Ancient Mexcico (México Antiguo)
Although this exhibition focuses on ethnographic and historic objects, primarily from the 19th and 20th centuries, Mexico has had a long and rich cultural development. After thousands of years of human habitation, around 1500 BC high civilizations began to flourish. For over three thousand years, until the Spanish Conquest in 1521, the Olmec, Maya, Teotihuacán, Toltec, and Aztec unified much of the lands and peoples of what is now Mexico. These great states dominated the central and southern portion of the diverse territory stretching from the Rio Grande borderlands in the north to Guatemala in the south.
Ancient Mesoamericans domesticated many important crops--such as corn, beans, squash, tomatoes, cocao, chili peppers, and cotton--and engaged in long distance trade for jade, obsidian, and precious metals. Important technologies were pottery, weaving, and stone-working, both monumental and delicate. As early as the 6th century BC, the region was united by the use of a 260-day ritual calendar; around AD 150 the Maya developed a complex form of hieroglyphic writing.
In order to demonstrate the ancient roots of Mexican cultures, we present this small selection. Focusing on the northern, western, and central regions, it is just a sampling of the thousands of archaeological objects from Mexico in the Hearst Museum's collections. Many of these items are ritual objects, found in tombs.
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