On Saturday we rode our bikes five miles to the South end of the island to an archaeological dig site. In the 1970’s Mayan ruins were discovered there and ever since then groups of archaeologists have been working to uncover the remains that lay beneath the soil’s surface. UNCW students came last summer to help work on this process and although forty years have passed, the puzzle has only just begun to be solved. Jan, our tour guide, took us to a couple different sites that make up the Marco Gonzales Ruins. The site is named after the archaeologist that lead the first group to the area that discovered the first remains. Already six human skeletons have been discovered as well as thousands of pottery shards, stone stair steps leading to higher areas of elevation where more remains have been found, as well as what they believe to be a small village or town. There are designated housing structures as well as looters pits. Obsidian pieces lay among the hundreds of thousands of conk shells that surround the site. The significance of this site not only lies in the years of history, some remains dating back as far as 700 A.D. but also in the beginning steps of this process. In my experience traveling to other countries and visiting National Geographic exhibits back home in Washington, D.C. I have always experienced the big picture of the remains of mummies or Roman architecture. Although they are breath taking, and great learning experiences, I have rarely been part of the process of these exhibits or historically significant sites. I have been the visitor reading the literature and pamphlets on how the site was discovered, when it was discovered, who made it, who the skeleton belongs to, and studying these places and marks in history in school. This is the first time I have had a chance to go visit a ruins site that is still in the making. Pieces and remains are still being discovered today and very few people have had the chance to visit this new site. It is this aspect of the trip to the Marco Gonzales that was truly fascinating to me.
