
Photo copyright 2009 Skeeter Daniels
El Museo Fabuloso...The Museum of Anthropology at Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
Don and I spent close to three hours in this fabulous museum. The architecture is unique, built on a hillside, designed to reveal layer after layer of Pre-Columbian history and artifacts as you descend the hill and enter a new zone or epoch of the past.
The museum houses many of the best works removed from Tejin, a large site nearby that is being researched and restored. There are exhibits on specific deities and rituals. One section features zoological artifacts, and along with the popular Jaguar, cats, monkeys and bat themed objects can be found. One section is filled with baby faces, portraying children in various emotions. One sculpture has two kids in a swing, and it is almost a snapshot into these happy kids' lives. The hopes and fears, the divinity, and spirituality, the warfare they utilized, and the complexities of their societies are all transmitted through time by the art these peoples created.
The liberal use of sound effects and the overproduced audio became a bit tiresome at times, but then you realize how much more you can get from the program as it covers close to a hundred of the exhibits. Some of the writing could stand improvement, adding more depth than just the what or why would be helpful. It is clear that there are many things the archeologists just don't know about some of the artifacts and the peoples who created them, and may be shrouded in
mystery forever.
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