The El Pilar Archaeological Reserve for Maya Flora and Fauna

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 monumental Maya center of 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 map to the right indicates the location of El Pilar reserve in red. The countries shaded dark green are those which do not include a portion of the Maya Lowlands. To skip the rest of this introduction and continue to the interactive El Pilar project, click on the reserve on this map.

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. This virtual El Pilar project was created to explore a way that the archaeology of distant and wonderful places can be acessible to even more people.

The photo to the left shows excavations revealing the stairs of one of El Pilar's largest temples, Ho Nohoch, which can be seen on the sitemap as EP 10.

For more detailed information on the El Pilar/BRASS project, as well as discussions of Maya history and chronology, please visit the official El Pilar Page. For more Maya information on the web, feel free to visit my personal list of Maya links.

For a more visual introduction to El Pilar, please continue to explore my Final Project, prepared for my Maps and Mapping class at the University of Chicago, Spring 1997.

Any inaccuracies in the information about El Pilar in these pages are the sole responsibility of the designer, Krista Lewis Schilmoeller. Permission to present infomation on El Pilar has been granted by BRASS/El Pilar Director Dr. Anabel Ford. Photographs are the original work of the designer.