Wyn Caudle

Business Manager

Over the weekend of Oct. 23-25, two courses found themselves on off-campus trips. The first trip to highlight was part of Professor Navarro-Farr’s course, The Political Power of Maya Women, who went to the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Throughout the day, course teaching assistant (TA) Ainsley McCoy ’28 shared that much of their time in the gallery was spent looking at Stela 34, as well as having a discussion with Phil Wanyerka, a professor at Cleveland State University who decoded Stela 34. Together, Wanyerka and Navarro-Farr discussed the different elements within the Stela 34 while looking at the physical exhibit in the museum.

Stela 34 is a limestone carving that dates back to 692 CE, depicting Maya queen Lady K’abel and Na Kan Ajaw (known as “Divine Woman of the Snake Polity”). The stela was found in El Perú-Waka, a Maya town in Guatemala. Stelae are known to be monuments from Maya civilization that showcase text or images. Archeological work is underway to preserve them. Navarro-Farr has directed research in Guatemala, and co-directs the Proyecto Arqueológico Waka’ (PAW) with Juan Carlos Pérez.

“A standout moment for me was just being able to go on this trip and see the stela in person because photos don’t do it justice,” Dennis Monterroza ’27 shared from his experience on the trip. “For example, you could see signatures that are not visible in photos and also animals that have metaphorical meanings behind them.”

McCoy shared background information on Lady K’abel, featured in Stela 34. “She [was] a key political figure in the Maya world during the late 7th century CE. Her importance is shown through her paired stela with her husband (K’inich Balam) where she is not only in the power position (she is facing right and he is facing left) but has authority symbols shown. Her stela is the golden standard of Kaanul style dress for royal women and provides solid evidence for archaeologists and others to go off of when discussing this time period in the Maya world,” McCoy said. 

The second course featured was Cave Geology, taught by Professor Eva Lyon in earth sciences. The trip featured a multi-day caving exploration where students went to the Lost World Caverns, Boar Hole Cave and Buckeye Creek Cave in West Virginia. 

Cheyenne Wentz ’27, a student in the class, described what the class found in each of the caves. “In the first cave, Lost World Caverns, we got used to being underground and admired all the different kinds of formations that can be formed in caves. Stalactites, stalagmites, and columns take many forms, one of my favorites being drapery (or cave bacon) which are translucent sheets of stalactites that resemble bacon,” Wentz said.

“In the second cave, Boar Hole Cave, we descended a ladder into a cave that had both tight squeezes and vast caverns. We crawled through tight spaces and scrambled up rocks with just the light from our headlamps, a map, and a compass to guide us.

The third cave, Buckeye Creek Cave, was a wet cave, meaning the river that formed it is still present in the cave. We hiked through the cold water, exploring different offshoots and finding some cool critters.”

“After climbing down a ladder then crawling through some tight spaces, one of my favorite moments was seeing the cave open up into a massive room for the first time,” shared Charlotte Helm ’27. “It was incredible to see how such a large space could exist underground while the land above looks relatively normal.”

Wentz also shared a memorable experience from the weekend. “A standout moment on this trip was in Boar Hole Cave when everybody in our group sat down and turned off our headlamps. The quietness and darkness that we experienced felt unreal, and my brain couldn’t quite comprehend it, which made it all the more amazing.” 

Both trips allowed the students to more thoroughly explore the concepts presented to them by their professors through off-campus learning.