Day 12b – 11/6/2019 – Antro Day, the Rest of the Story

Google Maps said the Anthropology museum was a half-hour walk down the Paseo de la Reforma from our hotel. So we figured, what the heck, it’s not raining and we only walked 3 miles yesterday, so we could do with a nice stroll down the avenue. The Paseo is a broad, tree-lined avenue commissioned by Emperor Maximilian to resemble the Champs-Elysees in Paris.

Along the way we encountered a protest outside one of the large money-center banks.

Further on we ran across a row of alebrijes.

So we toddled along down the avenue and eventually arrived at the museum. The building itself is stunning.

The courtyard is covered by a massive umbrella.

With a waterfall around the central column.

Exhibits start with the origins of the human species.

Model (to scale) of what Lucy might have looked like. They made the point that the human line diverged from the Chimpanzee line at the point we began to walk upright.

Following this introduction we moved to specifically the history of cultures in what is now Mexico.

We started with Teotihuacan. This was the most important city in the Central Plateau during the period from 100 BC to 700AD.

This is a scale model of the site. Looking down the Avenue of the Dead the Temple of the Moon is in the distance, the Temple of the sun is the large structure to the right of the avenue and the Temple of the Feathered Serpent complex is in the foreground.

Speaking of the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, I promised a view of the reconstruction. Note the serpent at the very bottom.

We also viewed sections of the wall containing original artwork and colors

By then it was time for lunch.

The next period covered was the Toltec era (750-1200). This era saw the first use of metals as well as the establishment of warlike military states.

The most amazing piece from this period is a coyote’s head with a warrior’s head emerging – the whole piece covered with mother-of-pearl leaves.

Throughout the history of the region carvings and pottery in the shape of animals have been seen.

Chat-Mool; possibly a fallen warrior, it is assumed that offerings were placed in the dish on his belly

Ball games of various types were seen throughout the history of the area.

The one we most commonly associate with this pre-Aztec period is the one where players use their hips to toss the ball thru the hole in the wall-mounted goal.

We finally arrived at the largest collection in the Museum – the Mexica era.

In a sense the story of modern Mexico (as told by the museum) begins with a journey. In this case a people known as “Aztecatl” (People from Aztlan) migrated from the north. Traveling some 200 years (and along the way changing their name to Mexica (me-SHI-ca) they eventually reached the shores of a large lake where they saw the symbol foretold in prophesy – an eagle eating a snake while sitting on a cactus. This was the sign that they were to settle on that spot and build their new city. We talked the other day about how they built islands to grow produce and were quite successful until the Spanish arrived, conquered them, drained the lake, and built Mexico City on the unstable lakebed. But I digress.

So called throne of Monctezuma – or Monument of Sacred War. Intricately carved with symbols, gods and the eagle/snake/cactus symbol

More vessels in the shape of animals here a mouse and rabbit

This monkey holding his tail is carved from obsidian. It is purported to be the most valuable piece in the collection.

Before Mariachi the Mexica were a musical people.

In addition to musicians they also had drummers.

Bone scraper. If you look closely you will see four sets of notches. Four people would play this instrument by rubbing a stick across the notches – similar to the modern Guiro.

Leaving the Mexica room we proceeded to the set of “regional rooms,” starting with the Oaxaca region. We wandered, we looked, but frankly we were running out of steam. After brief views of the Gulf Coast region and the Northern region (artifacts in this room looked very familiar) we decided that our brains were full up and it was time to head back to the hotel to rest before our evening’s activity.

One additional note. In this post I have selected just a few of over 500 photos we took. This museum rivals any museum anywhere in terms of the extent of its collection. And what we personally experienced was at best 1/3 of the collection on display.

A second note. Beginning with our encounter with the “Venus of Willendorf” figurine in Vienna a couple of years ago I have been fascinated with (and collecting photos of) figurines at the various museums we have visited. Whether they are objects of worship or merely cultural icons (remember troll dolls?) they provide an element of mystery and a look at how people in a culture viewed themselves.

That said, the carving of figurines was popular in every era of Mesoamerican history. So I ended up taking hundreds of photos of figurines. Here are a couple.