El Museo de Antropología

Time is fleeting, and there is still so much to do. My laziness is getting the better of me at times. However, on Friday I went to el Museo de Antropología aqui en Merida. It is one of the more famous museums here.

The museum itself is on the Paseo Montejo in one of the rich older manisons of the Porfiriato era. The architecture on the outside is lavish as well as on the inside with internationally imported marble stair cases and floors. There are many decorative columns.




The permanent collection of the museum, houses artifacts from the Mayan civilizations. There are jade offerings excavated from the bottom of the sacred cenote in Chichen Itza, ball court rings from Chichen Itza, estuco masks from Uxmal and more. Here are some of the more interesting things I found.

Some of the maya used to change the shape of their babies skull just a few days after birth to signify different things such as wealth. They would put a board on top of the head that then attach a strap around the chin and back of the neck to make the board fit tight. After a period of time, the skull would become deformed as it worked to solidy during early childhood development.



Another thing I found interesting were the copper bells. They were used for currency in trading between different groups. They look like the bells today.



Also the Maya painted their objectives and temples. There is coloring on this statue for example of the god Hun Nal Yeh. You can see blues and reds. Facinating.



Here are just some more images of things.




There was a special exhibit on the second floor of the Porfiriato era and the Mexican Revolution. It was photographs from the different time periods.

One can see the difference in class structure here. The women on the left are wearing nice European dress, while the indigenous women and her daughter are wearing rags and dirty clothing. The contempt on the look of the faces of the upper class women reflects the disdain for the lower classes in Mexico during the Porforiato era. Much of the European influence today came during this time period.



Maderistas, Ciudad Juarez, Mayo 1911




Everday: People ride in the back of vehicles. All trucks have passangers in the back whether on busy roads or on highways. It is crazy. But these sights are not uncommon. But I guess that's kind of obvious. So one more.



The world is powered by the sun or sol, literally.
This beer is really popular down here. The slogan can be found on T-shirts, seats in bullfighting rings, athletic stadiums, on the outside of bars, etc. The world is literally powered by Sol. The company sponsors many events and has a huge vested interest in community affairs down here. The only place I haven't seen the marca or brand in on schools. But if you see Sol you know your in Mexico. Mexico has soul (or Sol). :-)





Chao!!