Regional Museum of Anthropology and History of Chiapas
Encyclopedia
The Regional Museum of Anthropology and History of Chiapas (Museo Regional de Antropología e Historia de Chiapas) is the largest museum in Tuxtla Gutiérrez
in Chiapas
and one of the most important of its kind in Mexico
. It primarily consists of two main halls with one dedicated to the state’s Mesoamerica
n archeology and the other to the history of the state starting from the Spanish conquest. The archeological display focus on the native Zoque and Mayan
cities, and the historical displays extend in time until the early 20th century. In addition to its permanent collection, it also has a temporary exhibit hall and auditorium to host events such as book signings, summer classes, conferences and more.
, Bulgaria
in 1985. . Among its decorative features is a mural called “The Magical World of the Mayas.” It was originally painted in 1963 by Leonora Carrington
for the Anthropology Museum in Mexico City
but it was moved to Chiapas to its permanent home here.
and Maya
cultures native to the state. The items on display are divided into three periods of time. The first is the Preclassic
, which begins with the establishment of agricultural settlements from between 2000 and 1000 BCE to about 300 BCE. This era is dominated by the Olmec
expansion as well as the height of native cities such as Izapa
and Chiapa de Corzo
. The Classic Period
(300 BCE to 900 CE) is distinguished by the rise of the Maya civilization, with some notable Zoque settlements. The Post Classic
is marked by the fall of the great Mayan cities around 900 CE and extends to the arrival of the Spanish. In this area of Mesoamerica, the native peoples dispersed into small isolated communities without regional cohesion. In the latter part of this period, the Aztec
s from the Mexican Plateau
began to make incursions here, conquering the Central Valley and Soconusco
regions. The pieces on display are accompanied by diagrams, maps and reproductions of pre Hispanic murals to give context.
The second hall covered the Spanish conquest of the area to the beginning of the 20th century. This is divided into the conquest, the colonial area, Independence
, the Reform War
era, the Porfirio Díaz
period and the Mexican Revolution
. The collection includes arms, utensils, historical documents, paintings, and Catholic religious items, especially from Chiapa de Corzo
, San Cristóbal de las Casas
and the former monastery in Tecpatán
.
and more. Summer classes include workshops in archeology, ceramics, and various arts such as watercolor painting, mostly catering to children. Another way the museum reaches out to children is with a Sunday movie club. The annual altar has become an attraction not only for the local populace, but for tourists as well. It is created with the help of various artists and artisans from the state to reflect the traditions and culture of Chiapas. The museum celebrates the annual International Museum Day
with the International Council of Museums
with music, guided tours, conferences and other activities. The museum has sponsored a Children’s Culture Day since 2001, focusing on primary school age children from low income areas. The events involves the participation of various organization related to the environment, the Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas, other museums and more, attracting about 200 children each year.
Temporary exhibits have been varied and have included archeological pieces as well as modern works. One temporary exhibit was called “Soul of Clay” with a collection of about 350 ceramic pieces fabricated over a period of more than 4,000 years. "Brujos y chamanes", (Male Witches and Shamans) was an exhibition of thirty works by artists from Chiapas, which focused on the native magical traditions of the state and how they have influenced the culture. The museum presented a temporary exhibition called “The Pre Hispanic Jaguar, Footprints of the Divine” focusing on a number of archeological pieces. In many Mesoamerican cultures, the jaguar
was a symbol of the supernatural and its image appears in pre Hispanic art since very early. Reverence to this animal remains to this day in many indigenous groups. The pieces on display included sculptures of man/jaguar figures, including two from Izapa
called “The Dancing Jaguar” and the “The Corn Protector.” It also included a number of representations of the animal on pottery and other utensils from various parts of Chiapas.
16°45′35.42"N 93°6′24.22"W
Tuxtla Gutiérrez
Tuxtla Gutiérrez is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Chiapas. It is considered to be the state’s most modern city, with most of its public buildings dating from the 20th century. One exception to this is the San Marcos Cathedral which began as a Dominican parish church built in...
in Chiapas
Chiapas
Chiapas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas is one of the 31 states that, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 118 municipalities and its capital city is Tuxtla Gutierrez. Other important cites in Chiapas include San Cristóbal de las...
and one of the most important of its kind in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. It primarily consists of two main halls with one dedicated to the state’s Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...
n archeology and the other to the history of the state starting from the Spanish conquest. The archeological display focus on the native Zoque and Mayan
Maya peoples
The Maya people constitute a diverse range of the Native American people of southern Mexico and northern Central America. The overarching term "Maya" is a collective designation to include the peoples of the region who share some degree of cultural and linguistic heritage; however, the term...
cities, and the historical displays extend in time until the early 20th century. In addition to its permanent collection, it also has a temporary exhibit hall and auditorium to host events such as book signings, summer classes, conferences and more.
The institution
The Museo Regional de Antropología e Historia (Regional Museum of Anthropology and History) is the largest museum in Tuxtla Gutiérrez and one of the most important of its kind in Mexico. The director is Miguel Ángel Riva Palacio. The building was constructed in modern style between 1979 and 1982, and the museum inaugurated in 1984. . It is located on the edge of Madero Park, with areas on the ground floor stark in appearance, like an airplane hangar. It was designed by architect Juan Miramontes Nájera. This design received first prize at the Third Biennial Architecture Contest in SofiaSofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
in 1985. . Among its decorative features is a mural called “The Magical World of the Mayas.” It was originally painted in 1963 by Leonora Carrington
Leonora Carrington
Leonora Carrington OBE was a British-born Mexican artist, a surrealist painter and a novelist. She lived most of her life in Mexico City.-Early life:...
for the Anthropology Museum in Mexico City
Museo Nacional de Antropología
The Museo Nacional de Antropología is a national museum of Mexico. Located in the area between Paseo de la Reforma and Calle Mahatma Gandhi within Chapultepec Park in Mexico City, the museum contains significant archaeological and anthropological artifacts from the pre-Columbian heritage of...
but it was moved to Chiapas to its permanent home here.
Permanent collection
Its permanent collection covers the history of the state and is divided into two halls: one for archeology and the other for history starting from the Spanish conquest . The exhibits are labeled in Spanish although many also have English labels as well. The archeology hall is dedicated to the state’s pre Hispanic history from the prehistoric to just before the arrival of the Spanish, focusing on the ZoqueZoque
The Zoque are an indigenous people of Mexico; they speak variants of the Zoque languages.This group consists of 41,609 people, according to the 2000 census...
and Maya
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
cultures native to the state. The items on display are divided into three periods of time. The first is the Preclassic
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...
, which begins with the establishment of agricultural settlements from between 2000 and 1000 BCE to about 300 BCE. This era is dominated by the Olmec
Olmec
The Olmec were the first major Pre-Columbian civilization in Mexico. They lived in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in the modern-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco....
expansion as well as the height of native cities such as Izapa
Izapa
Izapa is a very large pre-Columbian archaeological site located in the Mexican state of Chiapas; it was occupied during the Late Formative period. The site is situated on the Izapa River, a tributary of the Suchiate River, near the base of the Tacaná volcano), the fourth largest mountain in...
and Chiapa de Corzo
Chiapa de Corzo (Mesoamerican site)
Chiapa de Corzo is an archaeological site of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, located in the Central Depression of Chiapas of present-day Mexico. It rose to prominence during the Middle Formative period, becoming a regional center or capital that controlled trade along the Grijalva River. By then, its...
. The Classic Period
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...
(300 BCE to 900 CE) is distinguished by the rise of the Maya civilization, with some notable Zoque settlements. The Post Classic
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...
is marked by the fall of the great Mayan cities around 900 CE and extends to the arrival of the Spanish. In this area of Mesoamerica, the native peoples dispersed into small isolated communities without regional cohesion. In the latter part of this period, the Aztec
Aztec
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
s from the Mexican Plateau
Mexican Plateau
The Central Mexican Plateau, also known as the Mexican Altiplano or Altiplanicie Mexicana, is a large arid-to-semiarid plateau that occupies much of northern and central Mexico...
began to make incursions here, conquering the Central Valley and Soconusco
Soconusco
Soconusco is a region of the Mexican state of Chiapas, located in the extreme south of the state and separated from Guatemala by the Suchiate River. It is a region of rich lowlands and foothills. The economic center is Tapachula. Soconusco consists of 16 municipalities.The name comes from the...
regions. The pieces on display are accompanied by diagrams, maps and reproductions of pre Hispanic murals to give context.
The second hall covered the Spanish conquest of the area to the beginning of the 20th century. This is divided into the conquest, the colonial area, Independence
Mexican War of Independence
The Mexican War of Independence was an armed conflict between the people of Mexico and the Spanish colonial authorities which started on 16 September 1810. The movement, which became known as the Mexican War of Independence, was led by Mexican-born Spaniards, Mestizos and Amerindians who sought...
, the Reform War
Reform War
The Reform War in Mexico is one of the episodes of the long struggle between Liberal and Conservative forces that dominated the country’s history in the 19th century. The Liberals wanted a federalist government, limiting traditional Catholic Church and military influence in the country...
era, the Porfirio Díaz
Porfirio Díaz
José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori was a Mexican-American War volunteer and French intervention hero, an accomplished general and the President of Mexico continuously from 1876 to 1911, with the exception of a brief term in 1876 when he left Juan N...
period and the Mexican Revolution
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...
. The collection includes arms, utensils, historical documents, paintings, and Catholic religious items, especially from Chiapa de Corzo
Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas
Chiapa de Corzo is a small city and situated in the west-central part of the Mexican state of Chiapas. Located in the Grijalva River valley of the Chiapas highlands, Chiapa de Corzo lies some 15 km to the east of the state capital, Tuxtla Gutiérrez...
, San Cristóbal de las Casas
San Cristóbal de las Casas
San Cristóbal de las Casas also known as it's native Tsotsil name, Jovel is a city and municipality located in the Central Highlands region of the Mexican state of Chiapas...
and the former monastery in Tecpatán
Tecpatán
Tecpatán is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 38,383. It covers an area of 770.1 km²....
.
Events and temporary exhibits
In addition to the two main exhibition halls, there is one other hall dedicated to temporary exhibits as well as an auditorium which seats 250 people. These are used for events related to the museum as well as outside cultural institutions. The museum offers summer courses, concerts, book signings, exhibitions, a traditional altar for Day of the DeadDay of the Dead
Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and around the world in many cultures. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. It is particularly celebrated in Mexico, where it attains the quality...
and more. Summer classes include workshops in archeology, ceramics, and various arts such as watercolor painting, mostly catering to children. Another way the museum reaches out to children is with a Sunday movie club. The annual altar has become an attraction not only for the local populace, but for tourists as well. It is created with the help of various artists and artisans from the state to reflect the traditions and culture of Chiapas. The museum celebrates the annual International Museum Day
International Museum Day
The International Museum Day is a celebration that is held each year on or about 18 May. Each year, the Advisory Committee of the International Council of Museums defines a specific theme for International Museum Day.-Themes:...
with the International Council of Museums
International Council of Museums
The International Council of Museums is an international organization of museums and museum professionals that is committed to the conservation, continuation and communication to society of the world's natural and cultural heritage, present and future, tangible and intangible.- Overview :Created...
with music, guided tours, conferences and other activities. The museum has sponsored a Children’s Culture Day since 2001, focusing on primary school age children from low income areas. The events involves the participation of various organization related to the environment, the Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas, other museums and more, attracting about 200 children each year.
Temporary exhibits have been varied and have included archeological pieces as well as modern works. One temporary exhibit was called “Soul of Clay” with a collection of about 350 ceramic pieces fabricated over a period of more than 4,000 years. "Brujos y chamanes", (Male Witches and Shamans) was an exhibition of thirty works by artists from Chiapas, which focused on the native magical traditions of the state and how they have influenced the culture. The museum presented a temporary exhibition called “The Pre Hispanic Jaguar, Footprints of the Divine” focusing on a number of archeological pieces. In many Mesoamerican cultures, the jaguar
Jaguar
The jaguar is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico...
was a symbol of the supernatural and its image appears in pre Hispanic art since very early. Reverence to this animal remains to this day in many indigenous groups. The pieces on display included sculptures of man/jaguar figures, including two from Izapa
Izapa
Izapa is a very large pre-Columbian archaeological site located in the Mexican state of Chiapas; it was occupied during the Late Formative period. The site is situated on the Izapa River, a tributary of the Suchiate River, near the base of the Tacaná volcano), the fourth largest mountain in...
called “The Dancing Jaguar” and the “The Corn Protector.” It also included a number of representations of the animal on pottery and other utensils from various parts of Chiapas.
16°45′35.42"N 93°6′24.22"W