Preserving Ancient History
Atlas Weathering Services Group, An independent testing lab from Arizona was
contracted to set up an environmental monitoring system in a recently
discovered pyramid located in Petén, Guatemala, to the Northeast of Uaxactún in the spring of 2007. They were discovered by
archeologist William Saturno who stumbled upon the pyramid while searching in
the forest for geological sites. Saturno went into the pyramid for shade as he
was turned around and extremely dehydrated. To his disbelief he had accidently
discovered an extremely rare find that would change his life forever.
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The Atlas Weathering Services Group lead project engineer that was sent to set up the series of data loggers was Duncan Maciver. The pyramid constructed in 100 B.C. had been sealed off for centuries until it was discovered in 2001 and had experienced the ravishing of site robbers who had escaped with little to show of. This allowed for the immaculate preservation of the murals found there today. Maciver was sent to Guatemala City in 2006 to pick up the necessary equipment to set up the environmental monitoring system at the pyramids, but his trip was delayed after a week of extensive searching through out agencies that he described as “places you don’t want to inside be for too long” due to bureaucratic misunderstanding.
In March of 2007 Maciver again arrived in Guatemala to retrieve the equipment and head deep within the Tikal Forest. He packed himself into a small pickup truck and headed three hours out of the city and another three hours of thick bumpy forest driving. He arrived to the site made of huts and tents surrounded by not much other than a few people, limited resources, thick forest, and a pyramid that could only be distinguished as a pyramid by the hut that shaded a narrow hidden entryway. “It was back to basics out there” Maciver said during our phone interview.
The Atlas Weathering Services Group lead project engineer that was sent to set up the series of data loggers was Duncan Maciver. The pyramid constructed in 100 B.C. had been sealed off for centuries until it was discovered in 2001 and had experienced the ravishing of site robbers who had escaped with little to show of. This allowed for the immaculate preservation of the murals found there today. Maciver was sent to Guatemala City in 2006 to pick up the necessary equipment to set up the environmental monitoring system at the pyramids, but his trip was delayed after a week of extensive searching through out agencies that he described as “places you don’t want to inside be for too long” due to bureaucratic misunderstanding.
In March of 2007 Maciver again arrived in Guatemala to retrieve the equipment and head deep within the Tikal Forest. He packed himself into a small pickup truck and headed three hours out of the city and another three hours of thick bumpy forest driving. He arrived to the site made of huts and tents surrounded by not much other than a few people, limited resources, thick forest, and a pyramid that could only be distinguished as a pyramid by the hut that shaded a narrow hidden entryway. “It was back to basics out there” Maciver said during our phone interview.
During the fifteen days spent at the site his
objective was to set up a self-sufficient environmental monitoring system to
record and transmit data. The system consists of three types of data loggers
that would monitor data every fifteen minutes, and record and transmit the data
collected from the site. The information collected would be used to preserve
the murals with baseline data before allowing visitors inside and possibly limit the amount of visitors allowed into the
pyramid to maximize the preservation of the ancient Mayan murals inside. The
data logger inside the pyramid was placed near enough to the murals to collect
accurate data but concealed as much as possible and monitored salinity, carbon
dioxide, conductivity, light, temperature, and moisture. This data logger is
wired with armored cable to a solar panel placed with precise calculation to
supply it with power along with five other sensors in the pyramid. There is a
similar data logger outside the pyramid to collect environmental data such as
the data loggers inside the pyramid plus wind, rain and other outdoor weather
related conditions. The information is recorded at the data loggers and sent to
another data logger on the top of the pyramid that was also set up by Maciver
to collect additional environmental information and to transmit the collected
data daily to a satellite named with the acronym NESDIS. Maciver explained the
critical timing of the data transmission, as it can only successfully be
transmitted once a day during a certain time slot with perfect alignment with
the satellite.
Configuring precise multiple sensor and solar panel
placement, along with the tedious installation of other delicate measuring
instruments, Maciver was also required to find suitable placement for clear satellite
transmission in a thick forest embedded with trees. Although he was able to trim
some trees below the pyramid for maximum exposure, atop the pyramid a
Chicozapote tree stood in the way which is strictly protected by the Guatemalan
government for its provided resources to the natives. Maciver had to find a way
around various obstacles such as these.
During the setup period Maciver had free reign of the pyramid that is
not open to the public which allowed him an astonishing inside view of ancient
murals that have been seen by few living eyes. He described the hallways as
narrow and mentioned that there were not layers as those of the Egyptian
Pyramids although it was multi layered, with branches off the main hallway. “I
wore cowboy boots on that trip and it ruined cowboy boots for me” he added as
he described his hikes to the top of the pyramid during his fifteen day stay at
the geological site. Maciver described the living conditions as bathing in
muddy waters from the flowing rivers, and meals that consisted of meat once a
week. Maciver has lived and seen many places in the world and as cultured as he
is I doubt this bothered him much. He expresses himself as very fortunate to
have had the opportunity to experience such a historical endeavor as well as to
participate in the preservation of such history.
Author: Steve Scharboneau
Special thanks to my very good friend, the lead project engineer at Atlas Weathering Services Group, Duncan Maciver
for providing his amazing story and amazing photographs.
Author: Steve Scharboneau
Special thanks to my very good friend, the lead project engineer at Atlas Weathering Services Group, Duncan Maciver
for providing his amazing story and amazing photographs.
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