BRASS/EL PILAR Program
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Directions
to the El Pilar Reserve
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- Current
Research
- Maya
Prehistory
- Project
History
- Research
Themes
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Current
Research
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- Maya
Prehistory
- Project
History
- Research
Themes
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- Anabel
Ford: Read a
short biography of the project's founder and
director.
- El Pilar Landscape: Gateway Between Two
Nations: An
informative essay on the goals and acheivements of the
BRASS/El Pilar Program.
- Fieldnotes: Check out some pictures from the
1998 field season.
- Institutional
Framework: Find
out how this multinational research effort is
organized.
- News: Catch up on current events at El
Pilar.
- Research
Opportunities:
Learn how to become involved with the project.
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Maya
Prehistory
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- Current
Research
- Project
History
- Research
Themes
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- Action
Archaeology: How
this ancient society developed, and understanding its
relationship to the resources and environment of the Maya
forest around it is the main objective of the BRASS/El
Pilar Program.
- The
Ancient Maya come
alive in this brief narrative.
- El
Pilar Video Classroom: Three Quicktime movie clips discussing
modern and prehistoric El Pilar
- Map
of the Central Maya Lowlands
- Virtual
El Pilar: Take An
Animated Tour of El Pilar.
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Cacao:
The Money that Grew on Trees
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Project
History
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- Current
Research
- Maya
Prehistory
- Research
Themes
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- Amigos
de El Pilar:
Members of the locally-based Amigos de El Pilar benefited
from presentations on archaeology, eco-tourism
opportunities, native plant uses, and the development of
cottage industries.
- Background
Information on the Site's Location: El Pilar is located twelve km
north of the western Belizean town of San Ignacio,
astride the Belize & Guatemala border.
- Community
Development: No
reserve exists within avacuum and, in order to survive
and thrive, the local population must assume a
stewardship role.
- Origin
of Research At El Pilar: The Belize River Archaeological Settlement
Survey (BRASS) was initiated in 1983 with the permission
of Belize's Department of Archaeology by Anabel
Ford.
- 1997
Mesa Redonda:
read about the first international conference for
planning the El Pilar Reserve
- Trail
Guide: Download a
copy of this informative report in Adobe Acrobat (PDF)
Format.
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Research
Themes
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- Current
Research
- Maya
Prehistory
- Project
History
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- Traditional
Agriculture is
focused on the basic production and consumption unit: the
household. These traditions rely on polycultural
strategies mimicking the native environment.
- Archaeological
Research of the
ancient Maya, ethnohistorical research, and
anthropological investigations of traditional communities
underscore the complexity of interrelationships between
cultural systems and their environment.
- Conservation of natural and cultural resources
is one of the most important global long-term goals of
the coming century. Yet, efforts to accomplish this have
often led to the compromise of important short-term needs
at regional and local levels.
- Ecology: The ecological structure of the
Maya forest today bears witness to the long and intricate
process of culturalselection that extends back more than
four millennia to the initial agricultural pioneers of
the Maya forest region.
- Ecotourism: Mesoamerica has become a
flourishing travel destination, and the Maya world has
evolved as a vital niche for adventure and
ecotourists.
- Reserve
Management:
Informed management designs are based on inventories of
the ecological and cultural resources within the
protected area.
- Themes
for Research and Development:The integrated relationship between the
natural and cultural resources of the Maya forest is
etched in ancient Maya settlement patterns and well
documented at El Pilar. Our current knowledge of the Maya
forest comes from diverse yet associated
disciplines.
- Research
Opportunities:
Learn how to become involved with the project.
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This site developed and
maintained by Eric
J.White
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