No more Noh Mul: Contractor bulldozes Maya temple

Ruined - a chamber becomes visible as the excavator rips open the Maya mound. Image: Jules Vasquez

The Maya site of Noh Mul in Northern Belize has one less pyramid, due to a local contractor using the 20 metre high ancient structure as a quarry for nearby road works.

Reported by Jules Vasquez from 7 NewsBelize, this shocking story highlights a problem that is said to be endemic in the region.

The extent of the damage is unbelievable, as the tracked excavator and cars sit below what is left of the main mound. Image: Jules Vasquez

An important site

The site of Noh Mul was a major Maya ceremonial centre located in the Orange Walk/Corozal area of Belize. Twin ceremonial groups contain ten plazas and are connected by a sacbe or raised causeway. Those groups are surrounded by other plazas and temples and at least one ball court, and was once the centre for a polity covering nearly 20 square kilometres.

Built at a vantage point on the Hondo River to control the region’s trade routes, the site had a long life. Structures of this northern Yucatán type were built over those erected in the Classic period. Some of these new constructions covered the front of older stairways and resemble the Caracol in Chichén Itzá, southern Mexico. These later constructions support the theory that outsiders from the Yucatán settled in Noh Mul.

This important monument was first investigated in 1897 by Thomas Cann, who returned to it several times until the 1930s.

Structure partially demolished in 1940s

However, in 1940 one structure was partially demolished to provide road material for the San Pablo to Douglas highway. At least three burial chambers were uncovered during its demolition and while some of the contents were recovered by the authorities, most were either smashed or looted.

In 1972 Ernestene Green of Western Michigan University carried out some limited test-pitting in the area as part of her location analysis of sites in Northern Belize.

Layers of time are exposed to the weather, . Image: Jules Vasquez

Preservation and tourism

A major investigation began in 1982 when Norman Hammond, an emeritus professor of archaeology at Boston University began the full Noh Mul Project and by 1986 several areas relating to the ceremonial precinct and outlying zones including raised fields had been located and excavated. In the late 1980s structural consolidation began, with the hope of both preservation and tourism – however, this never fully materialised and the large pyramid returned to a mound in a cane field once again.

The Big Hill is no more

The centre shows thriving occupation in the Late Preclassic and Late Classic Periods (c.a. 350 B.C. – 250 A.D. and 600 A.D. – 900 A.D.). The name Noh Mul is Maya for “big hill” though now, Noh Mul is no more.

Prof. Hammond commented in an email that “bulldozing Maya mounds for road fill is an endemic problem in Belize (the whole of the San Estevan centre has gone, both of the major pyramids at Louisville, other structures at Nohmul, many smaller sites), but this sounds like the biggest yet.”

A Maya chamber is exposed in the upper part of the pyramid mound, as the excavator claws away the main structure. The Name of the company is clearly visible on the back of the excavator ( inset: D-Mar Construction ). Image: Jules Vasquez

Exploiting Maya monuments for decades

Vasquez reports that the name D-Mar Construction, a company owned by the UDP politician Denny Grijalva was clearly visible on the heavy equipment. Grijalva initially claimed he knew nothing about the project and referred all questions to his foreman, who refused to answer calls, then failed to turn up to any meetings.

However, Grijlava did tell the reporter that when his foreman got there, he would apologize on behalf of the company, D-Mar and the Deputy Prime Minister, Gaspar Vega. Vega’s name comes in because Noh Mul is in Orange Walk North, and the road fill is allegedly being used in nearby Douglas Village.

Vasquez asked Dr Allan Moore from National Institute of Culture and History (NICH) if it was true that the Ministry of Works had been exploiting the Maya monuments for decades in order to obtain high quality building material.

Moore replied “We have constantly informed the Ministry of Works that when they are looking for material, they should not destroy the mounds.”

An incredible display of ignorance

John Morris, an archaeologist with the Institute of Archaeology, told 7newsbelize.com’s Jules Vasquez. “We can’t salvage what has happened out here — it’s an incredible display of ignorance. I am appalled and don’t know what to say at this particular moment.”

The police in Belize said they are conducting an investigation and criminal charges are possible, as although the Nohmul complex sits on private land, Belizean law states that damage to any Maya structure, building, temple and archaeological site is illegal under the NICH Act 2003.