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New Trends in Archaeological Investigations

Beginning in the late 1940s and continuing into the present, the Guatemalan government has focused on using archaeological sites to attract tourists. The first of such project was the restoration of the site of Zaculeu, the ancient Mam capital in the northwest highlands, financed from 1946 to 1949 by the United Fruit Company. The French Archaeological Mission carried out a similar project (1959–1974) at Iximche, the Cakchiquel capital in the central highlands at the time of the Spanish conquest, and another at Jilotepeque Viejo (formerly known as Mixco Viejo). The Tikal Project (1956–1969) was undertaken with the idea of developing it as a national park in the Peten, sponsored by the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania; with the cooperation of the Guatemalan government, almost $1 million was obtained for this project from various foundations in the United States (Rainey 1970, 3). In 1970 the project was taken over by the Instituto de Antropologia e Historia, and the investigations continue under Guatemalan direction at the present time, more recently with cooperation from Spain.

In the 1950s the Rockefeller Foundation funded an educational program in archaeology at the Universidad de San Carlos, the national university in Guatemala City, to train professionals in the field. The program was short-lived, but some of the students were able to continue their field training by participating in the Tikal Project. By 1967 the university established a formal program in archaeology in the form of a regular curriculum to obtain a professional degree. From this time forward archaeological field projects increased significantly in all regions in Guatemala. In 1981 the Universidad del Valle initiated its Department of Archaeology, where the Madeleine and Alfred V. Kidder Chair was inaugurated in 1986, providing the funds for student training.

The guerrilla warfare that disrupted Guatemala beginning in the 1960s and continued for the next thirty years seriously interfered with archaeological investigation. The conflicts causing this unrest were settled by the Peace Accords of 1998, which included new regulations concerning rights and public access to “sacred places,” often synonymous with pre-Columbian sites. Another public concern in Guatemala is the issue of national identity, and for this theme archaeological, historical, and ethnohistorical information is essential and is receiving more attention. The ethnohistorical studies of the Quiche by Robert Carmack in the 1970s are a good example of the type of work being done in this area. The recently published Historia General de Guatemala is helping to incorporate the archaeological, historical, and ethnohistorical information into the educational system at all levels.

A law issued in Guatemala in the early 1980s requires construction companies to finance at least a year of excavation on the land on which they wish to build, especially if it is suspected that archaeological remains are present. The law has facilitated archaeological research in many areas, especially on the south coast and at Kaminaljuyu, located on the southwestern fringe of the modern capital of Guatemala City. Nevertheless, although more public attention is being drawn to archaeological information through education and the media, investigation is being seriously hampered by urban expansion and rampant looting.

The accompanying table presents a summary of some of the archaeological projects carried out in Guatemala since the 1970s.

Matilde Ivic de Monterroso and Marion Popenoe de Hatch