Day 4—Caracol, the snail



Here I am at Caracol.



Today, we visited three amazing places that had me in awe:  the Rio Frio Cave, Caracol Mayan Archaeological Site, and Big Rock Falls.  All three would have been around during the time when the Mayan civilization numbered approximately 1.5 million (compare that to the current population of Belize at 350,000) and Mayan astronomers were mapping celestial patterns.  The time period for the ancient Mays was approximately 700 BCE-700 CE.

What impressed me most about the Rio Frio Cave was its immensity.  Open on both ends, one can stand inside the cave on a ledge and see the sunlight entering from both sides and the river flowing through it down below.  The cave’s ceiling gives the feeling of being in a giant dome of geological features.  Coming from the hot world of flora and fauna into the cool stony darkness, I can see how the ancient Maya believed in an underworld—it is just so different and a sort of reverse of the outer world.

The winding road to access Caracol gives it its name, as a caracol is a snail shell’s spiral shape.  What amazes me the most about this Mayan archaeological site is how comprehensive it was in its heyday.  For example, there were living quarters for the elite spiritual leaders, tombs, common areas for daily activities, areas for rituals and celebrations, two separate courts for a ball game they played, additional living quarters, and several structures used in making accurate celestial calculations.
 


One of several structures used in making celestial calculations at Caracol.

The Maya had “star-wars” long before the movie.  When they observed Venus (which they thought was a star) turning red during its cycle, they would attack their enemies, drawing on the blood red symbolism.

The Maya also had a middle class which was unusual for cultures of that time period.  It is believed that some who were working at Caracol as artisans, astronomers, architects, and so forth, sold their services and therefore had the means to build a lasting settlement near the astronomy area.  There was a second ball court near there as well which makes me wonder if that was the ball court of the middle class.

I wonder why the ancient Mayan civilization was wiped out.  It seems to be a combination of over population, warfare, drought, and other factors that brought about their demise.  Since not everyone would have been an astronomer, loosing these key “high-tech gurus” could have led to the secret dying out.

At Caracol, in seeing some ceiba trees, I more clearly understand why the Maya believed that the ribbon calcifications in caves were the roots of these trees:  they were pairing what they knew from the world around them with what they observed in caves.  Ceiba trees have an external raised ribbon of root system buttresses near their base and are very tall with a world of air plants living in their generally four main branches.  This tree is in all three words:  the roots are in the underworld, the trunk in the natural world, and the tree canopy in the skies. 

Ceiba Tree at Caracol.

At Big Rock Falls, one can observe the cascade while swimming in the pool it forms or in a larger river pool within view of the falls.  While enjoying the refreshing water during today’s heat, I floated looking up at the half moon.  This would have been the same half moon about which the Maya astronomers would have been so knowledgeable.  I think these would have been the Henry Fords and Bill Gates of their day because they would have been instrumental in the cutting edge technology of the day.  People wonder how they could have done it, but I think that there have always been techno leaders who are pushing the envelope of what is being done. 

One interesting cultural take-away from today is that of the “Sleeping Policeman,” the name given to speed bumps because they are installed to slow down traffic around schools and in areas near bus stops, for example, because having a policeman everywhere is not feasible.  Some signs indicating a speed bump even show the horizontal profile of a female cop as a stylized speed bump.