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Tag Archives: Mexico

Ancient Mesoamerica: Terminal Post-Classic Maya – Mayapan, Tulum, El Rey

Friday, August 21, 2009

Mayapan has been called the last “capital” of the Maya, following the downfall of Chichen Itza. Buildings are of much poorer quality. It lasted less than a century and collapsed before the arrival of the Spanish. Tulum is a small, walled site, on the coast. Columbus probably saw lights from there when he passed by [...]

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Ancient Mesoamerica: Post-Classic Maya – Kabah, Labna, Sayil, Xlapak, Edzna, Oxkintok

Friday, August 21, 2009

Kabah, Labna, Sayil, & Xlapak lie in the Puuc Hills of Yucatan, near Uxmal. They bear a distinct and highly ornate architecture called Puuc Style. These Post-Classic sites are small and close to each other. Edzna & Oxkintok are probably transitional from Classic to Post-Classic, and lie a little farther south. None of these sites [...]

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Ancient Mesoamerica: Post-Classic Maya – Chichen Itza & Uxmal

Friday, August 21, 2009

Chichen Itza & Uxmal, in the northern Yucatan, were the two greatest Maya sites of the Post-Classic era. The temple of Kukulcan (probably Mayan for Quetzalcoatl) at Chichen Itza is perhaps the most famous pyramid in America. Historical records are generally lacking, but architecture is among the finest in ancient Mesoamerica. I took the Chichen [...]

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Ancient Mesoamerica: Tenochtitlan & Aztec Great Temple

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Tenochtitlan was the capital of the Colhua Mexica (Aztecs) and was destroyed by Hernan Cortez & his Tlaxcalan allies in 1521. The Templo Major (Great Temple) was the site of thousands of human sacrifices to the war god Huitzilopochtli and rain god Tlaloc. Buried for centuries, it was rediscovered in the 1980s. Other photos of [...]

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Ancient Mesoamerica: Teotihuacan & El Tajin

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Teotihuacan (c. 200 BC – c. 600 AD) was once one of the largest cities in the world. It was given its name “City of the Gods” by the later Colhua Mexica (Aztecs), whose emperors made frequent pilgrimages. El Tajin was contemporary and perhaps related. It is located near Veracruz. Neither culture left a written [...]

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Merida Museum, Yucatan, Mexico

Friday, July 18, 2008

This is a small regional museum dealing mostly with the Maya of the Yucatan. But since the Maya wing was closed for renovation when I visited the INAH Museum in Mexico City, this is about all I can do for the Maya culture, arguably the most interesting of all the ancient Mesoamerican cultures. Photos by [...]

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INAH Museum, Mexico City

Friday, July 18, 2008

This is another great world museum dealing mostly with ancient Mesoamerica: Olmec, Teotihuacan, Maya, Mexica (Aztec), and others. The Maya wing was closed when I was there. Rats! Hopefully I can go back with digital. Photos by Gary L. Todd, Ph.D., Professor of History, Sias International University, Xinzheng, Henan, China. http://picasaweb.google.com/GaryLeeTodd/INAHMuseumMexicoCity#

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Mexico

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Most of my Mexican photos were taken in archaeological sites and are filed in my Ancient Mesoamerican albums, or in the album from the INAH Museum in Mexico City. These are the remaining photos that are not of precolumbian artifacts. Photos by Gary L. Todd, Ph.D., Professor of History, Sias International University, Xinzheng, Henan, China. [...]

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