Students participate in unique study abroad

By Erika Mantz, Media Relations

Six UNH students will travel to Guatemala this month for a study abroad program of a lifetime. They will participate in the excavation and preservation of what is being called the “Sistine Chapel” of the pre-Classic Maya world with UNH archaeologist William Saturno.

“As one of the premier archaeological projects in the Maya world, San Bartolo offers students an unparalleled opportunity to participate alongside the world’s foremost authorities assisting in the investigation and conservation of this unique masterpiece,” Saturno says.

This is a unique opportunity for undergraduate students, Saturno says, noting that the Guatemalan government granted the San Bartolo Project special permission to allow their participation.

Saturno’s discovery of the oldest known intact wall painting of Maya mythology has been documented in National Geographic. The mural is the first known portrayal of the corn God’s journey from the underworld to Earth, and it completely reshapes how researchers look at later mythology.

The undergraduates will spend the first month in Guatemala’s former colonial capital, Antigua, where they will study Spanish and get acquainted with the culture, and then in mid- February they will move with Saturno to his research camp in San Bartolo to continue excavation work on the mural. They will return in May.