American Archaeology Magazine | Fall 2016 | Vol. 20 No. 3

Page 56

The Archaeological Conservancy

Expeditions

Belize And Tikal

Our tour begins on the coast of Belize, where you’ll visit Belize City, see Altun Ha, and take a boat ride up the New River to Lamanai, a Maya trading center established before Christ and occupied until a.d. 1641. From the coast you’ll travel to the inner reaches of the country and explore the splendid mountaintop palace of Cahal Pech. A ferry ride will take you to the ruins of Xunantunich, once an important trading center. There you’ll tour El Castillo, a classic example of the Mayatechnique of constructing a pyramid over an older pyramid. From Xunantunich you’ll visit the recently excavated ceremonial site of Caracol, the largest Maya site in Belize. You’ll also visit Yaxhá, a city nineteen miles southeast of Tikal that features an impressive series of plazas and platform groups. You’ll spend two days exploring Tikal, a magnificent Maya center situated in the Petén rain forest. Thought to have had a population exceeding 75,000, Tikal once spanned an area of more than twenty-five square miles. John Henderson, a leading scholar of Mesoamerican cultures, will lead the tour.

jim walker

Where: Belize and Guatemala When: January 9 – 19, 2017 How Much: $3,295 ($450 single supplement)

Archaeologist John Henderson points to El Castillo, a huge pyramid at Xunantunich in Belize.

Aztecs, Toltecs, And Teotihuacános Where: Mexico When: March 25 – April 3, 2017 How Much: $2,695 ($380 single supplement)

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mark michel

Two thousand years ago, cultures that have long since vanished from Central Mexico constructed magnificent temples and pyramids. Today, these monuments of the Aztecs, Toltecs, and Teotihuacános remain a testament to the fascinating people who built them. This tour takes you to a number of sites including those once inhabited by the Olmec, a culture that was known throughout the region for its art. You’ll also visit the monuments of the Aztec, a civilization that witnessed the arrival of the Spanish. You’ll explore Teotihuacán, once a great urban center with a population of 200,000. John Henderson, a Mesoamerican expert with Cornell University, will lead the tour. Teotihuacán was once one of the great cities of the New World.

fall • 2016


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