My daughter: it’s hard having a dad who’s an archaeologist.
My wife: what’s hard about it? Going on adventures?
Dau: :: sadly :: mmhmm 🏺

A week of Fernando Castro Pacheco, an amazing 20th century #popartist and #muralist from Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. You can today find his paintings and lithographs at the Casa de Cultura Fernando Castro Pacheco in Merida. #modernart 🎨

Congratulations!

Three gold objects, one a frog, two others of unknown shape

Here it is with two other small pieces of gold dredged from the cenote

Teenie tiny golden froggie, one of many offerings dredged from the sacred cenote (sinkhole) at #ChichénItzá. In Mesoamerica, #Frogs were associated with rain because … well, they come out when it rains! Palacio Cantón #merida. #artifacts #ancientart #archaeology #maya 🏺

In this pic you can see the info about the site has completely faded away. With 501c3 Past/Present Collective, we’re raising money to put up new signs at small, forgotten sites like this. Reach out to help people understand these little gems.

Here’s a 3d image of it. You can see the big wall in the center that would have separated two rooms.

A small ancient Maya structure with a tree growing up on the edge

Las Tumbas, ancient Maya building in Merida. There are flat stones of a Puuc style, so this probably had cool decorative elements. People lived here from 400 BCE to 1100 CE and 19 former residents were buried on-site.
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#maya #hiddenspots #ancientamericas #archaeology 🏺

Such a dignified kitty!

This bloodletting bone belonged to Maya ruler Yuknoom Uht Chan of Dzibanche, an early seat of the famous Snake Dynasty. We know it was his because the glyphs on it tell us. The glyphs are probably no more than 2 cm tall. #Cancun #Maya #Museum
#ancientamericas #artifacts #archaeology 🏺

Here’s the companion piece still at Oxtankah; I couldn’t get as good of a photo of this one since it was behind glass

This stunning stucco sculpture is from Oxtankah, but now hangs out at the
Cancun Maya Museum. He has a twin at the site museum in Oxtankah. Probably a ruler or ancestor though maybe one of the legendary hero twins based on his jaguar spots.
#ancientamericas #ancientart #sculpture #archaeology 🏺

This cute #Maya figurine shows the incredible colors of ancient Maya clothing. She wears a huipil with a scandalous red slip beneath. And her feet have Jaguar spots! Cool tattoos? Animal print socks? Or a sign she’s supernatural? 🤷
#Cancun Maya #Museum.
#ancientamericas #ceramic #archaeology 🏺

The bag that ancient #maya man is holding is an … enema bag! 😅😅😅
It was one way of intaking psychedelic substances during rituals. Luckily we don’t have images of the actual administration. Jk, there totally are. Cancun Maya Museum.
#ancientamericas #ceramic #archaeology #arthistory 🏺

A fabulous #Maya #ceramic bowl. The puffed cheeks, the closed eyes, the content smile—I love it.
Cute was an intentional aesthetic and this piece shows a playful side of indigenous Americans that we are told didn’t exist. From the Cancun Maya Museum.
#ancientamericas #mayanwarrior #archaeology 🏺

Wow even the base is a thousand times more artistic than the original sculpture lol. walker really made one of the most compelling sculptures of the last twenty years or so here …

This is the cutest ancient Maya god I’ve seen. This #ceramic of Itzamnaaj emerging from a shell is from Tulum. Pieces like this use the aesthetic of cute and show a playful side of ancient Americans that we are told didn’t exist. Cancun Maya Museum.
#ancientamericas #mayanwarrior #archaeology 🏺

Cherubic column from colonial #Merida. This wooden column is one of my favorites in the Merida City Museum’s collection. #history #archaeology #religiousart 🏺

Some breaking #archaeology news! Scholars have ID’ed an awesome new #Maya Queen at #Coba, #yucatan. Naturally connected to the Snake Dynasty. #sciencenews 🏺

And the original stone.

Here’s the completed drawing

This is U Kit Kan Le’k Tok’, ruler of #EkBalam in the late 700s CE. As great Maya cities like Tikal and Calakmul collapsed, U Kit provoked a renaissance at Ek Balam. Image from a stone covering his tomb at the Museo Mundo Maya in Merida.
#arthistory #archaeology #maya

The Castillo at #chichenitza is one of the most famous #maya buildings, but the style isn’t actually all that Maya! It takes a lot from central #Mexico. Not a terrible building though. Here’s a view of it from the city’s ballcourt #ancienthistory #archaeology 🏺

This interesting #ceramic vessel from the #Calakmul area shows the #Maya corn god emerging out of a husk of corn. You see something else? What ever do you mean? It’s the corn god, I swear! 🏺#archaeology

Friend in Mexico for sure lol

Here’s our buddy from the side

This handsome man is Ek Chuah, the ancient #Maya god of #cacao and, by extension, mercantilism. He often has features associated with foreigners to the Maya area, perhaps an acknowledgement of the cosmopolitanization that comes with contact with outsiders. 🏺 #palaciocanton #ceramic #archaeology

This is an ancient #Maya #jade pectoral, once worn by a “priest-king” known as an Ajaw. The t-shaped slit in the center is a wind sign, possibly representing the ruler’s breath. Mundo Maya in #Mérida. #archaeology 🏺

Even the tents look AI lol not to mention the skeleton itself