Highlights of the Exhibition
Chapter One—Invitation to Ancient Mexico
The first hunter-gatherers to reach North America migrated from Siberia over 13,000 years ago. Some groups continued southward across the continent, taking a long and meandering journey that eventually brought them to the region today known as Mexico. Over the subsequent millennia, they adapted to their new home’s diverse ecosystems and established sedentary villages that subsisted on a wide range of plants and animals. As time passed, these grew into agrarian societies that supported the development of distinct ethnic groups across the region.
An early example of such a group is the Olmec civilization, which emerged along the Gulf of Mexico around 1500 BC. In parallel, other core settlements began to appear in the Central Mexican Highlands and the Oaxaca region. Their rulers oversaw the construction of monumental buildings and the development of astronomy, calendars, and writing systems. Eventually, these settlements gave rise to major cities. Some of the most prominent examples of ancient Mexico’s urban societies include the Maya, the Aztec, and the enigmatic civilization that inhabited the city of Teotihuacan.
Maize
Domesticated maize was a critical crop in the Americas along with chili peppers, pumpkins, and tomatoes. Maize played a fundamental role in urban societies. It was consumed as a grain and in fermented beverages and was also worshipped as a deity associated with rain and fertility.
Astronomy and Calendars
Mesoamerican societies made meticulous astronomical observations to forecast the rainy and dry seasons, which were of immense importance in crop cultivation. They accurately identified the cycles of the sun, moon, the planet Venus, and even solar and lunar eclipses. Early Mesoamericans developed several different kinds of calendars, including a 365-day calendar based on solar cycles and a 260-day ritual calendar believed to be based on the human gestation period.
Ball Games
Games using rubber balls were played in a variety of ballcourts. Depending on the rules, players might use their hips, gloves, or sticks to hit the ball. Ball games were played early on in Mesoamerican history, not just as spectator sports but as parts of religious rites involving human sacrifice and diplomatic ceremonies.
Human Sacrifice
The practice of human sacrifice in ancient Mexico was based on the moral concept that the gods sacrificed themselves to ensure the continuation of all things, and thus humans should also be willing to sacrifice themselves for the benefit of others. As a show of power, some states employed more shocking methods of sacrifice, including decapitation and removing the hearts of living victims.
Chapter Two—Teotihuacan: City of Gods
The city of Teotihuacan was founded around 100 BC and flourished until close to AD 550. It was located in the Central Mexican Highlands, in a basin approximately 2,300 meters (7,500 feet) above sea level. The city had an urban area of nearly 25 square kilometers (9.5 square miles) and housed as many as 100,000 inhabitants. Teotihuacan was home to an enigmatic civilization, and much remains unknown about its ethnic groups, languages, and writing systems.
Archaeologists believe Teotihuacan was a major religious site and that its layout reflects the ideological worldview of its inhabitants. The Avenue of the Dead was the city’s central artery, and pyramids, ritual spaces, palaces, and other structures were meticulously placed around it. Recent research has gradually revealed a more complete picture of Teotihuacan. In its heyday, it was the bustling urban center of a multiethnic state, attracting people and goods from across the region. Teotihuacan was a cosmopolitan city that exerted influence on nearly every corner of the Mesoamerican world.
Circular sculpture with the face of death
Teotihuacan
AD 300–550
Sun Plaza, Sun Pyramid, Teotihuacan
National Museum of Anthropology
Avian effigy vessel
Teotihuacan
AD 250–550
La Ventilla, Teotihuacan
National Museum of Anthropology
Chapter Three—Maya: The Rise and Fall of City-States
Around the first century, dynasties associated with royal tombs and stone monuments with carved inscriptions began to form in the Maya region. From about AD 250 to 950, the region had a thriving urban culture, exemplified by its pyramids and other public architecture as well as its sophisticated calendars and group rituals.
Located in the tropical lowlands, Maya cities were unable to store food for prolonged periods, and political authorities had difficulty in controlling economies and maintaining large armies. Instead, they relied on public rituals and monumental construction projects to foster a collective identity. The main responsibilities of Maya rulers were to build ceremonial spaces and perform calendrical rituals. Rulers derived additional power and status through stone monuments with inscriptions honoring their achievements.
The Maya region was never politically unified, and city-states rose and fell as they fought for power. This occasionally included warfare, but rulers also forged friendly relations through trade and the exchange of diplomatic envoys.
Toniná Monument 171
Maya
c. AD 727
Palace of Water, Acropolis, Toniná
National Museum of Anthropology
Mask, Diadem, and Necklace of the Red Queen
Maya
late 7th century;
found at Temple 13, Palenque; Palenque Site Museum, Alberto Ruz Lhuillier
Chapter Four—Aztec: Great Temple of Tenochtitlan
The Mexica and other Nahuatl-speaking people from northern Mesoamerica arrived in the Central Mexican Highlands in the thirteenth century. They established the Aztec Empire and used the fear and awe that their sacred capital Tenochtitlan inspired in outsiders to assert political and economic hegemony.
The city center housed the great temple of Templo Mayor. It was flanked by two other temples that emulated the pictorial and architectural styles of Teotihuacan, which was by then no more than a memory from the distant past. The Aztec intentionally claimed the same mythological heritage as Teotihuacan as a means of associating themselves with a renowned civilization from the Classic period. They did this to invoke the protection of a great civilization from the past while also legitimizing their position as the rightful heirs to world domination. The Mexica not only used religious ideologies and military strength to solidify their rule but also drew on the powerful legacy of an ancient culture.
Eagle Warrior sculpture
Aztec
AD 1469–86
House of the Eagles, Templo Mayor
Templo Mayor Museum
Tláloc pot
Aztec
AD 1440–69
Offering 56, Templo Mayor
Templo Mayor Museum
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