February 11, 2003
In Palenque

I'm way behind in this weblog, but here's a quick update.

After a visit with Glen and Ellen, who are beginning their exile from Rancho Esmeralda, I was fortunate to take two road trips over the weekend, one to Frontera Corozal to see the new museum and the stelas there, one to Chinikiha, Boca del Cerro and Tenosique. Fellow travelers included David Stuart and his sister Ann, Joel Skidmore (whose Mesoweb site is my inspiration - Thanks, Joel!), Alfonso Morales, Julia Miller, Chris Powell, Ed Barnhart, Alonso Susan Xun and Maxam Mendez, Cathy Kahn and friends Peter and Simon.

It was instructive and enjoyable for us non-professionals to watch the epigraphers and archaeologists decipher the stelas at Frontera and explore the site of Chinikiha. Carnaval in Tenosique was a swirling mass of people in "cornhead" costumes and painted as jaguars, with real pelts. Tenosique was a good warmup for Carnaval in the highlands, which starts later this month, and which I last recorded in 1980 when Lyn and I came down with very early portable video equipment.

Now I have to go back to my room and scratch. The ticks and garapatas at Chinikiha got us all in a big way. How do these Maya explorers do it?

Posted by Dave at February 11, 2003 01:55 PM