TENNESSE DEMAREST AND THE ALTAR OF MAYA BALL:

From Looters, Ancient Maya Altar Rescued (John Roach, October 30, 2003, National Geographic News)

An elaborate, 600-pound (270-kilogram) stone altar stolen from an ancient Maya ball court in Guatemala has been recovered, the National Geographic Society and Vanderbilt University announced Thursday.

Professional archaeologists, Guatemalan undercover agents, and local Maya villagers collaborated to recover the altar from a ring of looters and drug runners attempting to sell it in the lucrative antiquities market.

"This represents a rare and important victory and the prize is really a masterpiece of Mayan art," said Arthur Demarest, an archaeologist with Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, who leads the Cancuén Archaeological Project and was instrumental in the altar's recovery.

"Drug smugglers--I hate those guys"

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 2, 2003 7:19 AM