The Maya's Monuments Are at Risk

The Mayan world's ancient monuments are under the same danger as Egypt's archaeological sites, which have been subjected to unlawful excavations and looting. Looters have smuggled items such as statues, vases, and other finds into the antiquities market over the years.

Locals in Guatemala and Belize are said to refer to looters of archaeological sites as huecheros, which is derived from the Maya term for armadillo, or huech. Vases, statues, and other artifacts illegally unearthed from Maya sites have found their way into the illicit antiquities market, while looters' tunnels have destroyed archaeological sites in the process. A pyramid in the Maya settlement of Xultn in Guatemala was torn in half by looters in one particularly remarkable incident. Maya artifacts have been returned to their homeland in some situations. When a carved wooden doorway lintel was discovered to have been removed from El Zotz, a Maya hamlet northwest of Tikal, the Denver Art Museum returned it to Guatemala in 1998.