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tj Hoffman | profile | all galleries >> travel_adventures >> belize_archaeology >> Nohmul, Orangewalk, Belize, Central America >> ancient belize, a formative experience. . . tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

ancient belize, a formative experience. . .

allen lutins was already a veteran of excavating NOHMUL, Belize at the commencement of the 1985 field season. allen was an interesting fellow-student during the 1980's & he continues to be an articulate and unique individual. These field operations were truly formative experiences for all involved. Memories and dreams are sure to follow everyone who entered the magic of 'las ruinas', amongst the jungle and swamps of Belize. . .
Guillermo Veloso-1983- Belikin Beers!
Guillermo Veloso-1983- Belikin Beers!		 Small Finds 1985.
:: Small Finds 1985. :: 		als_shots
:: als_shots :: 		footloose_in_belize
:: footloose_in_belize :: 		nohmul_field_excavation
:: nohmul_field_excavation ::

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tj Hoffman24-May-2013 11:00
Sorry to report that Nohmul was recently decimated (once again) in the name of modern road kill or fill!
See my May, 2013 Update:
http://www.pbase.com/meg96/nohmul_destroyed
kindest regards all,
tim.
mark bomgardner 26-Nov-2012 20:46
Hey, Ed & Guillermo! Good to hear from you guys, I hope everything is good in your lives.
I gave up field work for teaching when the joints started to give out. "I say, Nawrman, did you read my lettah? It was smashing!"
Ed Gimmi 22-Jul-2011 13:53
I often think back fondly to my time at Nohmul in '83. My experiences there left deep impressions on me. While the swirl of events are too many to recount here, some surley stand out for me. A local dance, hours lost in the forest at night (Sound familiar Guillo?), sleeping on a road to avoid snakes, the mini-village of San Juan Columbia somewhere far from camp, meandering on white roads on moonlit nights after a few Bellikins, a "Little Yummy" roast at the season's end, endless vollyball, a grotesque truck accident on my way to Orange Walk Town, Texan hosts at another camp, the limbo, a local friend offering to kill a chicken for his guests, a helicopter landing, an odd limestone head, sunsets from the big mound, and of course the wasps--though once the nest turned dark, I pounded on down the mound in a hurry--are but a few that shine in my mind. I have many photos and some journal entries from the dig and travels in Mexico immediately therafter. Perhaps we could share photos on Flickr, or the like.

I hope that you are all well. Many thanks for the memories.
guillermo veloso 18-Feb-2011 18:07
Although my archaeological career never really got started, my experience at Nohmul in 1983 is still indelibly seared into my mind.. I found this site (no pun)as I was noodling around looking for some pictures of present day Nohmul..When I was extremely surprised and happy to see pics of 1983 teammate Allen Lutins...I hope you have had a fantastic career and there is never a day that goes by when I ask myself where I would be if I were still in the field!! Some day soon I will brew a batch of Pyramid Punch and who knows....Mark..I hope you are well and yes I have some great pictures from that wet 1983 season (both meteorological and Belikin-wise)..
Mark Bomgardner 13-Apr-2006 07:01
I shared a hut with Allen during the 1983 season at Nohmul. We had some great times. Hanging with Al was always interesting. I worked with many different crews over the next 7 years, but that crew was my first and it has the best memories. There was the one incident where he unleashed giant purple wasps on the entire main dig....

One thing I cannot forget from the brush is the constant buzzing in the background. I also remember the wettest dry season in 50 years. The first two weeks it rained every night, and we students had no roofs on our huts. As soon as the roof went up on the dining hut and the lab, Norman sent us out into the trenches and left a rather lackadaisical crew of Belizians to complete the quarters. All our tarps had holes, and after several very wet nights we had to threaten a work stoppage so we could take a day to finish the roofs! We also made the mistake of assigning the two tallest guys in camp the job of building the latrine seat. Some of us (myself included) just about had to have a stepladder to get up to it.

We had lots of fun with the RAE boys who operated the equipment on loan from the military. We used these hardened veterans of the Faulklands War as ringers when we played other sites in volleyball. We managed to mangle at least one of Her Majesty's earthmovers in the main trench.
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