Media highlight Maya discoveries at 'El Mirador'

I stumbled across a two-week old CNN video special "Mirador: The Forgotten City" online today. "El Mirador" was a pre-classic Mayan city, boasting dozens of pyramids, up to 100,000 people and a huge urban center, abandoned around 150 A.D.

One thing led to another. I found some interesting videos, and decided to post them here. CNN's Brooke Baldwin does a nice job with her four-part series "Uncovering a masterpiece the Mayans left behind."

Here's a taste, the first of Baldwin's four-part series:



Go to CNN's blog "In the Field," to see all four videos.

Apparently, archaeologists unearthed some huge stucco panels at El Mirador earlier this year that depict the Popol Vuh Mayan creation myth. The Global Heritage Fund's blog explains this "Maya Myth Revealed." The find, possibly dating to 300 B.C., is significant, experts say, because it shows the Popol Vuh story was not influenced by Spanish invaders in the 16th century.

Reuters and National Geographic also produced excellent, short videos of the site within the past couple of months.

The National Geographic video "The Tombs of El Mirador" excels with its camera work and 3D-computer recreations, noting El Mirador predates classic Maya cities of Tikal, Copán, Palenque and the rest, and documenting archaeologist Richard Hansen's work to find records of the personalities, specifically in the tombs of its rulers.



Reuters contributed "DNA to prove attack on ancient Maya city," examining research into DNA blood-typing from spear and arrow tips found atop "El Tigre," one of the pyramids at El Mirador. Archaeologists are hoping to determine whether a battle took place between the Maya and Aztecs from Mexico's Teotihuacán area, possibly leading to El Mirador's demise.



(* It turns out Hansen's claim is incorrect — that El Mirador's "La Danta" pyramid is the largest pyramid in volume in the world. Guinness has apparently given that honor to the Aztec pyramid "Cholula," (not the hot sauce) just outside of Puebla, Mexico.)

Other links on El Mirador:

Searching The Jungle For Buried Mayan Treasure In Guatemala from the Waterbury (Conn.) Observer

The First Great Maya City from Crystal Lotus, a New Age spiritist website.

A Peace Corps volunteer visits Mirador, blogs about it on Undersong Adventure, and posts many photos.

Mirador Archaeological and Wildlife Area from the Global Heritage Network

Photos and project index from Mirador by the Global Heritage Network

'Magic beans' story revives memories

Waiting at the local DMV office for a new driver’s license today, I came across a fascinating magazine article on three of my favorite things: chocolate, Mayans and Guatemala.

“Magic Beans,” by Peter Kaminsky tells the story of a California chocolatier, John Scharffenberger, who stumbled upon some magic cacao beans that led him on an auspicious journey to Alta Verapaz, Guatemala.

Kaminsky starts the story well: describing Mayans reaction to eating gourmet chocolate for the first time. Of course, they loved it. But the funny thing is — sad, really — most Mayans don’t get to eat gourmet chocolate, despite, apparently, growing some of the world’s best cacao beans. It gets better. ...

Click here to go to Condé Nast Traveler's story, “Magic Beans.”

Scharffenberger describes a bit of the trip in his own words on his “Chocolate Maker's Journal. Scroll down to the entry, 3/16/09 - OUR GUATEMALAN BEANS HAVE FINALLY ARRIVED to read about his trip there in his own words. If I remember correctly, the delicious, spicy turkey soup

that he describes is called kaq' iq' and is eaten with plain corn tamales.

For an article on some Mayan women making “artisanal chocolate,” here is a short story, “The Chocolate Makers of Santa Rose Chivité.”

I first learned about cacao during a missions trip to Honduras in February, 2000. The cacao fruit grow directly on the tree trunks and and limbs, and when cracked open they reveal bitter seeds or beans enveloped in a tangy sweet mess. I loved sucking that stuff off the beans because it tasted like gummy bears to me.