Demarest

by James Doyle
Ingram Professor of Anthropology Arthur Demarest, often described by the national news media as a “real-life Indiana Jones,” was quick to clarify that image in a recent lecture in Wilson Hall. True, Demarest is known for his discoveries of rare Maya artifacts hidden deep in the rainforests of Guatemala. But, unlike the fictional tomb raiders, his goal is not to pillage these sites, but to use them to study the ancient culture while encouraging long-term economic stability for the local communities while doing so.

“Archeology is not about the things. It’s about reconstructing sociology, politics and economics of another civilization,” he said.

By focusing on philosophical and theoretical issues discovered through archeology, Demarest has grown to become one of the foremost investigators in Mesoamerican archeology. His work focuses on the cultural region in Central America that includes such civilizations as the ancient Maya and Aztec. Amidst the challenges of corrupt governments, prevalent drug trafficking and poverty, Demarest has worked for more than two decades discovering and restoring the Maya culture.

At its peak, Maya civilization included between 10 and 20 million people in vast cities. In the area today, about 400,000 modern settlers reside in the same space but are much more destructive, he said. In the late ’80s and early ’90s, Demarest researched a region in Guatemala known as the Petexbatun, which shows the earliest evidence for the Maya “collapse” through violent and episodic warfare. His findings led him to his current research, the Cancuen archeological project.

Cancuen is a modest-size Maya city located in central Guatemala at the head of navigation of the Pasión River. Its well-deserved name means “nest of serpents,” and was largely overlooked by archeologists in the past due to the dangers of working there.

Demarest was drawn to Cancuen for three captivating features that set it apart from other Maya sites: specialized jade workshops that provide key information about ancient trade; some of the most intricate stone carvings ever found in the Maya area; and a massive palace miraculously protected by an overgrowth of foilage. The palace is the size of five or six football fields, he said. The palace is the focus of archeology with architectural restoration. Rudy Larios, one of the world’s foremost experts on restoration, has joined the Cancuen project to train locals in restoration techniques, in hopes of turning the ruins into a tourism site.

Using tourism for economic and political change is one of Demarest’s main goals, because he wants the digs to encourage a sustainable development for the local people. He enlisted help and funding from organizations such as U.S. Agency for International Development and the World Bank in order to partner his archeological research with tourism development.

Benefiting the 21 villages of Q’eqchi’ Maya people around the site of Cancuen, the development project now has funding of $5 million and includes an ecotourism lodge. Projects include teaching men and women how to make carved and woven souvenirs, drilling new wells for potable water, establishing clinics, education about proper farming and gardening practices, marketing of organic products in the U.S. and Europe, and training guides to run tourism both in the archeological park and in the caves contained in nearby mountains.

The Q’eqchi’ retain sole control over the ecotourism lodges connected to the site, as well as boat services that allow for river transport to and from Cancuen.

“I’d ideally like to see all schools at Vanderbilt engaged in this development project,” said Demarest as he encouraged the medical school and the law school to get involved through clinic volunteers and agrarian law specialists, respectively.

Now known as the Cancuen-Chisec model for sustainable development through archeology, Demarest’s revolutionary technique brings together scientists, humanitarian workers and tourism specialists in order to spur on human development and social change.

“This is the future of archeology,” said Demarest. He plans to turn over the development projects completely to the Q’eqchi’ and the humanitarian organizations after the final research season this summer. “I’m almost done with Cancuen. I’m moving north where there are big cities where no one has ever been.”

Demarest recently published a book, Ancient Maya: The Rise and Fall of a Rainforest Civilization, with Cambridge University Press.

Posted 2/21/05