This Site Also Demonstrates One of the Great Dangers of Archeology, Not to Life and Limb, Although That Does Sometimes Take Place.

Ellen was archeologying (?) in Central America while Raiders of the Lost Ark was playing in the theaters. As a kid, I imagined her dodging boulders and fending off snakes. I suspect the reality was slightly less lively. But, who knows? Ellen does!

Here are a few pictures from an archeology trip of hers in 1981, I think. Unfortunately, none of the pictures have her wearing leather and brandishing a whip (which would actually be a pretty cool Halloween costume).

I chatted on Facebook with her today about sharing stories of her trip. I know you didn't find the Ark of the Covenant -- *spoiler alert* it's in a government warehouse -- but what did you find down there, Ellen?

UPDATE

Ellen writes in the comments:

"In 1980 I took my first trip to Guatemala. We stayed for a week in Guatemala City. We were waiting for the crew to finish cutting the landing strip for the airplane to land in El Mirador where we would be digging. Guatemala City is built on the ancient Mayan site of Kaminal-Juyu which seemed to spew artifacts every time anyone tried to build a new road or dig a foundation for a house or dig in a garden. Part of the ruins were preserved for study and tourists. The top picture is a sign at the entrance of one of these areas where archaeologists were working. The second picture shows a roof protecting some of the excavated walls of the ancient Maya building. The bottom picture shows mounds of unexcavated ruins. These hills are ancient remains of crumbled buildings: temples, palaces, plazas, even small pyramids. We spent several hours visiting with the local archaeologists and wandering through the area."

Thanks, Ellen! Were you on a school trip? Did you participate in any digs? Inquiring minds want to know!

Ellen writes again, this time with "the rest of the story!"

"The trip was when I was a graduate student at BYU studying archaeology. We had a grant from National Geographic to dig in as site called El Mirador which is located in the Guatemalan lowlands in northern Guatemala. Most of the students from BYU had driven down a couple of weeks before and had hiked into the site by mule. The expedition leader, Dr. Matheny, received additional money for the project after they had left and called me to see if I would like to participate as well. He and his wife and I flew down in a little 4-seater Cesna airplane which we would use to fly supplies in and out of the site. We flew from Provo to Mexico and on to Guatemala where we stayed for a week in Guatemala City. That is the background for the pictures that are posted. After a week or so, we flew to El Mirador but we were not sure if the crew had cleared a landing strip for us or not so we just circled the site from above. In those days there were no cell phones. All we had was a 'walkie-talkie' which buzzed and crackled and faded in and out as we tried to communicate with the crew. We asked about the landing strip and they said something about a 'week' so we assumed that it would be another week before it was ready. But what they were trying to say was that they couldn't hear us because the batteries were 'weak'. Nevertheless, we went back to Flores, the nearest city, and were prepared to wait another week. There was a group of Guatemalan workers who were hired to help us dig who were going to hike into El Mirador with mules. They would carry a load of supplies and equipment into the site for us. I had the option of waiting a week to fly, or to hike in with these workers. I chose to hike in. It took 3 days. We slept in hammocks and used machetes to cut our way through the jungle. It was quite an adventure which I won't elaborate on here. When I arrived at El Mirador, the misunderstanding about the plane had been resolved and Dr. Matheny was already there. I could have flown in if I had waited a day or two. But I never regretted the hike. It was one of those rites of passage that every archaeologist ought to do once."