Release Date: February 8, 2006

MONMOUTH, Ill. — Archaeologist Ben Thomas will deliver a pair of lectures on ancient Maya communities Feb. 14-15 at Monmouth College.

Sponsored by the Western Illinois Society of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) and the MC Classics Department, the archaeology lecture series is free and open to the public.

Entitled “In the Shadow of the Sleeping Giant: Discovering Ancient Maya Communities Along the Sibun River,” Thomas’ first talk will be held Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m. in the lower level Huff Athletic Center classrooms.

On Feb. 15 at noon, Thomas will speak in the Whiteman-McMillan Highlander Room in the Stockdale Center. The title of that talk is “From Pulltrouser Swamp to the Sibun River: The Impact of Water on Ancient Maya Communities.”

Thomas is the education and outreach coordinator for the AIA and is assistant professor of art and archaeology at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Between 1997 and 2003, members of the Xibun Archaeological Research Project (XARP) conducted a comprehensive archaeological survey of the Sibun River and its environs in Belize, Central America. The project’s main objective was to document and evaluate the myriad factors that affected the settlement choices made by the ancient Maya settlers who lived along the banks of the Sibun River.

“Our investigation uncovered 22 ancient Maya settlements and 18 caves that contained evidence for Maya ritual use,” said Thomas, who noted the Maya communities in the region flourished from more than 1,000 years.

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