Krista Lewis Schilmoeller
Final Project Paper
Introduction to Maps and Mapping
Spring 1997

Rainforests are recognized today as complex networks of diverse, vital elements, interacting to maintain a beautiful and fragile ecosystem. Purists, however, often resist the idea that there is more to the jungles of Central America than just flora and fauna, portraying the humans of the past and present landscape as intruders. On the other side of the same coin, archaeologists often attempt to extract the ruins that they study from this same context in order to attain "pure" scientific data and conclusions. Both parties avoid the study of the ruins, plants, animals and people as they actually exist and have existed, each integral parts of the same system. A study of any of these elements in isolation is only a part of the story. In order for an archaeologist to be able to reconstruct the past lifeways of an ancient people, he or she must of necessity work in and with living communities.

The El Pilar Archaeological Reserve for Maya Flora and Fauna encompasses the monumental Maya center of El Pilar, and was created in part as a model for a more conscientious and community-involved archaeological and ecological project. The El Pilar is located in the upper Belize River Valley in the Cayo region of Belize. Portions of the site extend across the western border of Belize into the Peten region of Guatemala. The El Pilar Archaeological Reserve for Maya Flora and Fauna is to be, when it is fully instituted, a bi-national peace park between the two countries.

The Monumental Maya center of El Pilar is the centerpiece of the El Pilar Archaeological Reserve for Maya Flora and Fauna. El Pilar was the preeminent administrative center of the Belize River area. It was constructed over the course of thirteen centuries, beginning around 300 B.C. and reached its height around 700 A.D. when it covered over 100 acres of monumental plazas, temples, and palaces. El Pilar is but one of a number of notable sites that exist in the park and the surrounding area. Associated with El Pilar is a neighboring sizable monumental center, Pilar Poniente, as well as a number of minor centers and plazuela (elite residence) groups.

Archaeological "ruins" are not a closed book, they have a certain amount of immortality in that they still touch people today. The creation of the El Pilar Archaeological Reserve for Maya Flora and Fauna should benefit, and be a source of pride for, the locals. The success of this reserve will ultimately be in the hands of these people. A local, independently formed group, Amigos de El Pilar, is central in helping develop community outreach and education programs. BRASS is also striving to create a living, model Maya household, both for the visitors of the park, and to help develop a sustainable agriculture for the present, based in part on the archaeological agriculture of the ancient Maya.

While the remains of El Pilar are important to the local community, the effort to preserve rainforest environments and archaeological remains is one that must be undertaken as a multi-national, and most importantly, multi-individual effort. Perhaps the largest part of any battle for preservation is convincing people that the object is something worth preserving, and that can not be done if people are not aware of what exists. Interactive media such as the World Wide Web are the perfect forum for making such information available to the public, and this project is an experiment in ways to do this. I wanted to create a system of pages that bring together interactive maps, images, and information in a dynamic way that can be explored on an individual basis.

I have tried to create an organization for the project which makes it possible to follow one's individual interests, and yet have some kind of an overall plan which would facilitate the viewer seeing all of the basic parts of the project without getting lost. In order to do this, I have created a general introductory page as the first step into the project, followed by a visual 'directory-like' page which gives an overview of the structure of the project, which is divided into three general parts, two based on interactive maps, and one containing images of the flora and fauna of the El Pilar Reserve. Furthermore, I have included links back to previous maps, and to the main introductory and directory pages on every 'dead end' page.

While the interactive maps are not yet as completely linked up as I ideally would have it, due to lack of appropriate maps, photos, and information for various areas. I see this project as one which I will pursue filling out over perhaps years as excavation and exploration proceed at El Pilar. Perhaps the most promising, yet currently unavailable area is the part of the site which extends into Guatemala.

All photos, except one, utilized in this project thus far were taken by myself during my involvement with the BRASS/El Pilar Project in 1995, and scanned in for use in this project. The photo not taken by me is noted as such, with credit given to the photographer. The maps and building plans were provided by Anabel Ford, project director. The map of the boundaries of the park was compiled from field data collected under the direction of myself and fellow surveyor-archaeologist Vanessa Bunton in the 1995 season. I scanned in these maps, then cleaned them up using various design programs including Adobe Photoshop, Fractal Design Painter, Paint Shop Pro, and Windows Paintbrush. I removed various elements from the maps which would have detracted from their purpose in this case. The individual maps of buildings, plazas, and other smaller units of the site which I used on various link pages were created from scanning in larger maps at larger scales, and then cutting out the individual areas I wished to highlight. These small maps were then pasted into their own image files, along with appropriate scales and north arrows.

The interactive maps were created using Web Hotspots, 3.0S beta. Since every part of each map was not linked up, I decided to color in the appropriate areas to indicate links. I also have included instructions for map use in the text accompanying these maps.

Text for each of the links I have kept fairly short, though there is obviously much more that could be said in each case. I have not included exhaustive text in part because Maya archaeology is not my primary area of expertise, but also consciously in an effort to make a much more visual, and consequently more immediate, impact. The overuse of text in such situations I feel would never be read by the user. By keeping the text amounts relatively low, I think the average non-archaeologist user of these pages will feel less intimidated by overwhelming amounts of information, and more likely to read and learn from the explanatory information that is provided. One way I see potential for this (or other similar projects) to expand would be to include links on each of these pages to further information, so that it would be available if the user desired, but not clutter up the primary pages for the reasons discussed above.

The knowledge gained through archaeology and such conservation efforts such as that being undertaken at El Pilar is greater when shared. My main goal with this project was to create a project that could be informative through being interactive and fun. I also wanted to explore ways to make archaeological mapping more accessible and understandable to the average person. I have really enjoyed this project and the opportunity to take this class!