Email

Print

For the next 3 days, 19 noted experts on the Maya world will be making presentations at the 2nd annual Archaeology Symposium. Those presentations will discuss everything from buttons found at Yalbac to the fine art of pre-Colombian pottery making. Director of the Institute of Archaeology Dr. Jaime Awe says the event is not only for those with an academic interest in archaeology, there's something for everyone.

Dr. Jaime Awe, Dir. Institute of Archaeology
"We will have 13 presentation papers that will talk about the Mayas of Belize. The presenters come from six different countries: Mexico, Guatemala, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and of course Belize. They are papers on archaeology on every district in the country of Belize. And the papers talk about Maya politics, Maya Religion, Maya Architecture, Classic Period, and even historic archaeology which is the period of when the Europeans arrived here and their period of interaction with Belizeans."

"We make these presentations interactive. We ask representatives to talk in lay terms. They don't use all the fancy jargons or words that only other archaeologists understand. We ask them to break it down so that anybody in the public can understand. This symposium is of great importance because it allows us to bring information to the Belizean people. It is part of our effort to bring knowledge about the Maya and about Maya history and the Maya past to the fore. It is important that we in Belize know of our ancient history and this symposium provides us with a forum to do just that."

The symposium will run until Friday at the Princess Hotel.