Humans are primates, too!

10:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 12, 2010 – La Casa, Palenque, Mexico

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Today was the first day of our four day break so Evelyn, Liz, Brittany and I went to explore the world renowned Mayan ruins in Palenque National Park. We decided not to hire a guide to save money, so we did our best to see as much as we could on our own. We climbed a year’s worth of steps in just a few hours, but the view at the top of each structure was well worth it.

The modern town of Palenque is built on top of art of an ancient Mayan city state, and Palenque National Forest also camouflages the majority of the city’s old foundations. So the territories of our howler monkey subjects are in a jungle dotted with ancient, crumbling structures, and the stones we use to hop across streams have a rich history. I feel so fortunate to be working in this place and am in awe of its beauty, both natural and man-made. It definitely looks like something out of a movie, and I feel like “Diana Jones” walking around with my beige field clothes and satchel. It was also fitting because the four of us have an interest in the non-human primate side of anthropology, but this gave us a chance to experience something closer to home.

The Mayan city that is now referred to as Palenque spanned from about 300 B.C. to 800 A.D., soon after which the Mayan civilization declined and the city was overtaken by the forest. Out of the roughly 500 buildings that originally existed, 34 have been excavated. The Temple of Inscriptions, one of the most famous Mayan buildings, contains the tomb of K'inich Janaab' Pakal as well as tablets inscribed with hieroglyphics recounting historic events. This building is no longer open to the public, but is now opened only for political leaders and journalists, according one of the guides. “But I’m a journalist!” I exclaimed. He said I need to comeback with credentials from National Geographic, so that’s my plan.

Dr. Estrada came over this evening to give another talk—this one was about the conservation status of black howler monkeys and other primates across the world. It included horror stories of what happens to those captured and sold to the pet trade. The rehabilitation clinic that we work in conjunction with is starting a program where they pair the infant howler monkeys with female dogs to act as companions and provide the stimulation of fur that humans lack. This will allow them to cling to the back and belly as they would their real mother. When the juveniles get older they are put with others of their own kind, to socialize and potentially prepare for reintroduction to the wild. It was a really interesting lecture, and I’m excited that we’ll be able to see this new method being put into practice firsthand.

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