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La Milpa
La Milpa is an archaeological site and an ancient Maya city within the Three River region of Northwest Belize bordering Mexico and Guatemala. La Milpa is located between the sites of Rio Azul and Lamanai. Currently, La Milpa lies within the nature preserve owned by the Programme for Belize, a non-profit organization. PfB acquired land for the preserve from the Coco-Cola Company, who purchased land in Belize in 1988 with the goals of tearing down the rainforest to create a citrus plantation, however donated the land to Conservation and Management Project in 1990 and 1992. Following Caracol and Lamanai, La Milpa is the third largest site in Belize with the Main Plaza alone covering 18,000 square meters, making it one of the largest in the entire Maya region.
This site was first discovered in March 1938 by Sir J. Eric S. Thompson. Thompson’s work at La Milpa entailed mapping and excavating the Main Center, recording a total of 12 different stelae. Thompson noted that there was a line of stelae along the Great Plaza, however they were badly weathered. These stelae were made of a soft limestone that came from the bedrock within the PfB area. According to Nikolai Grube, the composition of this material accounted for why the stelae were so eroded. Nonetheless, Thompson was able read a date on Stela 7 of 9.17.10.0.0. (November 30, 780). Thompson’s work was short lived at La Milpa however, due a bout of dysentery that cut his season short.
After Thompson, La Milpa was not explored again until the 1970s, when David M. Pendergast and Stanley Loten conducted a field project at the site. Their work largely centered on adding to the existing map of the main plaza. After Pendergast and Loten, two archaeologists in 1979 from the Department of Archaeology in Belmopan went to La Milpa to confirm reports of looting. Their surveys confirmed that the site had been heavily looted. In 1985, the Department of Archaeology revisited La Milpa again because of reports of looting and additionally due to the speculation of the presence of marijuana fields. On this expedition, they confirmed both reports, noting that all the main structures within the site center had large trenches revealing older constructions and/or tombs.
Archaeological research continued at La Milpa in 1988 when two different groups each with different objectives started investigations. The first group, The Rio Bravo Project, went to sketch the site center. The second group, the PfB, went to research the site for the potential ability to contribute to the archaeological record. The mapping done during these investigations showed the Main Plaza, the outlying courtyards and the location of stelae, as well as the trenches from looting.
Thomas Guderjan, who was part of the original exploration by the Rio Bravo Project, returned in February 1990 to continue mapping the site and the outlying areas. Within this field season, Guderjan produced maps of four plazas, 20 residential courtyards, and 85 structures. While all these occur within a 1 km by .5 km area, Guderjan inferred that site could have had as many as 24 to 30 different courtyards. Guderjan also renumbered the stelae, however LaMAP and other scholars have since utilized Thompson’s original numbering. In February 1992, Boston University and the La Milpa Archaeological Project (LaMAP) started extensive excavations and mapping of the site.
The first field season in 1992, under the direction of Dr. Norman Hammond and Dr. Gair Tourtellot, utilized multiple different fields of study including epigraphy, mapping, and excavations, to gain as much data as possible. The LaMAP project only holds a permit to excavate within a 6 km radius from the site center. Consequently, the excavations outside of this region were part of a different project directed by Dr. Richard E. W. Adams of the University of Texas at San Antonio and later by Dr. Fred Valdez of University of Texas at Austin, under the Programme for Belize Archaeological Project (PfBAP).
Research within the first years was conducted at four main areas. The first being the La Milpa Center (LMC), second the three radiating radial transects from LMC, the third area consisting of four minor plazas, and finally, the fourth consisting of 15 random 250m by 250m survey blocks. Additional research has been research conducted by the Ancient Maya Land and Water Use Project, which has investigated the water drainage from the site center outwards.
The site is situated on a ridge roughly 1 km across, running from North to South, with the drainage going to the western side. There are no natural water sources within the site, however there are two large aguadas that would have held water through the dry season. While there are no other permanent water sources, in 1992 Vernon L. Scarborough investigated the possibility of two other reservoirs which were initially stone quarries thought to retain water.
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La Milpa
La Milpa is an archaeological site and an ancient Maya city within the Three River region of Northwest Belize bordering Mexico and Guatemala. La Milpa is located between the sites of Rio Azul and Lamanai. Currently, La Milpa lies within the nature preserve owned by the Programme for Belize, a non-profit organization. PfB acquired land for the preserve from the Coco-Cola Company, who purchased land in Belize in 1988 with the goals of tearing down the rainforest to create a citrus plantation, however donated the land to Conservation and Management Project in 1990 and 1992. Following Caracol and Lamanai, La Milpa is the third largest site in Belize with the Main Plaza alone covering 18,000 square meters, making it one of the largest in the entire Maya region.
This site was first discovered in March 1938 by Sir J. Eric S. Thompson. Thompson’s work at La Milpa entailed mapping and excavating the Main Center, recording a total of 12 different stelae. Thompson noted that there was a line of stelae along the Great Plaza, however they were badly weathered. These stelae were made of a soft limestone that came from the bedrock within the PfB area. According to Nikolai Grube, the composition of this material accounted for why the stelae were so eroded. Nonetheless, Thompson was able read a date on Stela 7 of 9.17.10.0.0. (November 30, 780). Thompson’s work was short lived at La Milpa however, due a bout of dysentery that cut his season short.
After Thompson, La Milpa was not explored again until the 1970s, when David M. Pendergast and Stanley Loten conducted a field project at the site. Their work largely centered on adding to the existing map of the main plaza. After Pendergast and Loten, two archaeologists in 1979 from the Department of Archaeology in Belmopan went to La Milpa to confirm reports of looting. Their surveys confirmed that the site had been heavily looted. In 1985, the Department of Archaeology revisited La Milpa again because of reports of looting and additionally due to the speculation of the presence of marijuana fields. On this expedition, they confirmed both reports, noting that all the main structures within the site center had large trenches revealing older constructions and/or tombs.
Archaeological research continued at La Milpa in 1988 when two different groups each with different objectives started investigations. The first group, The Rio Bravo Project, went to sketch the site center. The second group, the PfB, went to research the site for the potential ability to contribute to the archaeological record. The mapping done during these investigations showed the Main Plaza, the outlying courtyards and the location of stelae, as well as the trenches from looting.
Thomas Guderjan, who was part of the original exploration by the Rio Bravo Project, returned in February 1990 to continue mapping the site and the outlying areas. Within this field season, Guderjan produced maps of four plazas, 20 residential courtyards, and 85 structures. While all these occur within a 1 km by .5 km area, Guderjan inferred that site could have had as many as 24 to 30 different courtyards. Guderjan also renumbered the stelae, however LaMAP and other scholars have since utilized Thompson’s original numbering. In February 1992, Boston University and the La Milpa Archaeological Project (LaMAP) started extensive excavations and mapping of the site.
The first field season in 1992, under the direction of Dr. Norman Hammond and Dr. Gair Tourtellot, utilized multiple different fields of study including epigraphy, mapping, and excavations, to gain as much data as possible. The LaMAP project only holds a permit to excavate within a 6 km radius from the site center. Consequently, the excavations outside of this region were part of a different project directed by Dr. Richard E. W. Adams of the University of Texas at San Antonio and later by Dr. Fred Valdez of University of Texas at Austin, under the Programme for Belize Archaeological Project (PfBAP).
Research within the first years was conducted at four main areas. The first being the La Milpa Center (LMC), second the three radiating radial transects from LMC, the third area consisting of four minor plazas, and finally, the fourth consisting of 15 random 250m by 250m survey blocks. Additional research has been research conducted by the Ancient Maya Land and Water Use Project, which has investigated the water drainage from the site center outwards.
The site is situated on a ridge roughly 1 km across, running from North to South, with the drainage going to the western side. There are no natural water sources within the site, however there are two large aguadas that would have held water through the dry season. While there are no other permanent water sources, in 1992 Vernon L. Scarborough investigated the possibility of two other reservoirs which were initially stone quarries thought to retain water.