National Treasures

During this trip, we visited several very important museums that house priceless ancient artifacts.  In most cases, exact reproductions were created to take the place of the discovered artifacts, and the originals are in the museums for safe keeping.  On this day, we visited the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City.  Here are a few of the outstanding displays that we saw.

Above is the monolith that greeted us out front of the museum.  This is Lady Chalchiuhtlicue, Aztec goddess of the waters, lakes and rivers.  She weighs 160 tons and was discovered in an area east of Mexico City. 

Here we have 2 of the 17 giant Olmec heads that have been unearthed. 

These jade statues were found at the Olmec site of La Venta, and are displayed in the exact position they were in when discovered.  Note the elongated skulls and cranial deformation. 

Above are the very priceless jade mask and adornments from Lord Pakal's tomb in the Temple of Inscriptions at Palenque.  When this tomb was first discovered, all of the remains were brought to Mexico City.  At some point in the recent past, the body was reburied in the temple, but the adornments and mask remain at this museum.  What is seen in the museum at Palenque are reproductions.  

And lastly is the original Aztec Sun Stone, or Calendar Stone.  It weighs 24 tons.  It was buried beneath the central square of Mexico City by the Aztecs, and found by the Spanish fairly early on during the conquest.