Adventure

Nakbe, northern Guatemala

Wow, what a trip, phonecall at 10 pm on Saturday to catch a plane to Guatemala at 8 the next morning, helicopters, jungle clad pyramids, tunnels, tombs and ABC television, oh yes, and an interview with some guy called Hugh Downs.

Fig.1. Example of a restored pyramid in the Tikal National Park, located about 30 miles north of the town of Flores.

The adventure started after returning from a baseball match where my son and I watched the Seattle Mariners beat the Boston Red Sox. Eleven pm saw me in the office trying to cram a ground penetrating radar system into two standard sized suit cases. Due to the easter celebrations in Guatamala, the airline restricted passenger's luggage to two cases, no chance to take all the equipment that I wanted. After midnight I started to rearrange all the meetings and work I had to do the following week.

Six thirty the following morning, I arrived at the airport, where the attendent asked which piece I wanted to gaurantee at arrival and which piece could arrive up to 48 hours later! Anyway, that evening I arrived in Guatamala City with all my luggage (Gold airmile membership counts for something). The next morning I caught a local flight to Flores in northern Guatemala. I was inspired by the passenger next to me crossed herself and gripped the arm rests as we taxied down the runway. Flores is the town where we first worked with Dr. Richard Hansen, the archaeologist who invited us down to Nakbe and director of the RAINPEG Project.

The RAINPEG Project is a cooperative research effort directed by Dr. Richard D. Hansen. The project is supported by the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences (UCLA) and the Institute of Anthropology and History, Guatemala. Additional support for project activities comes from private sources and the Foundation for Anthropological Research and Environmental Studies.

Flores is a small town surrounded by a lake that we geophysically surveyed a few years ago using marine geophysics. Richard Hansen and his colleagues were interested in the thickness of and type of sediments, known as varves, for purposes of accuratelly dating different archaeological events. On landing at Flores I was met by the helicopter pilot who proceeded to fly us north. After landing briefly in a small village to pick up some eggs, we continued flying north for another 30 miles. In the distance I could see an isolated tree clad hill rising out of the jungle canopy. This was my first view of the main pyramid at Nakbe.

Fig.2. First view of the main pyramid at Nakbe.

Richard Hansen has been working at Nakbe for a number of years. Each year more is learnt about the Preclassic (900 B.C. and A.D. 200) and Classic (A.D. 300-900) Mayan city that occupied this site. The pyramid, more correctly called Structure 1 is dates back 3000 years and is constructed from limestone blocks cemented together. It is thought that the pyramid was built over many years, with each generation of builders successively adding a new layer of stonework. Dr. Hansen had dug a tunnel 20 m into the interior of this 45 m high pyramid. For the last 15 m of the tunnel, he had been following an internal wall. He suspected that a tomb might lie behind this wall and thus the purpose of the radar was to look through the wall and identify the position of the "hoped for" tomb.

Fig.3. View of the entrance to the tunnel at the base of the pyramid.

Fig.4. Hugh Downs exiting the tunnel following the interview.

Radar surveys were run along both walls and the floor of the main tunnel dug into the pyramid. Unfortunately, if a tomb exists inside this pyramid, it was not near this exploratory tunnel.

Fig.5. Pulling a radar antenna through the tunnel checking the floor for tombs

Fig.6. Classic Period grave found beneath a building.

During the survey, I had the unusual experience of being interviewed by Hugh Downs. ABC were making a documentary about Richard Hansen's work. The half hour segment was shown on 20/20 on Friday August 7th 1998.

Fig.7. Dr. Richard Hansen and Hugh Downs on the summit of the pyramid.

Fig.8. Taxi to Flores.