We begin our journey to El Baul, Guatemala by first considering: SANTA LUCIA COTZUMALGUAPA - population 24,000 elevation 356m About l00 km east of Retahuleu is the unexciting but historically important town of Santa Lucia Cotzumalguapa. In the sugarcane fields and fincas near town stand great stone heads carved with grotesque faces and fine relief scenes. The question of who carved these ritual objects, and why, remains a mystery. The source of the monuments displayed at Finca El Baúl, are from The Cotzumalguapa Nuclear Zone in Guatemala. The Cotzumalguapa Nuclear Zone is about 10 Km2 in area and it contains the major archaeological sites of El Baúl, Bilbao, and El Castillo, and the minor site of Golón. They were united by Stone paved causeways and bridges over the many rivers and streams between them. Their main Structures were made of earthen fillings and carefully chosen stones. There have been more than 200 structures and 187 Sculptured monuments found here; mainly dating from the Late Classic Period (600-1000 AD), making this archaeological site the most important Late Classic center of political and artistic power in the Pacific area of Mesoamerica. The Pre Classic Monument 1 from Bilbao, dated 36 A.D. shows one of the earliest hieroglyphic texts discovered, so far. The people of the Cotzumalguapa area developed an original artistic style and a writing system of their own, which found expression in a large corpus of monumental sculptures. These include rock carvings, Stelas, Altars, Colossal Heads, and three-dimensional Sculptures, as well as a variety of architectural sculptures such as carved stairs, pillars and pavement stones. The Cotzumalguapa style is an extraordinary degree of realism in the representation of human figures, which in many cases may be considered as individual portraits, possibly representing kings and nobles. In many cases, these individuals participate in complex scenes, where they interact with other human characters or with supernatural beings. Sacrificial scenes are frequently seen. The local people are descended from the Pipil, an Indian culture known to have historic, linguistic and cultural links with the Nahuatl-speaking peoples of central Mexico. In Early Classic times, the Pipil grew cacao, the 'money' of the time. They were obsessed with the Mayan/Aztec ball game and with the rites and mysteries of death. Pipil art, unlike the flowery and almost romantic style of the Maya, is cold, grotesque and severe, but it's finely done. What were these 'Mexicans' doing in the midst of Maya territory? How did they get here and where did they come from? Archaeologists do not have the answers. Orientation Santa Lucia Cotzumalguapa is northwest of the Carretera al Pacifico. In its main square, several blocks from the highway, are copies of some of the famous carved stones found in the region. Several basic hotels and restaurants are available in town. The main archaeological sites to visit are: Finca Bilbao on the outskirts of town; Finca El Baul, a large plantation farther from town, at which there are two sites (a hilltop site and the finca headquarters); and Finca Las Ilusiones, which has collected most of its findings into a museum near the finca headquarters. Of these sites, Bilbao and the hilltop site at El Baul are far and away the most interesting. If you don't have a car and you want to see the sites in a day, haggle with a taxi driver in Santa Lucia's main square. It's cloyingly hot and the sites are several kilometers apart, so you'll be really glad you rode at least part of the way. If you do it a1l on foot and by bus, pack a lunch; the hilltop site at El Baul is perfect for a picnic. We used Clark Tours, they were reasonable and the guide was excellent. They took all of the work and worry out of the trip. We will explain some of the photos, but no attempt will be made to explain many of our pictures of the objects on display.