Cayo Scoop! The Ecology of Cayo Culture

They've started examining the Citadel at El Pilar more closely.  There's extensive looting damage, but it allowed them to get a better picture of the structure of the ramparts.  If you haven't visited the Citadel, it's really worth seeing.

"El Pilar is considered the largest site in the Belize River region, boasting over 25 known plazas and hundreds of other structures, covering an area of about 120 acres.  Monumental construction at El Pilar began in the Middle Preclassic period, around 800 BCE, and at its height centuries later it supported more than 20,000 people. Ford, who is the Director of the BRASS/El Pilar Program at the MesoAmerican Research Center of the University of California, Santa Barbara, has taken a 'hands-off,' highly selective conservation approach to investigating the site.  With the exception of a fully exposed Maya house structure, most of the structures at El Pilar have remained completely conserved by design, still covered in their tropical shroud.  The Citadel excavations have opened a new chapter in the research at El Pilar."

El Pilar is having its 30th anniversary.  Yes, it might be more like 1730 years since it was at its height in the early Classic Period, but the site has been open to the public for 30 years.  To celebrate, there will be an exhibition and presentation on El Pilar at the Cayo Welcome Center on October 25th, from 9:00am until 4:00pm. 

The festivities continue on the 26th, when the Duke of Edinburgh Award Belize will be having a day hike, starting at 6:00am, from El Pilar to the Cayo Welcome Center, and then, starting at 3:00pm, they'll have the big ceremony to celebrate the special event.

Dr. Anabel Ford, from the University of California at Santa Barbara, has done extensive research at El Pilar, and has a great website on it.

http://www.marc.ucsb.edu/

This is a great guide to Belize's Mayan temples.  The 4 main sites in Cayo are listed: Cahal Pech, Caracol, El Pilar, and Xunantunich.  

"It is estimated that there are thousands of May ruins in Belize. Few have been found and escavated by scientists but thousands more exist that are yet to be discovered.  This makes Belize a prime destination for tourists and archaeologists all around the world.  The beauty is that each temple have a story behind its creation, making each one of them unique and important as the other.  Here are some basic facts about some of these magnificent structure and there whereabouts."

El Pilar might be in the news a lot because of the discovery of the new 'citadel,' and it's always been a great spot for birding.

"A particularly intriguing feature is a causeway that extends from the eastern part of the ruins across the country border into Guatemala. Thus far, 12 pyramids and 25 plazas have been found at El Pilar. This is triple the number found in nearby sites such as Xunantunich and Cahal Pech. The site was occupied between (500 BC) and (1000 AD) periods. A variety of residential structures were discovered during excavations, in addition to elite household compounds and ceremonial structures. In contrast to other nearby sites, El Pilar remains virtually the same way today as when it was discovered. Most structures are in the early stages of excavation. Currently there are five trail systems at El Pilar, three archeological and two primarily nature trail intended to provide insight into the agro-forestry of the ancient Maya. This provides the visitor with a sense of what the site looked like before archeologists began their research on the area. The site and its surrounding vegetations make a perfect birding destination."

El Pilar is celebrating 30 years of being open to the public this weekend.  To celebrate, there will be an exhibition and presentation on El Pilar at the Cayo Welcome Center tomorrow, from 9:00am until 4:00pm. 

The festivities continue on Saturday, when the Duke of Edinburgh Award Belize will be having a day hike, starting at 6:00am, from El Pilar to the Cayo Welcome Center, and then, starting at 3:00pm, they'll have the big ceremony to celebrate the special event.

"El Pilar has more than twenty-five identified plazas in an area of approximately 100 acres (38 hectares), ranking it equal with major centers of the lowland Maya area.  It is the largest center in the Belize River area, more than three times the size of such well-known centers as Baking Pot or Xunantunich.  The site is divided into three primary sectors: Xaman (North) Pilar, Nohol (South) Pilar and Pilar Poniente (West).  The eastern and western sections are connected by an offset causeway system extending between two large public plazas."

While the list of Belize's amazing Mayan archaeoligical sites should be a top 20, out of the 5 on this list, Cayo has 3: Xunantunich, Caracol, and Actun Tunichil Muknal.  They forgot Cahal Pech and El Pilar.  The article gives great descriptions of the sites, and describes Cayo too: 'laid-back San Ignacio is the quintessential traveler’s hub, the launch pad for exhilarating adventures in the remote Cayo District, a wild place where ancient mysticism and incredible biodiversity coalesce to provide a sensual and cerebral adventure of epic proportions.'

"What Xunantunich may lack in scale, it makes up for in its supreme location, crowning a limestone ridge that affords panoramic views of the Cayo District and the patchwork terraces of neighboring Guatemala...  Radiating from the site’s ceremonial axis -- the pyramid of El Castillo -- are a series of residences built for the city’s elite denizens, in addition to a ball court, all which date from the Classic Period, circa A.D. 200 to 900.  Rising from the jungle to a vertigo-inducing 135 feet, El Castillo features restored stucco reliefs that during the city’s heyday would have adorned the perimeter of the entire pyramid.  Despite being one of the most heavily touristed of Belize’s Maya ruins, in part due to its accessibility, a supernatural aura holds sway.  The name, Xunantunich, translated as 'Stone Woman,' dates to the late 19th century when, so myth and legend has it, a female figure dressed in white ascended the stairs of El Castillo before vanishing into the temple’s stone walls.  The city reached its zenith around A.D. 750 before an earthquake, interpreted by the Maya as the wrath of God, precipitated its demise."