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CHAPTER 2. Fieldwork at Wild Cane Cay
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L ong shafts of sunlight shone through the mangroves, across the lagoon, and into my tent. It seemed as if I hadn’t slept. During the night, the eerie darkness — uninterrupted by city lights — had intensified the sounds of falling coconuts, the rustling of palm fronds, and the roar of unidentified motorboats passing the cay. I had listened intently as each boat approached — and relaxed as its engine noise dissipated in the distance. Whether the occupants were fishers or drug dealers, I was relieved that nobody was interested in stopping at our camp. I considered that Frank and Adel’s presence on the island was well known and thus afforded us a buffer from visitors. Still, I had noticed Frank’s rifle over the doorway in the house. The prospect of three months of sleepless nights was discouraging. Emerging from my tent I was distracted by thousands of tiny sandflies and heard the swatting sounds and moans of my crew. We hustled to the house for breakfast, drawn by the smell of coffee and fresh bread. Adel had ignited coconut husks on the outside landing at the top of the stairs by the kitchen. The acrid smoke brought tears to my eyes but thankfully repelled the sandflies. A smile covered Adel’s face and brightened the room as she welcomed us to sit at her small mahogany table, scrubbed raw and clean, and now crowded with my crew, Frank, and Adel. In what was to become a typical breakfast , she had made fry-jacks to accompany our oatmeal and coffee. Fry-jacks are freshly made flour tortillas cut in half and deep-fried in hot oil until they puff up. They are a staple for breakfast in Belize and are often served with refried beans, stewed chicken, or scrambled eggs.1 17 CHAPTER 2 FIELD WORK AT WILD CANE CAY As the months passed, I realized that Adel liked to cook for us whatever we brought her, which was basic considering my meager budget, the lack of refrigeration , limited provisions in Punta Gorda, and our infrequent expeditions to town. Supplied with flour, baking powder, yeast, and lard, Adel prepared various local breads that tremendously enhanced our diet. Even if we went to town, the only bread available there was the sliced, white variety that had withstood a punishing trek from Belize City. We had the luxury of homemade breads such as johnnycakes. They were made in a cast-iron pot with coconut-husk coals below and on top of the pot, which was placed in a metal drum under the house. The flying, flaming coconut husks constituted a slight danger because they occasionally set the house on fire. However, these fires were easily spotted and extinguished, and they cropped up only in a strong wind. Rice and beans, fried fish, land crabs, johnnycakes, fry-jacks, tortillas, eggs, hot coffee, and fresh fruit, with occasional canned meat or fresh chicken after a trip to town, were served to us with the regularity of a mother’s care. Adel stood at the kitchen window washing dishes in a plastic basin while we ate. The sun glistened against her chocolate-brown eyes, catching leathery wrinkles formed by an innate good humor. Wisps of white hair escaped from a tight bun at the nape of her neck as she emptied the water basin out the window. Her flannel shirt was tucked into a patched, green skirt. Wearing nylons and slippers, she dressed every day in expectation of visitors. Between bites, I explained our day’s objectives to my students, the Maya workers, Frank, and Adel. Our first task would be to make a map of the island using the survey equipment we’d brought. This would require clearing the ground of palm fronds and other vegetation. While we were mapping, we would set up a grid of staked squares and then collect artifacts from the surface of each square. Spatial differences in the quantity or type of artifacts on the ground surface might indicate that different activities were carried out at different places on the island. We would also set out locations for our excavations using the mapping equipment. I anticipated that mapping and establishing the excavation sites would take several weeks. After that we would begin excavating. As I glanced past Sylvestre, he placed a handful of obsidian blades on the table (figure 2.1).2 With straight, black hair and light brown skin the color my students...