LEFABVRE DIGS BELIZE

Emilie LeFebvre stands with children from San Estevan before left for the archaeological site at Laguna de On Island.

Emilie LeFebvre standing far left, and the people she traveled with on the Earthwatch expedition.

A view of the dig site. A unit trench is being dug for mapping purposes.

Emilie LeFebvre, a sophomore at Southeast Missouri State University, went on an archaeological expedition to Belize July 27-Aug. 10.

Her aunt bought her an Indiana Jones hat before she went on her adventure.

While there she visited a few Mayan sites and also worked at an archaeological dig at Laguna de On Island, which was a Mayan Post Classic period (900-1500 a.d.) site. At this time in Mayan culture, large temples were no longer being built as the empire was in decline and soon to be eradicated by European conquerors.

The site was located on an island in a lagoon.

LeFebvre's interest turned to sketching while she was in Belize. She worked as an understudy, sketching the Mayan finds unearthed by her group.

The trip was funded by Earthwatch. And LeFebvre will receive credit for her trip and her sketches are to be used in a book being written by Marilyn Mason, Phd., a professor of archaeology at the University of Albany-SUNY.

She said the group found 15 burials, a lot of effigies and pottery.

LeFebvre said one of the best experiences was during a dig around a Mayan shrine. Mayans would take pottery and smash it around the shrines to praise their gods. She found a ceramic concentration of smashed pieces. One had a very detailed drawing of a reptilian head.

Her days began at 5:30 a.m. when children from the city of San Estevan would awake the people in her group. After breakfast, they would load up in pickup trucks and venture into the jungle about 45-minutes from town.

From there they loaded boats to cross the lagoon to the island. They would work until about 2:30 p.m. each day.

They stayed at a community center in San Estevan and their meals were catered to them from a local restaurant.

When she wasn't at the field site she was at the lab they created in the community center. There she drew sketches and performed other work that dealt with the dig.

She really enjoyed all aspects of her trip. She liked spending time in Belize for other reasons besides archaeology. She really enjoyed the laid back atmosphere.

"The biggest event in the town while I was there was they got a pay phone and everyone there went nuts," LeFebvre said.

But the bumpy rides through the jungle were at times rough and one night she woke up to a tarantula on her head, but other than a few inconveniences it was well worth the trip.

"The jungle was absolutely beautiful," she said.

LeFebvre said she would like to do it again if the opportunity presents itself.

She gained quite a bit of valuable experience from the trip that will definitely help her in her future. She is currently majoring in anthropology and is considering a double major in art so that she can go on more expeditions in the future.

Her plans for the future are to teach during the school year and to go on archaeological excursions during the summer months.

Before she left for Belize she worked at the Delassus House in Ste. Genevieve which gave her valuable experience that she used later in Belize.