Archaeologists believe that there are more Mayan mounds which translate into Maya dwellings in this country than there are modern day buildings. With so many sites, it's not too difficult for traders in antiquities to get their hands on Mayan artifacts. Usually these end up in the black market and are exported to private collectors. It's a completely illegal transaction, and more than that, it's a downright shame but with so many sites, so many hustlers, and so many ways to make the deal....it's rare that anyone gets caught. But yesterday police in Ladyville got lucky, when they intercepted a catch of artifacts which were destined to reach an international dealer. Alfonso Noble found out more.

Alfonso Noble Reporting, [alfnoble@yahoo.com]
Yesterday morning, officers on the Northern Highway checkpoint at the Burrell Boom intersection boarded a bus for a routine inspection. When they arrived at the back of the bus they found this red and white icebox. Inside it, they found these ancient relics, three Colonial bottles, a Mayan vase and a smaller dish. By the afternoon, archaeologist John Morris visited the Ladyville Police Station to recover the items.

John Morris,
“What we have in front of us here are two ancient Mayan artifacts, a jar and a vase, that came out of a cave and three bottles, two gin bottles and one medicine bottle, that are of Colonial date. These are all authentic Colonial and Mayan artifacts and they are protected under the law.”

But even with that protection there are those who defy the law, and peddle the artifacts.

John Morris,
“I believe that these ones were going somewhere to San Pedro Ambergris Caye because it seems to me that a number of the artifacts that come from the Northern part of the country on the buses, they end up in San Pedro Caye and then they resell them to tourists or to people who come on boats and just take them out.”

When that happens, Morris says everything that could have been learnt from these vessels is lost.

John Morris,
“In general when you look at these vessels you will see that they have a lot of encrustations on them and that basically comes from the cave. I looked at the dish earlier to make sure that it didn’t come from the salt water area, I poured a little bit of water to check if its salty and it wasn’t so definitely these come from areas that have a lot of limestone so they are limestone caves. In most cases, particularly the ones from the caves, we can still determine to some extent the composition of the vessels, we can look at some of the markings on the vessels, and it can give us a date on these vessels. And then for purposes of history we can compare these to a number of other vessels that we got from caves to see what the quantity of vessels are coming from the caves. In some cases with the Mayas when they put these vessels inside the caves, sometimes these vessels may house the remains of individuals dear to them; ancestors who were cremated and then put inside these vessels. Or in some cases they may hold the remains of fruits and other domesticates the Mayas put here for their travel in the underworld and if we find any in good condition it can tell us about what the Mayans ate and what they were burying their dead with. In this case we’ve lost all the information that comes from it.”

And in the hope that this doesn’t happen again, Morris made a plea to those involved in the illegal trade of antiquities.

John Morris,
“We are encouraging people that it is against the law to buy and sell antiquities and when you do that you are selling your heritage, you are selling your culture, and in Belize culture is very important to us. So we are advising or encouraging people not to buy these things because you can apply for a license to hold these things and we grant them and you can hold them in your store so that when the tourists come they can see them there. So we implore people selling these things for a measly $10 to please turn them in or hold them and apply for a license.”

The artifacts will be documented and held by the Archaeology Department.