The Holmul Archaeological Project began in 2000 under the direction of PI Dr. Francisco Estrada Belli as a Boston University expedition. It was later supported by Vanderbilt University until 2008 and it is now backed by Boston University and (since 2012)Tulane University.   Interest in Holmul was motivated by the well-known results of R.E. Merwin's excavations at the site in his pioneering season of 1911 (Merwin and Vaillant 1932). Aside from being the first scientific excavation of a Maya ruin in the history of Maya archaeology, Merwin’s work is well know for having produced the first ceramic sequence in the Maya Lowland which has served as a reference for research ever since. The 1911 research clearly showed elaborate architecture and burial data of relatively early date (Early Classic), while at the same time bringing to light more complex palaces, temples and burials of the Late Classic Period which are among the most spectacular in the Maya Lowlands. 
 

      The 1911 excavations demonstrated the existence of relatively unobstructed early architecture at the site in spite of the Late Classic surge in construction.  Also, the existence of a long and uninterrupted cultural sequence was considered of outmost importance for future research.  Regrettably, the 1911 mission did not produce a site map or explorations outside of the main plazas and the actual extent and complexity of Holmul as a center of ritual, political and residential activities remained virtually unknown. A surprising lack of carved monuments at Holmul and the site’s difficult location in northeastern Petén likely resulted in its being bypassed by researchers for the following 89 years.  Nevertheless, the site was affected by several waves of looting first during the 1970s then during the late 1990 as it remained unguarded.

        The first priority of the Holmul archaeological Project since its inception in 2000 was the protection of the site and the recovery of data on the extent of architectural complexity at Holmul and in its hinterland.  A mapping program was initiated with several methods of intensive survey. A 1 km2 “tile” was to be mapped in the site center while four 250m wide transects were to be surveyed meter-by-meter out to a distance of 5 km.  In addition, further outlying areas were to be explored using GPS navigation aided by land use maps and predictive models generated by GIS and satellite image analysis.   Using this strategy, most of the site center has been mapped and several large ceremonial centers have been discovered at an average distance of 4.5 km from Holmul center.

Further data was collected through test excavations in plaza floors and by rescuing stratigraphic profiles from looters trenches.  A comprehensive dataset was created for a first re-assessment of the site’s ceramic sequence and its occupational history (Kosakowsky 2001).  In addition to revealing buried architecture and burials, these explorations led to the discovery of several important epigraphic monuments and looted structures with intact iconographic decorations.  Among these important discoveries is the Preclassic monumental sculpture at Cival, an additional “Protoclassic” burial at Holmul and two sets of Early Classic mural paintings at La Sufricaya which have been the focus of further research and conservation in recent years (Estrada-Belli 2001, Estrada-Belli et al. 2002, Estrada-Belli 2003, Estrada-Belli et al. 2003).  The current data suggest that Holmul was a large city in the Late Classic period with settlement extending in a 3km radius in every direction and with peripheral large center located in a ring around it at a 5km distance.  The evidence also shows that Holmul may have been but the latest of a series of primary centers in this region, the earliest of which may have been Cival, followed by La Sufricaya.  Such repeated shifts in the location of centers of power in a relatively small region (a 6km radius of Holmul) has profound implications for our understanding of the volatile political milieu of emerging Maya polities, with increased competition, warfare and complex rituals of succession to power.

A number of sub-projects have developed within the Holmul Project that focus with specific areas of investigation under the direction of the PI and which form the basis for dissertations at Vanderbilt University, UC Riverside, Yale, Tulane and Harvard U.  Among these are topical research at Cival, K'o, and La Sufricaya.  Currently, new interest is being directed to the sites of Holmul, Hamontun and Hahakab, because of their early architectural complexity. In addition, the documentation and conservation of murals, monumental sculpture and associated architecture has been the focus of an important efforts with the help of US, Italian and Guatemalan conservators.