My most recent visit included three generations of family: my uncle, a great uncle, and myself. We arrived first thing in the morning and didn't leave until closing. And, for the first time, I had seen everything! It was reassuring to see those parts of the collection with which I was already familiar, including the calendar; the Olmec, Toltec, and Mixtec items; and the gulf culture artifacts, but it was also fascinating to see the rest of the collection to fill in the many holes in my mental landscape of Mexican societies.

Continued from Part 1

The largest hall in the museum is not surprisingly dedicated to the Mexica -- more often known as the Aztecs, although the Aztecs was just one nation in a much larger grouping. In this hall, much more information is available on all aspects of this fascinating civilization. Minor information boards are once again in Spanish only but all general aspects of Mexica life and culture are in both English and Spanish.

The main display in this hall is also the pride of the Museum and Mexico -- the massive round Sun Stone. This stone was lost after the destruction of the Major Temple complex of Tenochtitlán by the Spanish conquistadors in 1521, but was rediscovered in the center of Mexico in 1790. It is often incorrectly described as the Aztec calendar, but in reality forms only a part of it. (Most postcards and even most books on sale in the Museum shop still call it the Aztec Calendar, although newer ones refer to it somewhat grudgingly as the "Sun Stone (Aztec Calendar)."

Other displays here include paintings and models of what Tenochtitlán and the Mayor Temple complex looked like prior to destruction and rebirth as Mexico City in the 16th century. The larger stone statues and round stone altars receive the most attention, but there are also interesting smaller items of note. These range from items of every day use, such as vessels and kitchen utensils, to religious paraphernalia, such as incense burners with the most bizarre carvings. Always popular are the knives made of obsidian stone and decorated with sinister smiling faces made of stones inlays. These surprisingly small knives were used in the "cut out the heart" ceremonies that were a central part of the Mexica religious views in which the blood offerings of human captives were used to return blood and thus life to the earth via the Sun and war god.

The Mexica and especially the Aztecs were predominantly warrior nations. It should therefore not be surprising that their scientific, art and architectural achievements did not really surpass those of other civilizations that lived slightly earlier in Mexico. This can be seen vividly when the Mexica is compared with the exhibits in the hall dedicated to the civilizations that lived in the present state of Oaxaca. For me of particular interest here is the civilization of the Zapotecas who lived in Monte Alban just outside the present-day city of Oaxaca. This civilization reached its peak between 300 and 700 A.D. and among other things performed some kind of brain surgery! Skulls have been found that were opened and the patients survived several years after. The search for the herbs and medicines that were used to control both pain and infection are still continuing in the valleys of Oaxaca.

National Museum of Anthropology Paseo de la Reforma Chapultepec, Mexico City Open: 09:00 - 18:00, Tue - Sun

The National Museum of Anthropology must rate as one of the great museums in the world and as far as Mexican anthropology is concerned, it is unsurpassed. The building itself is a masterpiece from the late 1960s. It has 26 exhibition rooms arranged on two floors around a huge square. Part of the square is covered by a roof, which seems to be suspended in the air with a waterfall rushing down a huge column, which protrudes through a hole in the middle of the roof.

The first halls give an introduction to anthropology in general and then move to Mexico specific. The halls on Teotihuacan, the Olmecs, and Tula have impressive displays, but the little information available is only in Spanish and even this is so limited that it is hard to make sense out of it all without prior knowledge. Also, some of the displays are copies while others -- even very large ones -- are original, but no explanation is given.

The largest hall is dedicated to the Mexica -- see separate Mexica Exhibitions entry.

Further halls cover the inhabitants of northern Mexico, but these are generally of lesser interest compared to the other more famous civilizations. The exhibitions on the Mayas were closed for renovation. The second floor of the museum is dedicated to contemporary life of the indigenous people of Mexico.

A restaurant serving both Mexican and American style food is available but mostly frequented by foreigners -- the average Mexican visitor (correctly) expects a markup. We only had lemonade, but the other patrons generally seemed satisfied with the food, although I personally won’t time my visit to have a meal there.

The museum is huge and civilization fatigue sets in after a while. It may be best to select a few halls in advance rather than to rush through trying to see it all and in the end not having a clue if the Atlantes were Mayan or Aztec.** An audio guide (US$6) may be a sensible option for those with limited Spanish.

Entry to the museum is a bargain at Pesos 37 (about $3.50). On Sundays the museum is free for Mexican citizens -- official documents are needed as proof and actually verified -- so expect more families and school children doing assignments. On Sundays, the museum is busy but not unpleasantly so -- tour groups on guided tours rushing behind guides with little regard to other visitors are more of a nuisance.

On Sundays, there are always some stalls set up in front of the museum selling drinks, snacks and a lot of plastic junk and arts of lesser quality. Of more interests are the conchero dancers and the voladores pole ceremony – still considered more a religious ceremony rather than entertainment, but the money collectors do come by around halfway through the display.

(** It was Toltec!)

Continue to Mexica Exhbitions

This is one of the top museums in the world and Mexico's pride and joy. The ground-floor rooms are devoted to history, and the upstairs rooms ethnographic features. In most areas, they even allow you to take pictures!

El Museo Nacional de Antropologia is located in the Bosque de Chapultepec. Best is to take the metro till the station of Chapultepec, and then you can walk through this big park, where this Bosque de Chapultepec is.

This museum is very, very big. On the lower floor there are 12 exhibition halls, which show the different regions of Mexico, and one especially for the Maya culture; on the upper level you can see a collection of clothing, housings, and utensils of the 56 still existing local cultures in Mexico. You can easily spend a day in this really interesting museum. It is really interesting to visit this museum before you start exploring the different archeologically sites all across Mexico.

One of the highlights is the Calendar Stone. This is the beautiful Calendar Stone or the Sun Stone. The earth or Sun God in the middle is surrounded by the 20 symbols of the Aztec calendar. It is forbiden to make photos with a flash, so the picture I added is a postcard that I bought in the museumshop. The diameter of this stone is 3,6 m and the weight is 24 ton.

Metro Chapultepec