Every year sees a start-up period before excavation begins – and this year was no different. Camp was opened on January 14 when Brian Woodye brought four men back to start cleaning and repairs. On Thursday January 15the kitchen was open and the three ladies who staff the kitchen and the laundry were brought in to get organized. David Griffith helped Brian with the start-up by fixing various appliances and installing electric wire throughout camp. The men did camp repair for the week and also bushed the groups that will be investigated during the 2026 field season. While doing this they reported finding an open tomb north of camp that has now been added to our permit for excavation in 2026.
Adrian and Arlen (Chase) flew down to Belize on January 17 and went into Caracol to leave their luggage and other supplies on January 18. Monday the 19th was an all-day meeting with Dr. Melissa Badillo and the Institute of Archaeology to obtain the 2026 excavation permit and discuss future projects involving museum displays and the upcoming summer 2026 Belize Symposium. The storage facility (lab 2) at Caracol is in bad shape and we also discussed construction of a new camp and storage facilities, hopefully to begin this year. More supplies went into Caracol on Tuesday and Wednesday and we made arrangements for the end-of-season lunch and stay for everybody at the San Ignacio Resort Hotel on March 20.
On Thursday January 22, we picked up Gabriela Saldana and Maureen Carpenter in Cayo at Hodies and then drove to Belmopan to pick up Rumari Ku from the IOA. All of us then proceeded to Caracol to stay permanently for the field season. Friday was spent trying to unpack things and organize the two labs. On Saturday Arlen drove to the airport to pick up four University of Houston students who will be on site for the entire field season. The new road to Caracol has speeded the transportation process to and from the site significantly; the immigration and customs wait at the airport almost takes the same amount of time as it does for the Belize City- Caracol drive. On Sunday five more Belizean men came in as excavation support staff for the field season and we are now at full complement. Sunday was orientation for the new students so that everything will be ready to start excavation on Monday morning.
