Chapter 3

After lunch, I performed a brief but thorough examination of the cave and the lake inside it. I could see where the cave’s original opening had purposely been covered with rocks and adobe. A previous group had enlarged the cave opening and the current opening was plenty big for me to enter with my tanks and gear. The lake was about fifteen meters inside the cave and the approach to the lake was level and unobstructed.

The lake was about five meters by six meters; the surface of the water was one meter below the floor of the cave. I lowered a metal cup tied to a piece of string and drew a cup of water. Shit, but it was cold. After tying my thermometer to a line, I dropped it into the water for a few minutes while I tested the pH of the water in the cup. “Ten degrees (50° F),” I muttered, shivering. Next, I tossed the cup into the water and let it sink. When it stopped sinking, I pulled it back up and measured how much of the line was wet. The water was only six meters deep. Unless there was a drop-off or there were underwater branches, the diving should be simple and straightforward.

When I finished in the cave and joined the group excavating the center of the village, they’d used my diagram of the village and had drawn lines in the dirt between three sets of trenches to pinpoint the village center. Grabbing my tool kit, I helped dig, carefully removing a millimeter of soil at a time. The soil went into a five-gallon plastic bucket so we could screen it once we filled the bucket. The screen was set up on sawhorses outside the second wall. It would catch any small items or pieces of artifacts hidden in the dirt.

By dinner, we had completed a trench exposing the entire curved edge of the calendar; a second trench exposed the straight, eastern edge. A final trench perpendicular to the straight side divided the semi-circle into two quarter-circles. The stone semi-circle had been buried beneath about fifteen cm of dirt. The perimeter trenches extended about ten cm beyond the edge of the stones, both inward and outward. I took lots of pictures, several showing the location of one or more of the loose stones lying atop the stone base. They’d been part of the pointer that cast a shadow.

Reviewing the placement of small, obsidian stones embedded in the outer edge of the half-circle, this solar calendar looked like it had been used to show the spring and autumn equinoxes, the summer and winter solstice, and the day the sun passed directly overhead. Other raised stones along the edges had probably indicated ceremonial days.

I’d seen numerous photos and diagrams of this sort of solar calendar, although usually on a much grander scale. Think Stonehenge or the tops of Aztec and Mayan pyramids--as well as similar sites built by numerous ancient civilizations. Even several North American native cultures had solar observatories.

When the shadow from the tip of the pointer fell on one of the five black marker stones situated around the outer edge, it had indicated the day of the equinox, solstice, or sun passing directly overhead. Ancient civilizations used this type of calendar to determine when to plant their crops, as well as for determining which days to hold their religious ceremonies. Those ancient civilizations also tracked lunar movements and the movements of other planets, especially Venus and Mars. Some of their cosmological calendars were extremely complex and are still accurate centuries later.

We were excited about what we’d unearthed so far. So was Dr. Watts’s group. They’d located a raised mound beneath the multitude of vines covering the ground. It was about ten meters beyond the first surveyor’s stake Dr. Watts had hammered into the ground. After removing the vines atop the mound, they laid out a search grid and then carefully began digging.

The dirt atop the mound was only eight to ten cm deep and they quickly started finding pottery sherds, ostracons, pieces of animal bones, and animal teeth. They set up a screen about ten meters away from where they were working and had already recovered dozens of fragments of artifacts.

[Author’s note: A sherd is a broken piece of pottery or some other ceramic item, usually related to an archaeology dig. An ostracon is a sherd or rock with writing or artwork on it.]

Two members of their team were constantly photographing the artifacts and documenting where they’d been found. Two more students were keeping a log of each artifact. They noted which grid section, and which trench each artifact had been found in, how deep it had been in the trench, and the photo numbers showing both the artifact in the trench and then photos of the artifact after it was removed from the trench. One scribe worked with each photographer.

There was an excited buzz in camp all during dinner. Four other groups had previously worked the site, yet we found more artifacts on our first full day here than all the other groups combined.

“That’s definitely not Quitu-Cara,” I commented about several ostracons that were found right next to each other. Aside from two missing pieces, one set of ostracons fit together neatly to form a complete pottery bowl. It was too bad they didn’t have Super Glue back then or they could have fixed it. The other two pieces were probably still waiting to be unearthed. We could tell by the concentric pattern of breaks where the bowl had either been struck or dropped.

Holding the ostracons together as best I could, I had Tina take pictures of the bowl and then uploaded them to my laptop. I also uploaded the photos I took of the solar calendar and made copies on three flash drives. Dr. Watts would get one flash drive that I would update each evening. Tina would get one for our group, and I would keep one for myself. Using my laptop’s satellite connection, I sent the photos to Dr. Parker with a text:

“Doesn’t look like Quitu-Cara glyphs. Maybe earlier Quitu?”

His reply arrived less than fifteen minutes later:

“Translation will have to wait until tomorrow. Some glyphs are the same as or similar to Quitu-Cara. Where and how did you find this? Aside from a few figurines in the cave, it’s more than the first four teams found.”

My reply included a bit more detail:

“When I started sketching the village based on what GPR and previous excavations showed, I realized that I had dreamed about the village. I remembered a midden about a hundred meters from the outer wall. One team started digging there. The other started unearthing a one-meter diameter semicircle in the middle of the village. It’s the village’s solar calendar. The locations of obsidian markings around the edges make me think it was to track solstices, equinoxes, and the day the sun passed directly overhead. Photos attached.”

I sent the photos showing what we’d uncovered so far. My compass was prominently displayed in each photo to help orient it.

It was an hour later before I heard from him again.

“Based on the GPS coordinates of the village, I made a template showing the shadow that would have been cast on all important days. You are correct. Anything from the dive?”

“First dive should be before lunch tomorrow. Water appears to be six meters deep and COLD. Water is clear, but darkness in the cave prevents me from seeing anything below the surface. I should know more by noon.”

“Good luck. Be careful. Itzel wants to know if you’ve tried dream sex yet,” he replied a few minutes later.

“What the fuck?” I thought, laughing. I knew his wives were a bit wild, but that was crazy. Almost everyone in the archaeology department has heard about the dream sex the Parkers enjoy, although there was no indication as to how they went about it.

“What?” Tina asked, so I showed her the text exchange.

“You can do that?” she asked excitedly.

“Evidently, although I haven’t tried it before,” I replied.

“We’re definitely trying it tonight,” she purred.

When I told Dr. Watts that Dr. Parker had confirmed that the half-disk was a solar calendar, he was excited, more so when I told him we might have a translation tomorrow for the glyphs on the bowl’s ostracons.

After our showers, Tina was eager to start, wearing both of us out as we used up the energy we had left in a bout of sweaty sex. While the weather was hot and humid, it wasn’t the oppressive equatorial heat and humidity I had expected. I guess the altitude helped. The small, battery-powered fan I had helped to cool us off a bit, especially when it blew across our sweaty bodies. We finally fell asleep.

Asleep, I wondered how I would find Tina for the dream sex. Finally, I simply told myself to find Tina. I was pleasantly surprised several seconds later to find the two of us together in my bed in my dorm room. After what seemed like an hour of torrid sex, Tina stopped me. “Can I invite Evie to join us?” she asked.

“If she wants to. If you prefer, you can spend time alone with her,” I offered.

“We might do that sometime, but I know she’ll enjoy this. How to I find her?” she asked.

“Just think to yourself, ‘Find Evie’,” I replied.

Tina disappeared for a few seconds. When she returned, she brought another gorgeous, naked woman to my bed. “Hi,” Evie squeaked nervously.

“Hi, yourself,” I replied. “Are you okay with this?”

“Absolutely,” she replied.

We’d finished our dream sex in a tangled mass of limbs after both girls were sated. Yet another nice thing about dream sex was the absence of the stifling tropical heat. In the real world, Tina and I would separate afterwards to allow the gentle air flow from my fan to blow across us.

When we finished with our dream sex, I was suddenly standing in front of the Tribunal again and worried that I’d done something wrong.

“You plan to dive in the water of the cave in the morning,” one of the voices intoned.

“Yes, the cave was purposely closed, and prior teams found several artifacts in the cave. They want me to see if there are any more artifacts at the bottom of the lake,” I explained nervously. Aside from the first time, I’d initiated all visits to the Tribunal.

Their silence for nearly a minute was extremely unsettling.

“There are several artifacts underwater, but one of them is dangerous,” a different voice said emotionlessly. “We would ask for your help in recovering it and removing it from your world.”

“How dangerous is it?” I asked, my nervousness increasing.

“The special black gloves you wear when you dive should protect you from it. Using your bare hands could be dangerous. As soon as you have recovered it, you will find a small opening just to your right. Put the artifact in there and it will be taken care of.”

“How will I know which artifact is the dangerous one?” I asked.

“You will feel it,” the voice replied, trailing off as the Tribunal faded out and I was back in bed between the two naked women. I must have moved because Tina gave me a smoldering look and then climbed on top of me, beginning yet another torrid round of dream sex.

Saturday

Despite our lengthy and energetic bouts of dream sex and my unsettling appearance before the Tribunal, I felt more rested this morning than I would normally feel after a full night’s sleep. After I awoke, I realized that I had been stark naked during my Tribunal appearance. Tina pouted when I insisted that I needed to get up to make sure my diving gear was ready instead of picking up where we left off in our dreams last night.

I checked and double-checked everything from the air pressure in my tanks, to the regulator, to the charge of the batteries in my diving equipment. Everything was good to go before I ate breakfast. There were a lot of raised eyebrows when people noticed Tina glued to my side and acting even more affectionate than she had yesterday.

After breakfast, I grabbed Josh and Hector, the two biggest interns, and we headed for the cave. Tina’s group returned to working on the solar calendar. After he made sure I had everything I needed, Dr. Watts returned to the group at the midden.

Josh and Hector helped me carry everything to the cave, including one of the two banks of lights Dr. Watts had brought so we could work after dark or inside the cave if necessary. Fortunately, most of my gear was on carts that could be moved on two or four wheels. The carts collapsed to take up less space when I had to transport them. The generator was set up outside, well away from the cave entrance. Once I had the bank of lights working, I secured my chain ladder, driving the metal stakes holding the top end into the limestone floor of the cave. Even though it was morning, and still moderately cool outside, I’d waited until I was inside the cave to put on the wetsuit.

The guys helped me put on the dual tanks. After a final check to make sure I had everything, and that everything was working, I tied a rope around my waist. I had brought five, one-hundred-foot ropes. The ropes were double-braided quarter-inch polyester that I used when diving, especially on ships or in caves. I threaded the loose end through a ring buoy, one shaped like a small life preserver, and handed the end to Josh.

“Tie this around your wrist, so you won’t lose it. If you don’t see at least one of my lights move for half a minute, give two light tugs on the rope. If I don’t tug back, reel me in as fast as you can, pull me out of the water, and up on the cave floor. Then, one of you run for help while the other starts CPR,” I explained.

“How dangerous do you expect it to be?” Josh asked nervously.

“I don’t really expect any problems, but I always assume there will be danger and try to be prepared for it. Fortunately, being aware of the dangers and being as prepared as possible makes it much less dangerous. The idiots who dive without being properly trained, properly equipped, or aware of the dangers are usually the ones who have trouble.”

With those parting words, I pulled on my dive helmet and strapped it tight. My dive helmet was more like a batting helmet than a deep-sea diving helmet and was designed to hold two lights and a small camera, sort of like the cameras special forces troops have on their combat helmets. It would also protect my noggin from contact with the roof if I ventured into a side branch of the cenote.

Next, I flicked on the helmet’s lights and one of my three flashlights before again double-checking that I had everything. Setting my dive computer, I put the mouthpiece in place, took two breaths, and climbed down the ladder into the cold water. “Fuck the water’s cold!” I exclaimed as I spit out the mouthpiece, making both Josh and Hector laugh.

For those of you unaware of how a wetsuit works, it doesn’t keep you dry, hence the term wetsuit. The suit traps a thin film of water between the suit and your skin. Once the water approaches body temperature, it helps keep you warmer. Otherwise, in water this cold, hypothermia would set in in far less than an hour.

Once I submerged, I began a slow circumnavigation of the lake’s sides, dropping a meter or so each time I completed a circuit, making a video documentary of the rocky sides. It took nearly half an hour before I finished and reached the bottom. I was surprised at the lack of silt but could feel water flowing slowly from west to east. While the current wasn’t dangerous, it existed. There were small fissures in the rocky sides of the lake, all the way from near the top to the bottom. Some appeared to extend below the bottom. The biggest were just big enough to stick my fist into. Most were narrow enough that a fingertip was the most I could fit.

The Tribunal was definitely correct saying that I’d know where the artifact was. The second my head was underwater, I could feel its presence. It almost seemed to beckon me. Once I finished my video documentation of the sides and bottom of the lake, I turned off the video camera and its lights. The darkness seemed to press in around me, now broken only by the lights on my dive helmet and the flashlight strapped to my left wrist.

Unsure how deeply buried in the sand the artifact was, I began scooping the sand with my gloved hands. Almost immediately, my right hand contacted something solid. The moment it did, I felt a surge of energy course through my body. It wasn’t like an electric shock and didn’t necessarily feel that it specifically came from the artifact. It felt like an adrenaline dump into my system. Fortunately, I’d been nervous about the artifact since the Tribunal said it was dangerous and the instant my gloved hand contacted it, I’d reflexively jerked away even before thinking about what I’d felt.

Now even more nervous, I used my dive knife to push the artifact into one of the mesh collection bags I had with me. I exhaled a sigh of relief when I didn’t feel anything while touching the artifact with my dive knife. Once it was secured in the mesh bag, I looked to my side. Son of a gun if the hole wasn’t right where the Tribunal had said it would be. I guess I should believe them a little more. I dumped the bag’s contents into the hole and suddenly, the hole wasn’t there anymore.

Once the hole was gone, I immediately felt an acute craving to have the artifact back. My hand reached for it, but the hole was already gone. I finally understood how a couple of people I knew felt when they went through rehab. Checking my dive computer, I could see that I was well into the time I had left. Normally, with a dive buddy, I only used a third of my air before returning to the surface. The rule of thumb is one-third for the dive, one third for the return, and one third for your dive buddy in case they have a problem during the return. With no dive buddy, I extended my stay and planned to empty one of my two tanks.

Finding the bundle I had brought with me, I started laying out a grid on the floor of the lake. Using narrow, half-meter-long wooden stakes, I started near where I estimated the halfway point of the lake’s east edge was and pushed a stake into the sand. Still along the east edge, I set stakes every half-meter north and south of the first stake. Following my compass, I moved to the west edge and did the same, finally running some orange nylon twine between the stakes to make rows. Then I did the same thing along the north and south edges of the lake’s bottom and ran the nylon twine north and south to make a grid of half-meter squares. Satisfied that the preliminary work was complete, I drifted slowly to the surface.

Having been down for an hour, even though it was only six meters deep and a decompression stop wasn’t required, I still wanted a bit of decompression time, especially since this site was well above a kilometer and a half in elevation. I made a short stop at three meters, making sure to keep my flashlight moving so Josh wouldn’t panic and pull me up.

“What did you find?” Josh asked excitedly almost the second my head broke the surface.

“A sandy bottom with no silt,” I replied.

“No artifacts?” he asked, sounding dejected.

“Nothing visible on top of the sand. I set out a search grid to use with my underwater GPR unit tomorrow. It will let me see about half a meter into the sand. If I need to go deeper than that, I’ll need to scoop up buckets of sand and send them to the surface to screen. That could take a long time, depending on how deep the sand is. It will also take several people working on it. We’ll need people to pull buckets to the surface, people to carry them outside the cave into the sunlight, people to sift the wet sand, and people to photograph and then document any artifacts we find,” I explained.

“I guess I thought they’d just be lying on the rocky bottom of the lake,” Josh admitted.

“If the lake bottom was rock, they would be. With sand or silt on the bottom, artifacts can become buried over time,” I explained.

It took a while and help from both Josh and Hector to divest myself of all my gear and pack it back onto the cart. Before leaving the cave, I stripped down to my speedo, and then pulled on a pair of walking shorts. Finally, I put on the old pair of tennis shoes I always wear after surfing. They protect the bottom of my feet, and the water dripping off me won’t damage them. Damn but I was cold. The temperature inside the cave was already cool. Combined with my being wet from head to toe, I had goose bumps. Still, it was a welcome relief compared to the humid heat I expected to encounter in a few seconds. I could feel the air temperature rise with each step I took towards the cave entrance.