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October 01, 2003
Blackman Eddy
Road-building in Belize knocked down half a pyramid. The unfortunate accident provided an opportunity for achaeologists to excavate the Blackman Eddy pyramid site to bedrock. The results indicate mesoamerican civilization dates back at least three-hundred years earlier than established estimates.
The Maya erected new pyramids on top of older ones, concealing previous building phases. Garber and his students took the Blackman Eddy pyramid apart layer by layer, discovering 13 building phases over 2,000 years. Maya civilization reached its peak around A.D. 600.
"As we dug through the layers of the pyramid, we hit 800 B.C. and kept on going down to about 1100 B.C., where we were finding settled agricultural peoples making sophisticated pottery. So we've pushed the dates for the Maya about 300 years," Garber said. "It is a unique finding, but my guess is that if archaeologists had the opportunity to dismantle pyramids in other places, they would find the same thing," he added.
Posted by Ghost of a flea at October 1, 2003 08:48 AM
Comments
I had the opportunity to excavate on this site back in 1998. It was a wonderful experience and very informative. It opened my eyes about the Mayan culture and showed me just how sophisticated the technology was for the time. I'm glad the archaeological team has had the results it has and the unique opportunity to excavate to bedrock to give us this new timiline for the area.
Posted by: Erin Outlaw at June 29, 2004 01:17 PM