18 May, 2013
When I last was able to write we were frustrated trying to follow the corner of the building platform we discovered in the previous 2012 field season.  Last year, if you recall, we had a lovely front of the structure complete with a beautiful curved corner (figure 1).  One of our primary objectives for this year’s work was to excavate units to the south and follow the wall with the intention of determining the size of the platform. 
 
However, one of the truisms of archaeology is that you never know what you will find until you find it.  This objective fulfilled that statement is spades.  What should have been an easy, academic activity turned into a much more complex endeavour. 
 
Our attempts to uncover “The Wall” resulted in us uncovering SEVERAL walls (figure 2).  The lowest wall in the photo turned out to be a large retaining wall holding back the rubble fill that formed the core construction of the “new platform” (Structure D-P1).  The second wall (embedded in the white marl and which you can only see the back of [Str. D-P1-4th]) was a bit more problematic but I had my suspicions about it which, as I’ll mention later turned out to be true. The third wall (running through the middle of the photo [Str. D-P1-1st]) was a nice solid, but single course of stones that sat on a plaster floor.  This floor turned out to be the one that buried the 2012 platform (visible in the top left of the photo).
 
This new, and much more extensive platform, proved to be the focus of the 2013 field season.  Our investigations of this construction revealed that the “middle wall” (Str. D-P1-4th) that I was suspicious of was in fact an earlier platform wall.  This was a surprisingly high wall (figure 3) that actually extended into the plaza floor below—the same floor that our 2012 platform sits on.  This wall was later buried when the platform was remodelled and the plaza floor was raised. This is when the northernmost wall was added and oddly the platform became lower, becoming a single course of stone high. 
 
In the end we never found the east wall of the 2012 building platform (now tentatively identified as part of Str. D-P1).  We did discover that it was comprised of at least two constructions (visible in figure 4 as plaster floors; D-P1-3rd and D-P1-2nd).  It is quite likely that this “platform” was in fact and extension off the front of the larger 2013. 
 
This situation unfortunately leaves us with as many questions as answers.  When was the D-P1-4th platform built? Is this the “original” platform, or is then another below it?  When was it modified to add the northern extensions?  What was the purpose of the D-P1-3rd and D-P1-2nd extension?
 
Regrettably these questions will have to wait for the 2014 field season as we have finished our allotted five weeks of excavation time.  The students left for home on Saturday and we remaining few (Dr. Sagebiel and two Ma students) have rolled into the lab.  Now is the time for us to examine the artefacts and analysis the implications of the season’s discoveries.
 

​3 May, 2013
 
I don’t know whether to be flattered or concerned about my new moniker – bringer of the rains.  I am definitely a little concerned about what it may foretell about the coming field season. 
 
In order to explain I need to backtrack a little . . .  I arrived in Belize late in the afternoon on this Tuesday past.  Upon landing, as per normal everywhere, the stewards welcome us to the country, tell us the local time, and give us the weather.  That’s where I got my first inclination of what was going on in Belize.  The weather at 2:30 Tuesday afternoon was a scorching 95 Fahrenheit at the airport! One of the hottest landing days I’ve ever had.
 
On the drive north, my Mennonite friends were telling me that there had been no rain for over three months in Blue Creek – the last storms being in January.  Not only were the fields parched they were burning – literally!  The practice here is to slash, then burn, fields to open them up for ploughing and planting.  This year someone’s “burning” got out of control and, without the rains to stop it, it had gotten out of control and spread.  Everyone was working on creating fire breaks to try and contain the spread of fire.  The problem with forest fires, at least down here, is that even if you contain the flame, the heat stays in the roots, which burn, spread, then flare up when they find a break in the ground or reach a new groups of trees. The fire had been burning and smoldering for three weeks at this point. 
 
They also told me that now that I was here they were hoping it would rain as it seems to rain every year when I arrive.  I thought they were kidding.
 
That night at dinner at a local restaurant in Blue Creek the owner, who I’ve known for a few years, said the same thing.  Now that I was here maybe it would rain as it always does.  Thought he was just in on the joke.
 
On the drive over to Indian Church I stopped and talked to the gentleman who owns the Ka’Kabish ruin.  He told me that he and many of his neighbors were also suffering from the lack of rain.  Fires also were spreading out of control in this area and he personally had lost two fields of cane them.  Our group I that we found last year was burned clear of trees!  The main ruin, thankfully, was safe as they had created cleared firebreaks around the forest to preserve the site.  He too joked about the rains coming now that I was here. 
 
What really concerned me is that he doesn’t know my Mennonite friends, so there is no way he could have heard their joke. . . or was it? It was at this point that I started to get worried.
 
Last night a storm hit the area in full force.  At first it was just a wind, then a heavy breeze, then suddenly a gale!  Torrents of rain poured down for almost two hours.  I called my friends in Blue Creek about 30 minutes into the storm as they are a good hour’s drive west of us to let them know that rain might be coming only to discover it was hitting them too.
 
This morning, as I’m sweeping up the mess of fallen leaves, the lady and gentleman who owns the guest houses where the students will stay, came to visit me.  They said they knew I was here because the rains had come.  At this point I realised I just needed to give in and accept the fact that there may be something to this “joke”.
 
While I would rather not be associated with the rains, and certainly don’t want another season as wet as the last one (5 storms a day, every day for 5 weeks was a bit much by anyone’s standards), it is hard to be unhappy about something that brings people relief.  The fires in Blue Creek are out, the birds are coming back to my trees, and plants are, even after one rain, becoming greener. 
 
So here is to my new moniker “bringer of the rains” . . . now if I could just figure out how to turn the tap off occasionally we’ll have a good field season. 

​29 April, 2013
Anyone who has travelled these days knows that airlines, in an effort to trim costs, have started offering fewer and fewer frills.  Some of the obvious ones are the no meal service on short flights or the pay-for-food options on Canada/US flights.  One of the perhaps less obvious “downgrades” is the change in luggage allowances. 
 
Years ago you were allowed to check two bags, and each was allowed to weigh up to 75 lbs (and no I’m not talking about the Classic Maya period but the 1990s and early 2000s).  If it wasn’t for that allowance I’m not sure how I would have finished my dissertation research as I has to travel from England to Canada, carting large loads of research, research material, and artefacts along the way (weigh?).
 
Today you are allowed one checked bag (if you are lucky!) that is not allowed to exceed a total of 62” in area (i.e.,  a trunk that is 10” x 12” x 40”) and cannot weigh more than 50 lbs.  The reduction in number, size, and weight, is of course a real logistic nightmare for any archaeological project.  Trying to distribute the paperwork alone presents a hassle (do you know how much our interim report weighs!), let alone the journals, camera equipment, books.  The option of getting some of the stuff printed in Belize (i.e., the level forms) is almost as much of a night mare as print shops are sporadic and costs are exorbitant.
 
Of course airlines do have “exceptions” to their luggage requirements and you can always pay for a second (and even third) bag ($40 US for the second and $100 for the third).  However, trying to figure out if you are an exception can be a bit of a trial as can figuring out the costs.  Clearly I’m not military or traveling business class, but did I get full-fare economy class ticket?  What about if I upgrade to business class before check-in (which allows for a free second piece).  Is it cheaper to up-grade then pay for the second piece?  And would that make a third piece the price of a second?  And then there is the issue of over-weight luggage.  While luggage is official limited now to 50 lbs, you can take up to 70 lbs if you are willing to pay the extra $100 fee.
 
Needless to say I have spent the last two days packing, and repacking the trunks, and stepping on and off of scales.  Weighing myself first, then myself with the trunk, then deducting my weight from the “me + trunk” weight to see if they are under the 50 lb limit.  Spreading the material around between the trunks to try and even it out.  While I’ll admit that I’m in need of losing a few pounds, and I am not (overly) self-conscious about my weight, the constantly seeing how much I DO weigh, not to mention me 50 lbs heavier is somewhat hard to take.  Field packing is clearly not for the faint of heart!
 
So with only 11 hours to go before the flight, all the trunks are packed, weighed, and as far as I can tell, under the limit.  At this point it is just a matter of  wait (weight?) and see!!