our second and
final group of scholars.

Flying to Belize

It is about that time when everyone starts scrambling to find flights to and from Belize for the summer field season. I have posted some information about airlines and flights on the MRP Forum (Getting to Belize).

Remember that you should be at the Belize city International Airport on the first day of the session that you are attending. We will pick you up then and drop you off on the last day of the session. Once again the session dates are below.

• Session 1: Monday May 26 - Sunday June 8
• Session 2: Monday June 9 - Sunday June 22
• Session 3: Monday June 30 - Sunday July 13
• Session 4: Monday July 14 - Sunday July 27

It is very important that everone email Tom (guderjan@mrpmail.com) with your flight information. We will need the airline, time and date of arrival (the arrival date should match one of the session start dates), and the city that you are connecting through. We need you flight information for the simple reason that we will not be looking out for you if we do not know that you are coming. Every year some one says that they will be showing up for a certain session and then never arrives. That usually leaves me sitting at the airport without a flight number wondering if a person will arrive. Sometimes the reverse happens A person shows up for one session when they said that they would arrive at a different time. Believe me when I say thet you do not want to end up stranded at the Belize City Airport. There is no airport Hilton, and we are at least 2 hours away by car.

If you plan on arriving in Belize early for a little pre-digging R & R that is OK. Just let us know about your plans and be at the International Airport (not the Municipal Airport) on the first day of your session, that is the only time that we will be picking up people for transportation out to the camp.