"In the jungle, I suddenly saw ruins that had been buried for thousands of years, tightly wrapped inside spreading vines." "Accidentally, he discovered buried in the ground a colossal stone head." The history of archaeology in Mesoamerica is of one "re-discovery" after another. What will we, visitors from an ancient Oriental civilization, find on our journey over mountains and seas to Mexico?

The three of us stood on a street corner in Mexico City. It was the first trip to Mexico for the two of us from Taiwan, but our guide, Joseph Macom, a teacher of Spanish in a US high school, has been here more than 20 times.

Blending and confrontation

Large numbers of vehicles moved along the straight, shaded avenue. You can't help but be taken aback when you hear that there are 20 million people living in this, the world's largest metropolis; yet on this street the feeling was calm and gentle.

Mexico City is located more than 2000 meters above sea level. It is like spring all year round, and the roads are lined with azaleas and roses. Skyscrapers sit side-by-side with extravagant apartment buildings. Only a few blocks away, however, sit single-story brick barraca. Actually, such a juxtaposition is not that strange to someone from Taiwan.

Still, in the Pink Zone, where tourists congregate, the adjustments can be harder to make. Leaving an open-air coffee shop where we listened to a charming musical performance, we turned the corner and saw an old Indian woman sitting on the sidewalk begging for money, while barefooted children held out their hands and called "one peso, one peso!"

Faded glory

The precursor to Mexico City was resplendent. It was the capital city of the Aztecs, from which they ruled virtually all of Mesoamerica, until the arrival of the Spaniards and their dreams of gold. When Spanish conquistadors led by Hernan Cortes first saw the city, built on a lake, in 1519, they exclaimed its awesome beauty. Yet within two years they had completely destroyed it, building a colony on the ruins. Thereafter, Catholicism became the orthodox religion, and Spanish the "national language." However, Amerindian culture was not eradicated, but absorbed. Today's Mexico is a patchwork of Indian and Spanish culture: a full 60% of the population are of mixed-blood ancestry, and there are still 60 different Amerindian languages or dialects being spoken.

One can see much of the glory of the past in museums. In the impressive National Museum of Archaeology, as you pass through the exhibition rooms devoted to peoples of different backgrounds, you begin to get a sense of what ancient Mexico looked like.

In archaeological terms, "Mesoamerica" stretches from Mexico southward to Honduras. It includes a "Mexico region" on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec to the west, and a "Maya region" on the Yucatan Peninsula to the east. From before 1000 BC through the 16th century CE, many peoples rose and fell here. Culturally they exerted mutual influence, and there was some continuity.

The earliest people of record, the Olmec, arose on the lowlands on the edge of the Gulf of Mexico. Their influence extended far, both geographically and temporally. When they declined, around 400 BC, the Teotihuac嫕 began to flourish and built a magnificent city. These people built on a river valley of the same name in the Central Plateau. They flourished from the first until the seventh century CE. The Aztecs, who arose several hundred years later, called this the place of origin of the sun.

Perhaps the fact about the Aztecs which is most commonly known is that they practiced human sacrifice. When you walk into the exhibition room, you are greeted by a stone vessel in the shape of an "ocelotl-cuauhxicalli" (jaguar-eagle), which was used as a depository for the hearts of those sacrificed.

Maya culture-the "miracle erased by the jungle"-left behind highly refined stone weapons, a complex hieroglyphic writing system, and lifelike jade masks.

Among all the ancient artifacts, the most touching thing in the museum is the people themselves. Groups of primary and middle school students troop through. When they get tired, they crouch by the pool in the central courtyard and play with the papyrus, the same material out of which the Egyptians first made paper 4000 years ago.

From a swamp to a park

Next we visited a series of sites of the ancient culture of the Olmec. The first stop was "Parque La Venta," nicknamed the "mother culture" for Mesoamerica.

La Venta used to be on the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico, in an area of dense jungle and extensive swamps. It was first systematically excavated by an American archaeology team in the 1940s. It was determined to be an important Olmec worship site dating back 3000 years.

Today's Parque La Venta is not in the original location. This is because oil was discovered in La Venta in 1957. Oil pipelines spread everywhere, setting the stage for a battle of artifacts versus development. Unwilling to watch the artifacts be destroyed, the renowned poet Carlos Pellider came forward and set up a fund, and he directed an effort to move all artifacts already unearthed to Villahermosa, over 100 kilometers away. Today this is not only a flourishing tourist area, it is a favorite place for local residents to get away from the city for a while.

Caged tigers

When La Venta was first uncovered, Matthew Sterling, the main figure in the discovery, argued that the Olmec preceded Mayan civilization. His assertion drew heated retorts from scholars partisan to the Mayans. Later, the Olmec's status as the "mother culture" was widely accepted. Yet, our understanding of the past is always changing. Comprehension of ancient Mesoamerican culture is always limited by the overall intellectual atmosphere when finds are made or re-interpreted, and by what we can imagine about that alien culture. Who knows what facts archaeology will discover in the future?

"Come see the jaguar," calls a guide, bringing visitors back from their reverie. This is a rare chance to go face-to-face with the jaguar-the fiercest animal on the American continent. In the legends of Native Americans, the deity sent the jaguar to work in hell; when he completed his mission, he was bestowed with a body dotted with stars from heaven. However, because of the heat in Mexico, we only got to see the fearsome beast languorously shuffling in its cage.

In ancient times the Olmec ruling elite worshipped the jaguar. Controlling food production and the manufacture of handicrafts, they strove to build centers of worship and stone statues.

The famous giant stone statues in the park are mainly of round heads with flat faces. But on relief carvings, people are depicted with complicated decorative headgear, and with elongated faces. Are these two different peoples? It also remains a mystery what connection there is between Olmec stone statuary and today's descendants of the early Mesoamericans.

Flying southwest from Villahermosa, we arrived at Oaxaca, on the Pacific coast. This area came under Olmec control about 900 BC. Two centers of culture developed, Zapotec and Mixtec, which co-existed like twins. There are still many descendants of these people living in the area.

Our taxi snaked through the mountains, heading for the city of Monte Alb嫕 on the peak. Our driver, a Mixtec whose ancestors came from this area, is very curious about our purpose. Asked if he has heard any legends about the origin of his people, he thinks for a while, then says that he has only heard that God created the Indians right there, and they lived there for generation after generation; they did not come from some other place.

Monte Alb嫕 was the most important city of the Zapotec people. It is located at the intersection of three plateaus in the Central Valley, and is surrounded by mountains. This "city at the foot of the sky" was built around 500 BC, one of the earliest large cities in Mesoamerica.

Shrines are everywhere on the broad yellow ground. There are many steps leading up the sharply rising platforms (pyramid-like structures but level on top rather than coming to an apex), testing the endurance of tourists. The site also has the earliest astronomical observatory in Mesoamerica. At the entrance there is a ball court built below ground level, next to the sacrificial altar. It is said that there was a competition of a type of sport that was very widespread throughout Mesoamerica, with the losers becoming sacrifices to the gods. For once the clich* "there's no tomorrow if we lose this one" was no exaggeration!

There is a line of human stone statues in the "Gallery of Dancers," giving a vague, shadowy suggestion of the appearance of the Olmec people. These human figures, with twisted limbs, appear to be dancing. But when you look at them close up, some of the faces have expressions of pain. Thus some have speculated that these represent the spirits of sick patients, or people with birth defects. Others say they represent the images of criminals or prisoners of war, condemned to be symbolically entombed forever in distorted positions to demonstrate the power of the rulers.

Leaving Monte Alb嫕, the three of us felt exhausted, hungry, and parched. Was this solely a result of exhausting effort, or was there a kind of curse in these buildings for moderns trespassing on forbidden ground of an ancient civilization?

Oaxaca, at the foot of the mountains, was far more friendly. This is a city that was built during the age of Spanish colonization. Today it is a well-known tourist attraction, with beaches nearby and historic sites in the mountains.

At the center of the city is a plaza. It is flanked by a church, the city government offices, and several hotels. On the porches and in front of the hotels are caf* tables, which are always filled with idle tourists dining or drinking tea. Very small children weave in and out amongst the tables, doing ad hoc performances. Some sing love songs, some play accordions, all with an air of expertise. Having received money from a visitor, they prepare to leave, but are told to hold it: They will not be allowed to depart until they have finished their song!

In the market, Spanish women sit high off the ground in front of shops selling the local cheese. Many Native Mexican women squat on the ground selling chili peppers or fruit. Everyone ties their hair into two braids, which are tied into a knot behind their heads. All manner of handicrafts, from bracelets to hand-woven carpets, dazzle the eye.

At a flower stand sits a beautiful old woman. She has been selling flowers at this site for 40 years. Asked if she knows where her ancestors come from, she shakes her head, saying that those who knew have long passed away. She says, a bit regretfully, that in the past her family did not allow the girls to go to school. But then she quickly adds, "My children all learned a trade in school."

Where the past is always present

If the Spanish had never come, what would Mesoamerica be like today? How would the original Mesoamerican culture have continued to develop? Of course history can never be turned back; it's just that, amidst the relics left behind, you can't help but wonder sentimentally about what might have been.

I think back to when we were in Cuicuilco at the southern edge of Mexico City, where there is a rare circular pyramid with stairs. This civilization persisted from five centuries before the Christian era to two beyond, until a nearby volcano erupted, burying the city in lava. The work of archaeological excavation is still under way.

We climbed to the apex of the pyramid, and looked down at the traffic scenes on the not-distant highway; a sign for a Kentucky Fried Chicken stood out prominently. I asked Joseph if he had any special feeling about that place. He replied that he has none, but added that twice in Maya areas he had a strong sense of d嶴* vu, and almost burst into tears. I said that the scenery of Northern California gave me a peaceful feeling of going home. "Who knows, maybe in a former life we were Native Americans," said Joseph, only half in jest. Otherwise, why would he have visited Mexico 20 times in 20 years, and still not be tired of coming back?

Here, past is present. The American novelist Faulkner said, "The past is not dead. It is not even past." After traveling thousands of miles, why would a visitor from afar feel that this place is home? Maybe this is another discovery, one of the soul.

p.22

Monte Alb嫕 was built 500 years before the birth of Christ, making it one of the earliest large cities in Mesoamerica. The ball court abuts the sacrificial altar; it is said that losers in ball games became sacrificial victims.

(facing page) Are these stone carvings of dancers? Or of people with physical defects or in pain? Some say this sculpture is of a difficult birth, because it depicts the infant coming out feet first.

p.24

Some say that the granite heads at Parque La Venta are monkeys, other say they look like people. You decide: How does our guide Joseph compare?

p.25

A beautiful old woman selling flowers in Oaxaca. A visitor from Taiwan tells her that she looks a lot like her aunt. The old woman laughs and replies, "I guess that makes you my niece!"

p.26

There is classic Spanish architecture in Oaxaca, but most of the residents are descendants of ancient Native Mexican civilizations.

Some say that the granite heads at Parque La Venta are monkeys, other say they look like people. You decide: How does our guide Joseph compare?

A beautiful old woman selling flowers in Oaxaca. A visitor from Taiwan t ells her that she looks a lot like her aunt. The old woman laughs and replies, "I guess that makes you my niece!".

There is classic Spanish architecture in Oaxaca, but most of the residents are descendants of ancient Native Mexican civilizations.