HISTORY & ETHNOGRAPHY

---

 These photos show the ancient Maya city-state of Lamanai, which has been only partially cleared from the tropical jungle, since its discovery by archaeologists.  In 2005, during his research trip to study the history & ethnography of Belize in Central America, Walter Williams climbed its largest pyramid.  Here he is shown, standing on the top. The photo of the stairs of the thousand year old pyramid shows the steep climb, which Maya priests deliberately constructed to represent the difficulty of attaining spiritual growth.  On beginning the precarious climb downward, Williams lost his footing, and would have plummeted to his death except that he managed to grab hold of a thin rope that was anchored beside the stairs.