Peru's New Museums
Written by Bill Sapp

The Inka remain the most well known of Peru's ancient cultures. While Inka sites, such as Machu Picchu, are world renowned for their beauty and majesty, many recent visitors are discovering the amazing architecture and material riches that have been recovered from earlier cultures that thrived on Peru's north coast. Particularly rich Lambayeque graves have been found at Batan Grande by Izumi Shimada and the graves of a Moche Warrior-Priest and his assistant, the Bird Priest, were excavated at nearby Huaca Rajada. The Moche burials proved to be the most gold filled tombs since King Tut's was uncovered in Egypt, and some of the finest crafted prehistoric gold jewelry in existence was recovered from them. Luckily for travelers, two new museums have been built to display this material. The Lambayeque Museum houses the Lambayeque material from Batan Grande. A new building at the Bruning Museum now houses the Moche material from Huaca Rajada. In both museums, the graves of these elites have been recreated in order to display the precious treasures. The older buildings at the Bruning are now free to display some of the other remarkable material that remains part of their collection. Both museums are a regular part of the Far Horizons' Inkas and Their Ancestors, which also includes visits to magnificent highland Inka sites including Machu Picchu and Pisac. Bill Sapp leads this trip and also Hike the Inka Trail.

The Stelae of Dos Caobas
By Stanley Guenter

The town of Frontera Corozal, on the eastern frontier of Chiapas, Mexico, has unveiled its new community museum. The museum houses a number of informative and educational exhibits relating to the natural and cultural resources and history of the town and its inhabitants. The highlights to be seen in the museum are the two stelae from the nearby archaeological site of Dos Caobas. Known locally as El Rey ("The King") and La Reina ("The Queen"),

the two monuments provide valuable new information on the lives of two of the greatest kings of the ancient Maya.

The El Rey monument is carved on both sides and dates to the reign of Itzamnaaj B'ahlam the Great, one of the most famous kings of Yaxchilan. Both sides portray the ruler standing above important captives, one shown with uncovered and exaggerated genitals, a Mesoamerican symbol of humiliation. Accompanying the king on one side of the stela is a secondary noble, probably the local lord of Dos Caobas, who is portrayed performing a victory dance.

The La Reina monument portrays Itzamnaaj B'ahlam's son and successor, Yaxun B'ahlam IV, the renowned Bird Jaguar, seated between flanking nobles. Importantly, this stela informs us that this king's mother lived to between 80 and 100 years old, and by extension, that she must have been between 38 and 58 when her son was born! Yaxun B'ahlam only succeeded his father after a ten year interregnum, in which time we know from texts at other sites that another lord, Yopaat B'ahlam II, ruled the city. The La Reina monument now provides us with yet further evidence that Yaxun B'ahlam was a very minor son of his father, and that he likely struggled against a number of brothers and half-brothers to attain the throne. The Frontera Corozal museum is included on the Far Horizons' Capital Cities of the Ancient Maya, as is a visit to the incredible ruins of Yaxchilan. The May and July trips are led by Stanley Guenter.

Romans in Burgundy
By Jeremy McInerney

Over two thousand years ago the Roman legions of Julius Caesar subdued the last Gallic prince to resist them — Vercingetorix, chief of the Averni. The site of Vercingetorix's last stand was Alesia, a hill-top oppidum (fortified town) protected by its own cliffs and a palisade. From the top of the hill one can still see the valleys where Caesar's men built their camps and erected a double wall to beseige the Gauls. In the years after Gaul's pacification Alesia became a prosperous Gallo-Roman town, famous for its manufacturing and its silver-plate industry. Today, the remains of the provincial town are open to visitors. One can see the Roman theatre, the basilica where the town council and courts met, as well as the artisans' quarters. A highlight of the site is the underground temple of Ucuetis, a local Gallic deity. Other Gallo-Roman temples were a shrine to the goddess of horses, Epona, and the Mother Goddess. In the residential quarter one can still see the remains of the hypocaust used to heat the house. Later, the town of Alesia had a Merovingian basilica, one of the earliest Christian churches in France. The town became famous in the 18th century for a play showing the martyrdom of St. Reine, a performance reenacted by the townsfolk each year. The town was excavated thanks in part to the generosity of Napoleon III, who saw in Vercingetorix a model of the valiant and indomitable Gallic chieftain. Two millenia of history can be seen on a single hilltop. Undiscovered France: A Leisurely Walking Tour through Burgundy --- travel with Jeremy & Maud McInerney in July 2003.