Rio Bravo Archaeology Field School

Accepting Early Applications for 2025 (details TBA); no 2024 Season

Orange Walk District Belize

The Rio Bravo Archaeological Survey (RBAS) is a summer Maya archaeology field school that trains students in archaeological field methods within the context of a state-of-the-art research project. The program is situated in an unexplored, tropical rainforest in northern Belize, Central America, and can be taken for 3 or 6 college credits through the University of Texas at Austin.*

Non-credit volunteers are also welcome!

Students who are interested in joining us for the 2025 season should review the information provided, including the 2019 Info Sheet (or forthcoming 2025 sheet), and contact us via email or by submitting an application.

To sign up, please fill out an application.

*RBAS operates in Belize under a permit issued from the Institute of Archaeology to Dr. Fred Valdez, Director of the Programme for Belize Archaeological Project (PfBAP). Academic credit from the Community College of Philadelphia is not available for the 2025 season.

Photo -Day trip to Lamanai (2015)

RECOMMENDED LINKS:

The Programme for Belize Archaeological Project (PfBAP)

The umbrella project for RBAS, headed by Dr. Fred Valdez at the University of Texas at Austin

The Programme for Belize (PfB)

Organization that administers and protects the Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area (RBCMA)

Academically Speaking

Photos and information from the 2007 RBAS FIeld Season

Mesoweb

Great starting point for information on ancient Mesoamerica

Recommended Books:

Incoming students are required to read at least one of the following overview texts before arriving in Belize:

The Maya by Michael Coe (now 8th edition, Thames and Hudson, New York, 2011)

The Fall of the Ancient Maya: Solving the Mystery of the Maya Collapse by David Webster (Thames & Hudson, New York, 2002)

The Ancient Maya: New Perspectives by Heather McKillop (W.W. Norton, New York, 2004/2006 paperback)

Highlights From the Three Rivers Region:

Ancient Maya Commoners by Jon Lohse and Fred Valdez (University of Texas Press, Austin, 2004)

Heterarchy, Political economy, and the Ancient Maya: The Three Rivers Region of the East-Xentral Yucatán Peninsula by Vernon Scarborough; Fred Valdez and Nicholas Dunning; (U. Arizona Press, Tuscon 2003)