2006 Expedition
In the spring of 2006 the Expedition team again traveled to Mexico to further the work that had begun in previous years. The effort was focused in two areas of endeavor this year. First, to continue searching the cliff face for possible cave openings, and second, provide the people of Jalapa with information as to why we believe the hill is of such great importance.
Neil Steede was able to successfully provide that information through presentations that he prepared and shared on four different occasions. This included the Mayor, the President of the Syndicate (Union), the landowner and with the family of our good friend Moises. The presentations included archaeological reasons, artifact reasons and then interpretations of the Covenant Codex and San Bartolo Murals. The last two presentations provided the opportunity to include the spiritual aspects of our belief and encircle our friends with the Spirit of Christ as we shared with them the importance of their role in this effort of bringing forth greater understandings.
The exploration team spent three days working on further exploration of the mountainside. In the attempt to search out possible cave locations on the cliff face above cave camp, the team found those possible locations and determined that they were not cave openings, but rather undercut rock face that cast a shadow at all times. Once those expeditions were completed the base camp was dismantled and brought off the hill.
Because of the information provided from many of the locals, the Expedition team had the opportunity to visit five caves on the lower portion of the valley. It was here that many pottery finds were examined and gave us further understandings of the type of people who once inhabited the valley.
We visited the stela located on the south shoulder of the mountain and there we found our greatest information this year. Joey Fera discovered that the mound upon which the stela was mounted was actually built up with a seven-foot tall wall of harvested chinked limestone block. Further measurements were made at the stela and it was determined to probably be a command post for military operations. Preliminary surveys of the valley below support this theory.
We also visited with Catalina and her family. She was bright, smiling, and graceful, and we delighted in seeing how wonderfully God has blessed her. By invitation, we also had the opportunity to minister to the family of Moises. By his humble demeanor, he has truly worked his way into the hearts of our group.
We have included the testimonies of this year and invite you to search for the more complete story by reading them.
