Anabel Ford facts for kids

Anabel Ford (born 22 December 1951) is an American archaeologist. She studies ancient cultures in Mesoamerica, especially the Maya civilization in Belize and Guatemala. She is famous for finding the ancient Maya city called El Pilar.

Anabel Ford works at the Institute of Social Behavioral and Economic Research (ISBER). She also directs the MesoAmerican Research Center (MARC) at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Early Life and Education

Anabel Ford was born in Los Angeles County, California. She was the oldest of three children. Her father, Joseph B. Ford, was a sociology professor. He knew many languages. Her mother, Marjorie Henshaw, was an actress known as Anabel Shaw.

From a young age, Ford was interested in ancient Mesoamerican places like Teotihuacan and Chichen Itza. This led her to want to research Maya sites hidden in the jungle.

In 1981, she earned her PhD from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research involved mapping a path between the Maya cities of Tikal and Yaxha in Guatemala. She started her career as a research scientist at UCSB. In 1986, she became the director of the Mesoamerican Research Center.

Discovering Ancient Maya Secrets

Anabel Ford began her work in the Maya lowlands in 1972. In 1978, while studying for her doctorate, she mapped a special path between the Maya cities of Tikal and Yaxhá. These cities are in the Petén region of northern Guatemala.

Finding El Pilar

In 1983, Ford started a project called the Belize River Archaeological Settlement Survey (BRASS). This project aimed to understand how ancient Maya people lived and used the land. During this survey, she and her team made an amazing discovery: the ancient Maya city of El Pilar.

For many years, the BRASS team dug up and studied many sites hidden under the thick forest canopy. From 1983 to 1989, they focused on how people lived in the El Pilar area. From 1990 to 1992, they excavated homes in the area.

Since 1993, investigations at El Pilar have created detailed maps and a timeline for the monuments. El Pilar is now a protected area in Belize and Guatemala. It is even planned to be a "peace park" shared by both countries. Ford's team continues to map the homes of El Pilar and find new sites. Since 2013, they have used Lidar technology, which uses lasers to map the ground from the air. This led to the discovery of The Citadel, a temple complex on a hilltop.

Archaeology Under the Canopy

As Ford worked in the Maya region, she learned a lot from local people and their traditions. She developed a special way to protect ancient sites called Archaeology Under the Canopy. This idea helps save forests to protect cultural heritage. The forest around El Pilar acts like a shield for the ancient buildings and artifacts. By saving the forest, we also save the Maya culture. Her efforts helped protect nearly 2,000 hectares (about 4,900 acres) in the El Pilar area.

Collaborations and Books

Ford's work at El Pilar and with expert Maya Forest gardeners is featured in a book called The Modern Maya Incidents of Travel and Friendship in Yucatan (2012) by Macduff Everton. This book shows how important understanding Maya history is for protecting the Maya Forest. Ford and Everton have worked together to show the value of traditional Maya knowledge.

Ford also works with Ronald Nigh, who studies traditional Maya farmers. Their book, The Maya Forest Garden: Eight Millennia of Sustainable Cultivation of the Tropical Woodlands, looks at both old and new farming methods. They argue that these ancient Maya techniques, still used today, can help many people for a long time. They believe traditional Maya practices can solve modern problems like climate change and not having enough natural resources.

Promoting Maya Culture

Anabel Ford is the president of Exploring Solutions Past: the Maya Forest Alliance. This is a nonprofit organization that teaches people about the importance of Maya culture worldwide. Ford believes that traditional Maya ways of life can help us solve today's problems, such as climate change and a lack of natural resources. Her organization works with Maya farmers in the El Pilar Forest Garden Network to support sustainable agriculture in the region.

In 2000, she received an award for Cultural Heritage from the Rolex Awards for Enterprise. As of 2013, Ford is also a board member of the Duke of Edinburgh Awards.

See also

In Spanish: Anabel Ford para niños