FINDING LOST CIVILIZATIONS This

showed me a boulder with a petroglyph that resembled aboat with a sail. Another one resembled a warrior shootingan arrow. Almost every large boulder along the plateau andat the bottom of the slope contained a carved petroglyph. Iwas excited, I was fascinated, and I was astonished. I gazedupon the scene around me and then closed my eyes andjourneyed back in time. This hill, this plateau, was my village.Below me the soil was fertile and I grew corn, wheat,and other staples to sustain the people of the village. Theocean lay to the west and nourished us with a bounty fromthe sea. The flowing stream quenched my thirst. This villagewas prosperous for it sustained me in food from the landand sea and sweet water flowing from the mountains. WhenI opened my eyes and looked around again I knew that Iwas standing on top of a lost civilization. What happenedto these people, who were they, how did they live, and howdid they perish? Now, all that remained was a lonely pastureforgotten in time. Pablo’s family owned this land, but theyknew not what lay beneath their feet except that fragmentsfrom the past were scattered on the ground.As I continued to wander the site, Pablo’s brother ledme to a large boulder that had a large bowl carved smoothlyat its apex. At the edge of the bowl, grooves were carveddownward. Was this a sacrificial altar? Were human offeringsmade here? Or was food simply prepared here? No oneknew. This land had been passed down to Pablo’s familythrough many generations. For the Mexican compasinos,life was hard and people were concerned with the presentand not the past. And so these treasure lay here, giving up12