> Archaeology Digs> Central America

Balenbouche Estate (West Indies)
Next season unconfirmed. University of Bristol. 18th century sugar plantation, a completely unexpected early 18th century coffee works, and the remains of Carib and Arawak activity.

Belize Valley Archaeological Projects
June-August 2008. (two sessions). The Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project. Our fieldwork will continue at the site of Baking Pot, which is located on the outskirts of the modern town of San Ignacio, in the Cayo District of Belize, Central America.

Betty's Hope (Antigua)
May 26-June 16, 2008. Institute for Advanced Interdisciplinary Caribbean Archaeology and California State University, Chico. The field school is located on the Caribbean island of Antigua, at Betty’s Hope, a former sugar plantation with existing structures and a small museum located on site.

Blue Creek Project (Belize)
May 26-July 27, 2008 (4 sessions). Maya Research Program. The Blue Creek Project conducts work at several sites in upper northwestern Belize and participants (minimum age 17) will help with excavation, survey and site documentation, and laboratory processing and analyses.

BRASS/El Pilar (Belize and Guatemala)
May 15, 2008 - July 30, 2008. UC Santa Barbara. Ongoing survey in Belize and Guatemala.

Bush Mill (Jamaica)
June 7-28, 2008. San Jose State University and Caribbean Historical Archaeology. Early colonial sugar plantation and factory, excavating features associated with the boiling house, curing house, windmill, cistern, Great House, laborers enclave and much of the industrial technology of early eighteenth and nineteenth century sugar production.

Falmouth (Jamaica)
July 21-August 11, 2008. Murray State University. Falmouth is the best-preserved Georgian town in Jamaica, founded in the 1770s and relatively undeveloped since the mid-19th century.

Holmul (Guatemala)
May 8-June 5, 2007. Vanderbilt University. This field school focuses on the archaeology of the ancient Maya at the city of Holmul. Instruction will include fieldwork at Holmul and lectures during field trips to nearby Maya ruins, including Tikal, Yaxha, Xunantunich, and Caracol.

La Milpa and the Medicinal Trail (Belize)
TBA 2008. University of Massachusetts at Boston. La Milpa is a large ceremonial center - third largest Maya site in Belize - and this summer will be our project’s first season there. The Medicinal Trial site is a rural community of La Milpa consisting of three courtyard groups and associated terrace features.

Minanha (Belize)
May 10–June 15, 2008. Trent University. Classic to Terminal Classic Maya; the Social Archaeology Research Program (SARP) is a long term project focussed on the investigation of ancient Maya sociopolitical interaction.

Palmarejo (Honduras)
May 29-June 24, 2006. University of South Florida. The prehispanic site of Palmarejo, occupied during the seventh through tenth centuries A.D., is a sizable village composed of nearly 100 buildings that represent temples, palaces, and a ball court.

Programme for Belize Archaeological Project (PfBAP)
May 20-July 11, 2008 (three sessions). University of Texas at Austin. The field school program involves survey, excavation at several Maya sites, and laboratory experience working directly with excavated Maya artifacts.

San Miguel de Allende (Guanajuato, Mexico)
June 22-July 19, 2008 (3 sessions). Earthwatch Institute. Paleontological excavations, includes at least 45 genera of mammals, from mastodons to mice, revising current models about the biogeography and evolution of major taxa, such as horses, dogs, camels, and rabbits.

Shirley Heights (Antigua, West Indies)
May 17-June 14, 2008. University of Calgary. Excavations at a wooden officer's barracks and associated features ca. 1790s (Napoleonic War Era).

St. Eustatius (Netherlands Antilles)
January-August 2008. St. Eustatius Center for Archaeological Research (SECAR). St. Eustatius (or Statia) was the primary trans-shipment center between Europe, the West Indies and the Americas between 1770 and 1800. For much of the American Revolution, Holland and France supplied US forces with much needed arms and ammunition through this port.

Uxbenka Archaeological Project (Belize)
5 weeks during June and July, 2008. University of New Mexico. Research will focus on initiating a comprehensive settlement survey, excavations in and around the north (Group B) ballcourt complex, and the recovery of soils and sediments to aid in climate reconstructions.

Western Belize Regional Cave Project (Belize)
June 3-August 3, 2007. Indiana University, the Belize Valley Archaeology Project. The sites chosen for the 2004 research season include the caves Actun Chapat (Cave of the Centipede), Actun Halal (Cave of the Dart), and other recently discovered caves that were utilized by the ancient Maya.

Wingfield Estate (St. Kitts)
dates to be confirmed. University of Bristol. Historical landscape archaeology field school at St. Kitts.