Tuesday, July 10, 2012

National Museum of Anthropology

 The Anthropology Museum in Mexico City is one of the most important in the world.  There are all kinds of Aztec and Mayan artifacts and the entire second floor has displays from the indigenous peoples of the country.  We took about a bazillion pictures but I narrowed it down to a few of my favorites.  I feel bad because we looked at so many different artifacts that I can't really remember what they all mean.  If you think this kind of stuff is boring you should skip this post because I included way too many photos.

 This is the crown jewel of the museum, the Aztec calendar.  While we were there I learned that it isn't a calendar at all.  It was really being made to top an altar and be the stone on which human sacrifice took place.  It was never used, and it was actually never even finished because there is a crack in it.  I can only imagine how the dude carving it felt when he was almost done and it cracked at the last minute.  He probably would have no idea how famous his unfinished work has become. 
 The ones who probably felt the best about the crack are the virgins that were on the list to be the next sacrifices.  Maybe they were spared.

Who couldn't think that this guy is awesome?




 In the courtyard between the museums there was a pond that was filled with native species of fish, turtles and plants.  The girls had what our guide called museum-itis but the pond got us through in the end.  I think a bunch of the students were suffering from the same ailment.

3 comments:

Denece said...

Awesome pictures! Thanks for sharing your adventures with those of us who are "adventurally challenged"! =)

Callie. said...

looks way awesome. I love museums, and I am sure would have had a great time there too!

Micha said...

Ooooh! This looks amazing. Sophomore year we went to the Denvery Museum of Natural History (that isn't even called that anymore) for a Montezuma exhibit that was INCREDIBLE. This reminds me of that amazing exhibit, only probably far better because it's likely where the stuff I saw came from. How cool.