Cave Archaeology and
Community Development in the Upper Pasión Region of
by
Brent Woodfill,
Álvaro Ramírez, and
Cameron Griffith
The
Vanderbilt Upper Pasión Archaeological Cave Survey (VUPACS), a sub-project of
Proyecto Arqueológico Cancuen, has been investigating caves in the
In 2002, work focused on the caves of Juliq’ and B’omb’il Pek, finding, mapping, and registering modern and ancient archaeological features and creating minimum-impact tourist caves and helping to train guides from the community of Por Venir II, which owns the land around the caves. In June of 2002, USAID provided building material to create gravel paths to the mouths of both of the caves and a small store selling food and drinks as well as renting equipment and providing guides from the community.
This
work provided the entrée in 2003 to begin the massive work of mapping,
registering, and excavating the
The
cave system is located along one of the major trade routes between the highland
and lowland Maya areas passing from Coban to the
In 2002, an area
of 21 square kilometers around the riverine section of the cave were declared a
national protected area under the Guatemalan Ministry of Culture, as first
proposed by Dreux and later solidified with Dr. Tony
Stocks of
With the help of Counterpart International and Idaho State University, tourist committees were formed in the two neighboring communities and the villagers, who were still in the process of buying their land, were sold their parcels at a heavily-discounted rate (about 10% of cost) after signing a contract that limited the areas in which they could farm and fish and created a protected area around each of the caves and hills, protecting the ecosystems around and inside the system.
In
2003, VUPACS joined forces with USAID, the Ministry of Culture
and
During
the four months of the 2003 field season, we lived and worked with members of
the two communities and the newly-formed tourist committees mapping, exploring,
and registering all of the cultural remains and studying the feasibility of
opening up specific caves to tourism. In
the end, 5 caves have been opened in the
The caves which are being developed for tourism have strictly controlled paths through them and gravel paths leading to them are nearly finished. In addition, one community store and tourist center has been built in each community and work is nearing completion on small, locally-run restaurants. USAID has donated lights, inner tubes, boots, and the resources needed for infrastructure and intense training of the guides, which is being led by professionals from the US, Guatemala, and Belize. Guides from PACZ Tours, Maya Walk, and several other Cayo-based organizations finished their second training section in mid March of 2004, which focused on rapelling and cave rescue.
In August 2003, FIPA and Idaho State University provided the financial resources to provide a trip for 16 Q’eqchi’ villagers from the 3 communities being developed for cave tourism as well as members of the Peace Corps, Idaho State, Counterpart International, and 2 Q’eqchi’-Spanish translators to come to Cayo and see fully-functional tourist caves to serve as models for their own cave tourism. The trip included meetings with tour operators, archaeologists from BVAR, and visits to 3 caves (Barton Creek, Actun Tunichil Muknal, and Che Chem Ha) and two sites (Cahal Pech and Xunantunich) over a 3 day period, receiving tours by expert guides and archaeologists in Spanish. At the end of the trip, BVAR project member and Universidad del Valle student Jenny Guerra interviewed the different Q’eqchi’ members about what impressed them about their trip and what they would like to take back with them to their communities..
Recurrent
themes in the interviews included the lack of garbage in the paths, the
presence of high-canopy forest surrounding the caves, and the pristine nature
of the cave systems in spite of the numbers of tourists who pass through the
area. They were impressed by the
different mechanisms they saw to control traffic through the caves and limit it
to prescribed paths through both barriers and assertive guides. They were also surprised by the high demand
for cave tourism in
In addition to providing working models for cave tourism in the Maya world, the trip had several other benefits. One guide from PACZ tours, Juan Carlos xxx, visited Chisec in November to more fully train guides from the three communities, and will return in several months to continue the training. Ties between the already-established cave tourism center of Cayo and the nascent Chisec are being strengthened, which will not only help to attract tourists to the area but, at least initially, “ideal” cave tourists who already know how to respect the fragile cave systems.
Present work in the caves
Work in the 2004 season is focusing more specifically on creating different resources for the community members to aid in tourism infrastructure and the monitoring of the impact of tourism on the cave system. At the end of the season we will turn in an archaeological and geological guide to the Candelaria Caves, which will not only focus on an explanation of the tourist caves but also the place of the Candelaria system in the ancient Maya world and a study of its impact on the local communities in the past. This last part is what the local Q’eqchi’s are most interested in, as the system is once again having a strong impact on the nearby villagers.
The second product which will be available at the end of the season is a set of maps of the tourist caves that have areas that show the impact of tourist traffic and local use on specific sections of the caves in both paper and digital form that can be edited by the villagers themselves, some of whom were trained in the use of ArcView, AutoCAD, and Photoshop by an Idaho State-run mapping project.
Conclusions
Northern
Alta Verapaz is densely occupied and the