Project History
PRASBX Core Values
Research.
We have learned a great deal about the socio-political history of San Bartolo and Xultun through the last twenty years of archaeological investigations. Our central focus is the synthesis of these results into publications that incorporate a review of ceramic analysis, a comprehensive radiocarbon dating effort, and recently acquired lidar data courtesy of the Pacunam Lidar Initiative. And new archaeological work is underway! Our current research initiatives explore inter-site settlement and anthropogenic impacts on local ecology, which includes a newly discovered ancient settlement that lies between San Bartolo and Xultun both geographically and chronologically: a city called Xulbe.
Conservation.
Conservation is central to our project mission. Our conservation initiatives span in situ artworks and architecture, as well as SBX materials at the Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología (MUNAE), Guatemala. Ongoing environmental and condition monitoring of buried mural chambers and stucco friezes inform our conservation plan and activities on site. The San Bartolo Mural Fragment Corpus now at MUNAE is the largest collection of mural painting held by a museum in Latin America, posing unique challenges and opportunities. Future work will focus on preventative conservation on site, stelae stabilization, and rotating new mural scenes into exhibit at MUNAE.
Community.
PRASBX collaborates with individuals and families from several communities of Petén including San Andrés, San Miguel la Palotada, Caoba, Cruce Dos Aguadas, Dolores, Dos Aguadas, Macanche, Machaquila, and Uaxactun. We seek to address the interests and concerns of these project members in our project objectives. Local groups, including the Asociación de Comunidades Forestales de Petén, the Asociación Civil Árbol Verde, the Consejo Nacional de Áreas Protegidas, and the Organización Manejo y Conservación en Uaxactun, are valued partners as we look ahead. Current initiatives include pandemic relief, accessible educational materials on SBX, and a long-term site management plan.
Our partners
The PRASBX archaeological and conservation program is conducted with the permission of the Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes de Guatemala, through the Dirección General del Patrimonio Cultural y Natural. We extend our appreciation to the personnel in the office of the Viceministerio del Patrimonio Cultural, the Departamento de Monumentos Prehispánicos y Coloniales, Ceramoteca, Supervisores del IDAEH, and the Inspectoría Regional de Flores, Petén. Our current research activities (2021-2022) are funded by grants from National Geographic Society, National Endowment for the Humanities, Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development of the Netherlands, and the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collections, and the generosity of Peter Swift & Diana McCargo and several anonymous individuals for the emergency replacement of the Las Pinturas shelter. We are deeply appreciative of the institutional support of Skidmore College, the University of Texas at Austin, The Mesoamerica Center & The Casa Herrera, the University of Alabama in Huntsville, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, Johns Hopkins University, and the Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología, Guatemala City. Lidar data is provided courtesy of the Pacunam Lidar Initiative. We are grateful for support of our community initiatives for pandemic relief from numerous donors and the Maya Relief Foundation.
Previous support for research at San Bartolo-Xultun includes project awards from: Archaeological Institute of America; Boston University; Boundary End Archaeological Research Center; Brigham Young University; Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collections; Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies; John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; National Endowment for the Humanities; National Geographic Society; National Science Foundation; Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University; Petén Archaeological Conservation Associates; Reinhart Family Foundation; Rust Family Foundation; Skidmore College; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; United States Department of State, Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation; Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala; Universidad del Valle de Guatemala; University of Texas at Austin and the Mesoamerica Center & La Casa Herrera, as well as awards to individual investigators.