Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE CRYSTAL SKULL OF LUBAANTUN
The famous Crystal Skull of Lubaantun was supposedly discovered beneath an altar in 1924
by Anna Mitchell-Hedges, the adopted daughter of a British Museum expedition leader, F.A.
Mitchell-Hedges. So the story goes, the find happened to coincide with her seventeenth
birthday, and the skull was then given to the local Maya, who in turn presented it to Anna's
father in gratitude for his assistance. According to assorted New Age mystics, the skull has
mysterious supernatural properties; Anna herself, who always refused to let it be tested, stated
that it was used by ancient Maya priests to will death on unfortunate victims.
Although the skull is indeed fashioned from a single piece of pure rock crystal, none of the
legend is now thought to be true. There's no contemporary record of its discovery, or even that
Anna was ever in Belize; Mitchell-Hedges probably bought it in an auction at Sotheby's in
1943. More to the point, when the skull was finally examined by Smithsonian scientists after
Anna died, aged 100, in 2007, it was conclusively proved to have been carved using
high-speed diamond-tipped metal rotary tools, perhaps as recently as the 1930s.
The same goes for an almost identical skull owned by the British Museum, of which the
Lubaantun skull may have been a direct copy. Both seem to have been modelled on the same
actual human head, which forensic scientists have identified as displaying European rather
than Indo-American facial characteristics.
6
The road to Jalacte
From Dump (see p.211), where the Southern Highway makes its final dogleg turn
towards the sea, another road heads directly west towards the border with Guatemala.
In the absence of any of cial name, it's colloquially known as the road to Jalacte .
Thanks to funding from the government of Taiwan, work to widen, flatten and above
all pave it started in 2011, with the ultimate aim of opening a new border crossing
between Belize and Guatemala. That prospect alarms many of the local Maya villagers,
who fear marginalization once a new through highway opens.
Thus far, however, progress has been slow; as of 2014, only the first eleven miles
beyond Dump had been paved, and the road was only negotiable in an ordinary vehicle
as far as Pueblo Viejo , another five miles on. Up to three daily buses from Punta Gorda
make it all the way to Jalacte itself, five miles further still, but it's not a route to attempt
on your own. In any case, there's no corresponding highway on the Guatemala side of
the border; lone cyclists have reported managing to continue from Toledo into
Guatemala, but as yet the crossing is not a legal exit point.
For visitors, the road offers access to attractions including villages like San Antonio ,
waterfalls at Río Blanco National Park and Pueblo Viejo and the Maya ruins of
Uxbenká . In addition, a separate road that branches south at Mafredi, four miles west
of Dump, leads to the village of Blue Creek and, eventually, southern Belize's largest
Maya site, Pusilhá .
San Antonio
6 miles west of Dump, 20 miles northwest of Punta Gorda
The founders of the Mopan Maya village of SAN ANTONIO , perched on a small hilltop
and surrounded by jungle-clad hills and swiftly flowing rivers, came from the
Guatemalan town of San Luis. It's now the largest Maya settlement in Belize, home to
around two thousand villagers, who maintain many traditions, including the worship
of their patron saint in the beautiful stone church of San Luis Rey. It's the third such
church to stand here, its two predecessors having been destroyed by fire, and features a
set of stained-glass windows depicting the twelve apostles and other saints, donated by
St Louis, Missouri.
San Antonio is also home to a couple of shops and a TEA guesthouse (see box, p.220).
Locals continue to observe pre-Columbian traditions, with a fiesta taking place around
August 25, featuring marimba music, masked dances and much heavy drinking.
 
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