Few of the world's ancient empires and the ruins of their greatness are more awe-inspiring, more mysterious, and more downright weird than the Mayans in the centuries of their ascendancy.
From their complex pictographic writing to the strange images carved on their temples and preserved in their sculptures, the great Mayan civilization of the Classic periods raises new mysteries at every turn. As more and more of their ancient records are painfully deciphered and interpreted, we have gradually pieced together a picture of a society ruled by an incredibly powerful priesthood, a priesthood which demanded not merely the rituals of human sacrifice to the gods but even more the slaying and entombment of other men inside the successive layers of their ever-growing pyramid temples -- layers which were memorials to the deceased priests.
It's now generally believed by the experts that this society came to a crashing halt some nine centuries ago as the combined suffering of the peasant class and the anguish inflicted by years of drought led to revolts which brought down the priestly class. But are these the only reasons that their monumental cities were abandoned? We do not know even now.
What we do know is that their trade and cultural networks spread across the whole region from south-central and south-eastern Mexico through Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador. The impressive monuments which they created are dotted in multiple locations across this entire region, waiting not so much to be discovered as to be released from the choking embrace of the tropical jungles which swallowed them whole after they were abandoned.
Which brings me to the subject of our third port call of this cruise: Belize City, the largest commercial centre and port on the coast of Belize. This is my new country for this cruise -- Belize, known ages ago in my youth as British Honduras. Belize City is no longer the capital, though. It was replaced by the purpose-built inland city of Belmopan after the Category 5 Hurricane Hattie in 1961 flooded and destroyed Belize city with great loss of life, flattening most of the coastal region into what little solid ground it sits on.
This was our first lesson. Our ship was anchored far offshore, farther away than I've ever stopped at any port call on any previous cruise. That was as close as we could safely come in the bewildering maze of reefs, sandbanks, shallows, and islets. Although a fleet of fast catamaran ferries served as tenders to shuttle passengers to and from the land, it was still a good solid 20-25 minute ride each way. Here's a view of the ships in the distance (Eurodam at left, alongside a Crystal Cruises vessel, Crystal Serenity) seen from the harbour.
Our first look on entering the harbour showed a colourful but very low-lying tropical port, with nothing that could fairly be described as a high-rise building.
In fact, the tallest buildings I saw all day were seven storeys high, and that could be described as "pushing your luck." Belize City isn't just low-lying. It is, like Venice and many other coastal cities, actually located several feet below sea level, and built on painfully drained mangrove swamps -- which, of course, makes for a scarcely-firm foundation. Large amounts of earth have to be methodically packed down into a solid footing for even a normal house. A seven-storey "high rise" would require a footing of multiple pilings driven deep into the soil until they are resting upon a firm enough layer to carry the weight.
All of this we learned from the guide on our tour coach as we were being driven from Belize City out into the countryside to visit our real destination. Belize, like all other countries in the region, has multiple Mayan archaeological sites. The one we visited was the heart of a once-thriving ceremonial and commercial trading centre, known today as Altun Ha.
Although it was my last stop of the visit, I'm going to start with a few pictures I took in the small museum,where the displays give visual illustration to the city, its layout, and its history. First, a map classifying the many known Mayan cities according to the products they produced.
Here's a site plan of the excavated part of Altun Ha, showing the layout of the two plazas which have been uncovered and somewhat restored -- at least restored enough to forestall further deterioration.
Next is an aerial photo of the site, which shows clearly how some of the buildings depicted and labelled on the plan are still grassy, tree-covered hills.
The tour we took saw us walking between No. A7 and A5 on the diagram to enter Plaza A. The biggest sights here were the buildings on the south and east sides, although the large mound on the west side would clearly be an impressive structure as well if it were to be uncovered in the future.
In some of the pictures, you can clearly see the white layer of cement spread on top of many of the steps to prevent further deterioration.The immense open space of Plaza A was most likely a marketplace, reinforcing the important commercial role of Altun Ha, as opposed to some other Mayan cities which were purely ceremonial. A glance back at the museum map will show how Altun Ha's location placed it in the middle of a nexus of major trade routes radiating in multiple directions -- and close enough to the ocean for the sea trading routes to contribute to the mix as well.
The structure of the temples is significant. According to our guide at the site, each place where there is a setback or terrace and a new structure of stonework begins, marks the death of another powerful priest and the entombment of one or more other bodies to accompany him on his journey to the land of the dead.
The temple which members of our party were allowed to climb if they wished was No. A3.
Plaza B, by contrast, seems to have been purely a ceremonial plaza. We entered it through the gap between A3 and A4, and stood in front of B2 for a while, under a tree, while our guide explained the main features of the plaza.
The most impressive structure of the entire site is B4, the so-called Temple of Masonry Altars. It was in this temple that the archaeological team led by Dr. David Pendergast of the Royal Ontario Museum discovered the carved jade head of a god during the extended excavations of Altun Ha in the 1960s. Its significance as a result of trade lies in the fact that jade would have been brought for some distance, the nearest source being many kilometres to the west-southwest in modern-day Guatemala.
The head was originally believed to be a sculpture of the sun god, but some experts now incline to the theory that it was actually the jester god. Whichever theory is correct, this is the single largest and best-preserved jade carving from the Classic Mayan periods, and is a renowned national treasure of Belize. It is kept in a climate-controlled secure vault at the National Bank, and rarely is exhibited in public.
The Temple of the Masonry Altars stands an impressive 16 metres high. These pictures show the complicated structure with multiple layers and extensions, most of which contain separate burials. The tomb in which the jade head was found was at or near the summit of the pyramid.
These two immense plazas joined together with three more to complete the centre of the city. The suburbs radiated for some eight kilometres in all directions, housing many thousands of people.
After our guide's talk, we were then given a half hour or so of free time to roam around, take pictures, climb on any building that wasn't roped off, visit the museum, or shop. And it was in the museum that I found a real treasure, an actual-size replica of the famous jade head.
The photo, by the way, makes the head look much larger than it actually is. The true size is 14.9 centimetres tall, and 45 centimetres in circumference.
The whole experience of visiting Altun Ha was remarkable. No doubt the immense monuments of Chichen Itza and Tikal are far bigger, but with much smaller numbers of visitors we were able to get a far more personal and detailed learning experience here than was possible among the crowds of people when I visited Chichen Itza seven years ago. This ranks as one of the most valuable tour experiences of my entire travel career.
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