K'axob
 Narrative and Images
People
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Anomalous ground patterns in the wetlands of northern Belize were
first detected from the air. Here you see the northwestern edge of
K'axob in an image taken from a tethered balloon at approximately 500
meter elevation. Note the linearity of the canals; the island fields are
visible as clumps of trees. In the upper part of the image, one of Seņor
Concepcion Campos' freshly cut sugar cane fields-which are only planted
in the uplands-is visible.
Our study of the wetlands includes the island fields and canals as well
as the gently sloping land between the wetlands and the uplands. This
intermediate zone (seen here as a broad band of forest) is argued by
some to be a surface across which colluvium from the uplands was transported
by natural erosional processes and then deposited in the fields and canals.
By excavating in this intermediate area-where the uplands meet the wetlands-we
will either lend support to or refute this explanation.
