Some photo-essays on subjects which caught my attention while shambling around the world.
If you wanted to use any photographs for your own or commercial purposes, by all means, go ahead, but please just ask me first, I have never said no before :)
I enter the Teotihuacan gallery. And on the right, you can see this giant poster of the Pyramid of the Sun.
And the Pyramid of the Moon
It is an amazing structure.
And then a little scale model of how the pyramids are outside Mexico City.
Zooming into the locations.
And here is the famous Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent. well, part of it.
Very nicely put together
The archaeologists found tons of bodies buried around and in the pyramid, so this wasn't a burial ground, but these bodies were sacrificial victims…The Pyramid was constructed over 150-200AD. Pretty awesome, no?
I turn left.
A beautiful doorway with extraordinary paintings on the left.
A stele? I couldn't see any explanatory signs :(
A set of clay sculptures. Extraordinary.
I will get back to you Blocky.
these are murals, so beautiful.
both sides of the doorway.
looks like the inside of a house.
With an little courtyard god.
With houses or apartments arranged around the courtyard
this is a veranda like structure
and then this deity?
I exit the apartment courtyard from the side and then move back into the main gallery. This is another stela which was excavated in Teotihuacan area. What amazing work.
Some lapidary work, how impressive. I'm going to learn this when I grow up…
Wax? paint?
Obsidian work. On the top left is a block of obsidian, volcanic glass. And on the right are a variety of tools fashioned with this wonderful material.
Another display alcove. Unfortunately, again without good overviews :(
So here’s blocky again. His name is Chalchiuhtlicue. Storm God?
I finally reach the entrance to one of the best museums in Latin America. This is the Museum of Anthropology. Curious use, mind you.
Hmmmm,
the lion looks really really manky
And then this ummm bear? looks pathetic
And then I saw this extraordinary sight
the pole was about 75-100 feet tall
and below the pole were these chaps hanging upside down. Dancing away…bloody extraordinary..with the chap on top playing some kind of pipes.
I turn in
fountains in the entrance..
I buy my tickets and spot my firm in there, yeah!
what a wonderful sight, its one of the largest single pillar supported structures in the world.
the central column is carved with scenes from Mexican History
And a rather unkempt fountain, they should have done something about the base..
Just behind me, above the entrance, were these series of Glyphs. More on this later but I was absolutely dumstruck when I saw the real thing inside. The glyph books are absolutely amazing.
I move inside. The Museum is laid out in the form of a rectangle. You go around in a counter clockwise direction, starting from the rooms on the right. It starts with an introduction to Anthropology which I rapidly skipped, then a display on the peopling of America (the migration across the Bering Straight) with prehistoric man, mammoths and flint stuff. Then came another hall with Pre-Columbian displays
shows how the various species have evolved
a diorama of cannibalism! bit gruesome but there you go.
A wall painting.
An exquisite mural on the wall
Each of the sections are marked with plaques outside.
Here is a basalt statue.
the skull motif is quite common across the ages in this country.
I have to say one thing, the displays were atrociously described. And the main website is seriously crappy. Half the fun of knowing and understanding these displays were lost because the descriptions were so blunt and useless.
This stone sculpture looked like a giant’s dentures, heh, but no idea what it is supposed to be.
a basalt statue, some kind of religious storage unit? the hollow in the middle indicates that it could be the base of a vase or something?
This is a Pelotas goal. Here are more details on this absolutely awesome sport. Briefly, this would be stuck up high on a wall and 2 teams will play with a hard rubber ball, hitting them off the hips and try to get the ball through that hole in this stone circle up on the wall. The losing side captain would lose his head as well. Now there’s a bit of a strong motivation for you. Don't think it will catch on in football.
a stone pillar with what appears to be royal carvings..
A cat? Toltec…
This gallery was arranged nicely, well displayed
a fertility symbol..
some kind of snake structure with the world on top?
I pop out…and then move into the next one..
An armadillo?
Various vases
With obsidian stuff like arrow heads, knives, etc.
grinding stones?
ax heads, more vases
A turtle? not sure what’s happening here.
More representations of the human being.
Masks used in Shamanism.
This was an extraordinary statue. Not very sure what was happening, but it was found in a grave.
An old village with graves..
a Pre Classic Period,…nice hat.
Fat git
Speaking of fat gits, there’s one reflected on the glass.
Another of those acrobat figurines.
Now I move into the Teotihuacan exhibit.
These guys really liked their skulls, no?
This was the start of one of the most exciting exhibits, the pyramids..but that’s for the next essay
