Digital Revolution As Agent for Repatriation ...

April 30, 2007

A writer for El Porvenir in Monterrey, Mexico, suggests that the digital revolution will enable countries to repatriate manuscripts and other artifacts that have been lost over the centuries to other nations.

Gustavo Mendoza Lemus says that the effort by Google and others to digitize the world's libraries means that lost documents can be returned to the country of origin, even if it is only a copy. He quotes Jorge Luis Due?as, national archivist of Mexico, who said that digitization will overcome past political or bureaucratic controversies between nations, and facilitate the "conformation of history in nations."

Many of the most important documents related to the history of Mexico reside in other countries. Many pre-Columbian documents, or those generated after the conquest, are in repositories in Europe, primarily in Spain. Digitization, says Luis Due?as, "will offer the possibility of integrating the history of all countries, clarifying a process that would is complicated because many documents exist that are in private collections."

For example the Newberry Library in Chicago has a 1524 manuscript that contains a descriptive map of Gran Tenochtitlan and a sketch of the Gulf of Mexico made by the official cartographer of Hernan Cortes. This map will be part of a special exhibition of maps held this fall at the Field Museum in Chicago. And the Bancroft Library at Berkeley holds important documents related to the history of Chichen Itza, Chiapas, Verapaz, which, if digitized, will be available around the world.

You can read the article in its entirety here: http://www.elporvenir.com.mx/notas.asp?nota_id=129731

Chich?n Itz??For Sale?

April 23, 2007

A real estate company is offering for sale a smidgeon over 200 hectares (almost 500 acres) ?within five minutes? of Chich?n Itz?. The property, which lies northeast of the archaeological zone and due east of Piste, asks for an opening bid of $9.

Reading the fine print reveals that you can?t win the property for $9. The price is actually $9 per square meter, or roughly $20 million, one assumes in US currency. And if you do bid, ?you are not entering into a contract but merely expressing an interest to buy the property subject to Terms and Conditions.?

According to the sellers, the property is ?excellent for an eco-tourism project,? which is defined as golf courses, golf clubs, hotels, spas, houses, etc. The property has already been approved for ?50 rooms per hectare? and three-story buildings. There is a 6-meter egress into the property, and the approval to hook it up to the regional electrical grid.

Based on a very blurry map on the listing, the property seems to be a consolidation of three parcels, named ?San Marcos,? ?San Isidro? and ?San Lucia.? Comparing the map to satellite photos of the region, the land appears to be undeveloped, devoid even of milpas.

The ancient city of Chich?n Itz? extended into that area, so there might be ruins on the property, although the advertisement does not say so.

The seller apparently is a company called Investments Del Castillo (www.investmentsdelcastillo.com), and the property is one of two listed. The Web sitge offers some additional information, explaining that the geology is limestone, flat and stable, not subject to floods because there are no rivers, not seismic because it is not a volcanic zone. Potable water is available at a depth of 25 meters via extraction wells.

Link to eBay auction here.

Chich?n Becomes Political Football

April 20, 2007

In his bid to become governor of Yucatan, Xavier Abreu Sierra, the former mayor of Merida, promised to build a highway connecting Chich?n Itz? with Uxmal, the Diario de Yucatan reported.

Currently tourists who want to visit both sites have to take an indirect route through Merida.

Abreu Sierra spoke in Muna, the closest town to Uxmal, and therefore would be one of the direct beneficiaries of such a highway. Currently, there is only a major highway connecting Muna with Merida. Another highway, less traveled, connects Muna with Felipe Carrillo Puerto to the southeast.

During a previous campaign promise, Xavier Abreu pledged to extend a branch of the Felipe Carrillo Puerto-bound highway that goes to Peto. From Peto, only narrow, secondary roads continue to the northeast. The candidate promised to build a major highway from Peto to Valladolid.

Once that work is completed, there will be three major highways into Muna ?so that the tourist can come this way,? Abreu Sierra said.

"How's My Voting?"

April 18, 2007

Is Mexico's campaign to promote Chichen Itza as one of the new Seven Wonders of the World working? We'll find out May 7.

The organizers behind naming the new world wonders announced recently that they will release preliminary voting statistics on May 7 and again on June 7. The voting will close and the seven wonders will be announced on July 7--7/7/07.

Unofficial word is that the campaign is working and Chichen has bettered its position from one of the second 7 to one of the coveted top 7. But that is unofficial. The truth will be known in three weeks.

Children of Sacrifice

April 17, 2007

Did they or didn't they? Only their hairdresser knows for sure.

In the case of the children of Tula, were they ritually decapitated (certainly a detail that even the worst hairdresser could not miss)? A month ago construction workers near Tula discovered a mass grave containing the decapitated skeletons of 24 children aged 5 to 15, according to Reuters.

Tula is believed to have been the capital city of the Toltecs, and either was the model for, or was later built to evoke the ancient Maya city of Chich?n Itz?, which fell under Toltec rule sometime after the 10th century.

Luis Gamboa, an archaeologist, told the news service that the victims had been buried with a small statue of Tlaloc, the rain god. "To try and explain why there are 24 bodies grouped in the same place, well, the only way is to think that there was a human sacrifice," he told Reuters.

At Chich?n Itz?, people were sacrificed to Chaac, the Maya rain god, by casting them into the Sacred Cenote. Many of the skeletons recovered from the cenote were of children.

Read the entire story about the Tula discovery here: http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSN1636567520070417

Escaping Cuba through Chich?n Itz?

April 9, 2007

Over the past two years, the number of Cubans fleeing the home country to Mexico has tripled, according to Mexican military sources. The refugees are evading authorities by posing as tourists going to Chich?n Itz?.

According to El Universal, many Cubans are escaping the island in first class accommodations. Earlier this year, the movie star Giovanni Valladares Ramirez, formerly of Cuba, has supposedly been transporting his fellow countrymen from Cuba to Cancun ina luxury yacht. The yacht belongs Jose Perez Osomo of Holbox, who soon will have Pablo as a neighbor.

Apparently yachts and other luxury craft are regularly smuggling Cubans between the island and Cancun, Isla Mujeres or Cozumel. The Cubans are picked up at sea, given tourist garb such as Bermuda shorts and sport shirts, and provided with fake documentation such as passports and tourist cards. Once they reach Mexico, they are transported to tourist buses to be taken by ground to the United States.

If they are stopped by authorities, the Cubans are instructed to say they are headed to Chich?n Itz? or Merida, depending upon where they are stopped.

As a public service, I am preparing a Spanish-language comic book all about Chich?n Itz?, so if stopped these refugees can speak intelligently about the ancient city as if they had just been there.

Tourism by the Numbers

April 5, 2007

Slightly more than four of five international visitors to Yucatan would recommend a similar vacation to a friend, according to a study by Redes Turismo released by the state department of tourism. "Sistema de Inteligencia Competitiva-Yucat?n" reports on Yucatecan tourism for 2006.

An 82.1 percent approval rating, while good, falls short of other comparable tourist destinations, which more frequently rate in the low 90s percentile. This becomes even more critical when one considers that the way most tourists learn of Yucatan is from friends and relatives.

What people like most about the region is the amiability of Yucatecans, followed by the archaeological zones, the food, the beaches, the culture and the beaches, in that order. Apparently what the tourists did not like about Yucatan was the heat (not much can be done about that), dirty streets, downtown traffic in Merida, the expensive transportation (?) and the poverty of the region.

The most critical statistics for this blog are of visitors to Chich?n Itz?. The report says that 2 million people visit every year. However, 62 percent of the visitors to Yucatan are of national origin; less than 10 percent originate from the United States. If we can extrapolate from those figures, that means only 200,000 people per year who visit Chich?n are from the US.

On the plus side, most earn more than $50,000 per year, and can therefore afford a $25 book. However, most travel with their families, which means the number of households visiting Chich?n is probably closer to 75,000 per year. This greatly cuts down on the number of potential sales, as I doubt I can sell more than one book per household.

C'mon Yucatan. You can do better. Get those numbers up, willya?

Chicxulub Asteroid No Help to Mammals

April 10, 2007

For years the theory has been that mankind rules the planet earth today thanks to the Chicxulub asteroid which crashed into the earth 65 million years off of what is today the coast of Yucatan. That cataclysm wiped out the reigning species, the dinosaur and allowed mankind's mammalian ancestors to take over the planet.

Turns out the theory is crap.

The Chicxulub asteroid or comet not only wiped out the dinosaurs, according to the theory, but it also created the geologic conditions that created cenotes, such as the Cenote Segrado at Chich?n Itz?, and also the oil reserves found beneath the Gulf of Mexico.

While there is no disputing something wiped out most of the dinosaurs around the time of the asteroid/comet, the theory that mammals used that opportunity to take over has been disproved-for now. Specifically, scientists have postulated that once the dinosaurs were out of the way, mammals evolved at explosive rates, and in their diversity adapted to live in all habitable sections of the earth. However, researchers from around the world proved that after Chicxulub, mammals had already made their move, but their growth as a class of animal life did not occur until 10 million years later.

Using DNA modeling technology, scientists have been able to prove that the class mammalia evolved and split into its major subgroupings long before the extinction event, which is called the K-T Boundary. They also proved that these groups remained relatively constant until a later wave of evolution 55 million years, a period of global warming. "Most orders of placental mammals - what I mean by that is cats and bats and whales and people - appear at the Eocene," said Dr Rob Asher of the University of Cambridge. Furthermore, not all dinosaurs species disappear after the K-T boundary. "There was a period of several million years at the end of this period which witnessed several extinctions of non-avian dinosaurs. So the old textbook idea that at the K-T boundary dinosaurs disappeared and mammals appeared is a bit of a straw man."

Castillo No Solar Calendar, Expert Claims

April 4, 2007

El Castillo, Chichen Itza's temple to Kukulcan, is not a solar calendar as some claim, according to a faculty member at the Universidad Aut?noma de Yucat?n.

There are 91 steps rising up the face of El Castillo, which some believe equate to one-quarter of the solar year. By that theory the four staircases equal 364, and when adding the platform on the top makes 365, the number of days in a year. But Jose Roman Moguel Roberts, a specialist in the Anthropology, believes that theory is wrong.

In a recent edition of Milenio, Moguel Roberts explained that "the number 91 is from the sum of the 13 days of the Bucxok, that the Chilam Balam de Man? repeats 20 times, giving a total of 1820.

"He explained as well that the number 91, divided between the 13 days of the sacred account, gives the result of seven, which is the number of isosceles triangles of light that project on the north face of the pyramid when the spring and autumn equinoxes occur.

"In the same way, he said, 1820 divided by 91 gives 20, which are the number days in the Maya month ...

"Also, he indicated, 1820 divided by the 260 days of the Bucxok calendar gives like result of seven, the number of the triangles. The division of 1820 by the 52 years, in which the first day of the Bucxok returns to its original position, is ?35."

No word yet on whether Moguel Roberts' discovery has altered the very face of Maya mathematics. I consulted an expert on Maya math, who told me that Moguel Roberts' discovery "was BS ... that's what I and other catty folks call FM--F***ing Math."

Followup: Mexico to Mel Gibson: No Thanks

April 3, 2007

Some Mexicans want nothing to do with Mel Gibson after he cursed at a latina professor following a showing of Apocalypto last month at California State University at Northridge.

Sara Zapata-Mijares, president of the Federaci?n de Clubes Yucatecos, told La Opinion that her group was planning to approach Gibson to seek his public support to name El Castillo in Chichen Itza one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. The group has now decided to have nothing to do with the actor/director after last month's confrontation with Professor Alicia Estrada. Estrada, who according to witnesses harangued Gibson for several minutes following a special screening of Apocalypto, was told by the actor to "f*** off" and to "make her own movie."

"We wanted to meet with him [Gibson] before film was released, because we were moved that it was going to speak of our people, our culture and in our language, and we wished to have the opportunity to see some scenes," Zapata-Mijares said. The group contacted Gibson's representatives, but never received a reply. "I imagine that Mr. Gibson is very occupied."

The group was going to approach him again, this time for his help to promote Chichen, but after the Estrada incident, decided against it.

There has been no comment from the Gibson camp.

Mel Gibson to Maya: "F*** off!"

April 2, 2007

Mel Gibson is in the middle of another controversy, but this time he seems to be getting a bad rap._

Last week Gibson was a special guest at California State University, Northridge, on March 23 when Alicia Estrada, an assistant professor of Central American studies, berated the director/actor during a Q&A session.

After letting Estrada rant for several minutes, Gibson told her to "F*** off" when she wouldn't turn over the microphone to others. Estrada had to be escorted from the room.

No reporters were present at the event, so the articles that came from it mainly consisted of quotes from Estrada and from Gibson's representatives. However, two first-hand accounts of the event appeared on blogs, and from the sound of them, it appears Gibson had been more than patient with Estrada and her colleagues. What follows are those two accounts. The first is by "Teh Snarky One":

_*Apocalypto...and Gibson!*_

_batshit insanity_

_So...I don't if you guys HEARD yet, but there was an INCIDENT at my school last night ... This woman stood up and asked if he thought he was being racist and his response to the comments that the way he portrayed the Maya in the film was racist. He said No and stated (very calmly) that he was insulted that she said he was racist._

_Another question was asked by somebody else. Everything was hunky dory._

_Then the microphone was passed to a man who stood up and began reading from a paper in Spanish. We all assumed he was asking a question and that somebody would translate. After around two minutes of no question, all began to realize that this was a political demonstration. The professor who was leading the discussion said "Please get to your point." The woman Alicia Estrada stood up and said "I'll translate for him." She went into an entire tirade about the movie being racist and that he was portraying and adding to the negative stereotypes of the Maya people. She asked him very patronizingly if he was aware of certain Maya scholars. He said that he knew them very well._

_Mel Gibson responded with the fact that he'd done his research. He'd gone to the temples and seen the murals and everything. He'd read the books. He read books by the man who was a Maya and brought to Spain where he was put on trial for still going about his traditional ways. He was using the eye witness testimony of a Maya man to give backbone to his story._

_She kept accusing him of being racist, irregardless of the fact that these things DID happen in the Maya culture. The faculty of CSUN turned off her microphone and Mel Gibson said "No, let her talk. Please." And she became angry and said that her voice was being silenced even now by the fact that they were turning off her microphone. Mel Gibson said "I'm listening to you! I can still hear you!" She began berating him again and accusing him of not doing ANY research. He kept repeating that he HAD done his research and that the story was not about portraying the Maya as violent people but it was a chase story and about a man trying to get back to his family. He then said "Lady, you're nothing but a troublemaker and Fuck OFF!"_

_At which point the AUDIENCE cheered. They were there with the SOLE purpose of putting on a demonstration. Mel Gibson was at that school to give the Anatomy of Film Production class an opportunity to ask questions and some faculty were welcomed in to see the film themselves. There was a LINE of students wrapped around the building and only 22 were allowed in._

_So, I'm sorry. I didn't find the film racist, even being a "savage" myself. We were there to ask the filmmaker questions and to get the answers. That woman turned it into a politics and had every intention of causing a scene._

_Every student who was there was embarrassed and humiliated that one of our faculty turned what was supposed to be a special treat into an obnoxious attempt to gratify one's own ego._

_Now at this point...had I been God? He totally would've been let back into the fold. But that's just me. Because Sabrina!God is very forgiving and generous. Because as far as I'm concerned, he's still working off that whole drunken Jew bashing._

_SO, thank you ASSISTANT Professor Estrada. You have successfully embarrassed us all._

The following is an account from another blog. The author is anonymous:

_I thought you all might be interested in a screening report of a showing of Apocalypto that Mel Gibson hosted at CSU Northridge. If not well, I'm writing this to sort out my thoughts of a very strange night, the pre and post screening seemed liable to break out into a Gangs Of New York style bloodbath at anarchy ?

_The film started, was wonderful, and then Gibson came in to a standing ovation that lasted a long long time. The Q&A started innocuously enough with questions about the film's difficult locations, Gibson's friendship with the actors, his cinematic theories, and the techniques that made the film. Gibson was charming and easy going, dropping the F-bomb with sardonic glee. Gibson also talked about the controversy over the research he did on the film, citing his sources, his methods and his partners he ended it with a hearty statement of "They're all full of bullshit." He explained that Yucatan language really was that dirty and the subtitles like "He's fucked" were not exaggerated._

_This last question was somewhat appropriate, because soon after a woman identifying herself as "The Professor" and three or four extremely pissed off looking Mayan's stood up and got a hold of the microphone. Before she opened her mouth the faces of the faculty fell, they had ****ed up and they knew it. Not only had they not screened this person they had given her the God Damn microphone, they where screwed they had stepped up to the big leagues and had managed to hit a foul ball that not only flew into the parking lot and broke the owners windshield but also killed his baby in the backseat. And when the woman started to talk, well they began to look like they where attempting to figure out how to vomit, weep crawl away and slit their wrists all at once. The woman started calling Gibson "A racist" and "ignorant" while the other Mayans chanted in Spanish. Gibson insisted that she say her piece, interrupting her only when she called his potrayl of Mayan's negative to which he replied "Oh you mean like the guy who loves his wife and son? Like the families and people trying desperately to survive?" and then he started by telling her about the people he read, then rapidly went ape shit with "Read a ****ing book." And "Make your own fuckinging movie". Gibson was cheered the protestors where booed and then forcibly removed._

_Now I'm no fan of racial profiling but when five Mayans come to a screening with STACKS of files under their arms, and the film you are screening has been under fire from Mayan groups, well you don't assume they're collecting for The Red Cross. But it's a good thing that they let them in instead of you know some freaking students._

_Anyway, I have to give Gibson some real credit here, he could have cut the interview short or stormed out and no one would have blamed him. Here he is going to Podunk U, showing his personal copy of the film and the department fucked up big time. Instead he stayed for two hours and talked to the students for two more hours, and remained a gracious and cool cat. However, the protest did seem to unhinge him a little and as a result he started spouting out some crazy Dennis Hopper style stuff. The microphone was quickly given to a real Latina professor who proclaimed how much she loved the film with a desperate fervor as everyone else on staff nodded and prayed to not be crushed. Gibson started his first Awesome Rant saying that he toned down the real stuff the Mayans did, and then went to describe in gory detail the way a captured King would be tortured for nine years would have his organs removed, be driven insane and then rolled down the temple steps ?

_Two hours flew by and Gibson soon left to a second standing ovation after graciously signing a few posters for the department. It was a wild night. Mel acquitted himself nicely and I strongly urge that if you ever have a chance to hear Mel Gibson speak, do so, and be sure to ask him about his Shanghai doctor._

---