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        Mesoamerican Artifacts II,
      a Photo Gallery
      
         The table below
            presents views of a variety of artifacts from the ancient civilizations
            of Mesoamerica. All the items  are from Central Mexico, west of
          the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Special thanks to the National Museum of Anthropology
            for permission to photograph for educational purposes.  Each 
          thumbnail photo is a link to a larger version of the same photograph.  
        
          The Cannibalism 
          Paradigm: Assessing Contact Period Ethnohistorical Discourse         
           
          Teotihuacan Mural Art: Assessing the Accuracy of its Interpretation 
          Mesoamerican Archaeoastronomy: 
        Contemporary Understandings of Prehispanic Astronomic Knowledge
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        The largest Calender stone from Central Mexico hangs on the wall in 
          the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City.
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        Also in the museum, a calender stone is carved atop this monolith depicting 
          a teocalli, an ancient pyramid. The sides feature glyphs.
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        A model of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan's central monument district 
          is on display in the same room of the museum as the two stone sculptures 
          shown above. 
        
         A large mural on the wall shows the city and causeways leading to the 
          great metropolis. The entire city was leveled by the Spanish invaders.
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        A gleeful expression is typical of a style of ceramic masks from the 
          Gulf Coast region of Mexico. This unique style of ecstatic faces are 
          featured on both masks and full figure sculptures.
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        A stone sculpture in a park in Misantla, Vera Cruz depicts a rabbit's 
          features emerging from a flattened spheroid. This image probably represents 
          the moon. The sculpture was removed from the nearby pyramid complex 
          of Los Idolos. Stone spheres, other carvings and a stela are known from 
          Los Idolos.
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        This page in the Codex Laud depicts a human seated on a Tree of Life 
          glyph. 
        
         The pictographic screen folds from Central Mexico and from the Maya 
          region are of distinct styles, although the calender, number and other 
          conventions are the same.
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        The so-called 'Xochipilli' stone sculpture in the Museo Nacional de 
          Antropología. Xochipilli is the numen of flowers in the prehistoric 
          tradition. 
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        One of the original statutes found buried inside the Tula pyramid, 
          now on display in the National Museum of Anthropology.
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