NASHVILLE, Tenn. – For nearly two decades, Vanderbilt University archaeologist Arthur Demarest has explored the rainforests of Guatemala for clues to the ancient Mayas. Along the way, he has formed an alliance with the descendants of that once-powerful civilization to not only uncover but also preserve their proud heritage. That partnership paid off earlier this month with the conviction and sentencing of a gang of looters.
In what Guatemalan officials say may be the first time such an operation has been exposed, three gang leaders were convicted and sentenced to three years in prison after a dramatic midnight verdict in a Guatemalan court June 3.
Despite death threats, Demarest and Maya villagers testified against the three, who were charged with stealing one of three ancient Maya altars from a thousand-year-old royal ball court at CancuÈn, an ancient Maya mercantile port city during the Late Classic golden age of the Maya civilization (A.D. 600-830) located in the southwestern region of the PetÈn rainforest.
One of the ancient altars was discovered in 1905 and is currently on display at Guatemala’s National Museum of Archaeology, where it is considered one of the museum’s greatest treasures. The second altar, which was stolen by the looters in 2001 after a storm exposed it, was recovered in late 2003. The third altar was unearthed by Vanderbilt archaeologists this spring and has been moved to the National Museum of Archaeology in Guatemala.
All three altars portray CancuÈn’s king Taj Chan Ahk, one of the last great Maya rulers, playing ball against visiting rulers. The royal ball court was a ceremonial setting for ball games between the kings of the CancuÈn dynasty and the rulers of other city-states.
Maya villagers have become increasingly involved in developing the impoverished region through a unique humanitarian aid effort founded by Demarest and designed to create a sustainable economy based on tourism. Demarest believes the villagers’ investment of time and labor in the project motivated them to risk their lives and the lives of their families to testify in the case.
The verdict comes after a dangerous six-month investigation that exposed the network of looters and dealers of Maya artifacts.
Guatemala’s Ministry of Culture and the Ecological and the Cultural Patrimony Division of S.I.C. (ServÌcios de InvestigaciÛn Criminal, that country’s equivalent of the FBI) charged the three gang leaders with looting of a national monument, attempted sale of the monument and making death threats against Demarest and local residents who served as witnesses in the case. The three were convicted on the charges of looting and making death threats.
The convicted men were denied bail and are in prison pending appeals, unusual in Guatemala. "It’s very difficult to get bail revoked because the United Nations closely monitors Guatemala’s legal system," Demarest said.
Since the end of the Guatemalan civil war in 1996 and the U.N.’s disbanding of guerilla and military forces there, the PetÈn rainforest has become an unstable area where illegal activities are frequently conducted.
Demarest, Ingram Professor of Anthropology at Vanderbilt, believes local Maya were motivated to take action against the looters and are increasingly more vested in preserving their heritage because of the humanitarian aid effort he founded in 2001 in conjunction with the CancuÈn Archaeological Project. That project, which he directs with Tom·s Barrientos, is responsible for a number of major discoveries in the PetÈn rainforest. Both the archaeological and humanitarian projects are supported by Vanderbilt and National Geographic.
The humanitarian initiative takes the unusual step in archaeological circles of joining researchers with villagers in efforts to benefit the local indigenous population.
The project trains residents of the impoverished Q’eqchi’ Maya villages near the CancuÈn ruins to develop tourism and enhance their stewardship of the site, the surrounding area and other sites throughout the region. As a result, Maya have become tour guides, park rangers and managers of rustic inns, boat services and ecotourism enterprises, providing the villagers a stake in preserving the ancient sites. The project also helps provide basic health services, water, solar power and legal support. Vanderbilt and National Geographic are joined in sponsorship of this effort by the humanitarian organization Counterpart International.
Demarest credits these collaborations with earning him and his colleagues the trust of villagers who tipped him off to the theft of the 600-pound stone altar, which was at the heart of this month’s convictions. After four Maya elders visited his encampment with the news of the theft and the brutal beating of a local woman by a gang searching for the altar, Demarest began working with Guatemala officials to investigate the looting ring.
"This conviction not only sends a message to looters and antiquities dealers. It shows the importance of empowering and aiding local cultures. The humanitarian project could be a model under which archaeologists would no longer do the ‘Indiana Jones’ thing and pop in and dig – but really engage the community," Demarest said.
Media contact: Elizabeth Latt, (615) 322-NEWS
elizabeth.p.latt@vanderbilt.edu