Mexico City’s National Museum of Anthropology: A Journey through Time and Culture
The amazing Museo Nacional de Antropologia (MNA), which is the largest museum of its kind in the country and one of the most important in the world, is also in Mexico City.
It gets over two million visitors every year. Inside, you can see some of the Mesoamerican people’s huge archaeological legacy, but the tour goes all the way up to the present day.
In fact, a whole section of the museum is dedicated to the many different cultures that live in Mexico today.
According to a plan by architect Pedro Ramrez Vázquez, the building that houses the Museum of Anthropology was built in the 1960s in the middle of the Bosque de Chapultepec, which is the largest green area in the Mexican capital.
The building is on two floors and has 22 permanent exhibition halls, two temporary exhibition halls, several auditoriums, and the Biblioteca Nacional de Antropologia e Historia. It has about 45,000 m2 of covered space and almost the same amount of outdoor space, which is split between the central patio, which is dominated by the so-called paraguas, and the gardens that surround the outside of the building.
On the road, the so-called Monolith of Tláloc, which is a statue of the god of rain, stands in front of the entrance. It is 7 meters tall and 168 tons heavy. It was discovered in San Miguel Coatlinchán and brought here.
The museum is a must-see for anyone who wants to learn about the world of Mexican indigenous civilizations or wants to learn more about things related to them. In any case, it’s important to remember that the collection of exhibits is so big that it deserves to be seen more than once. You could easily spend a whole day inside and still not see everything.
The most famous thing in the museum is the Piedra del Sol, an Aztec monolith made of basalt that was found during excavations of the Templo Mayor of ancient Tenochtitlán (in what is now the city’s main square, el Zócalo). The stone is round and about 3.60 meters wide. It weighs 25 tons and has a diameter of about 3.60 meters. His picture is also on the 10-peso coin in Mexico.
It is not the only important piece in the collection. The large stone heads of the Olmec culture, the monumental sculptures of Teotihuacán, the funerary offerings of Monte Albán, the stelae of Xochicalco, the disco de Mictlantecuhtli, a Toltec atlas made in Tollan-Xicocotitlan, and many other unique finds from the most beautiful archaeological sites in Mexico are just as impressive.
To help you find your way, here is a short description of what each room is about.
Ground floor: archeology rooms
The permanent collection can be seen starting on the ground floor, which is where the archeology section is. This section can be seen step by step by following the arrangement of the rooms around the central patio in a direction opposite to the direction of time.
Room 1: Introduction to Anthropology
The theme of anthropology is introduced to the visitor. Anthropology is the study of how humans have changed and adapted over millions of years, which has allowed them to develop the physical, social, and cultural traits that make them human.
Room 2: Population of America (30,000–2500 BC)
The first people who lived in Mexico were hunters and gatherers, but climate change forced them to start farming, which helped them settle down.
Room 3: The Preclassic in the Central Plateau (2500 BC–100 AD)
With more people and more farming, the first societies with different classes were formed. The most important things about this time were that people stopped moving around as much, agriculture got better, and people started making ceramics.
Room 4: Teotihuacán (100–700 AD)
Teotihuacán was a place where people went on pilgrimages and where economic decisions were made. Its influence was felt far and wide in Mesoamerica and beyond for hundreds of years after it was abandoned.
Room 5: The Toltecs and the Epiclassic (700–1200 AD)
When Teotihuacán fell, cities like Xochicalco, Cantona, and Cacaxtla grew up as independent centers. Tula then took over as the most powerful city.
Room 6: Mexico (1200–1521 AD)
The economy of the Mexica (or Aztec, according to traditional histories) empire was based on tribute, farming, and trade. The social development of the empire was directly tied to war. From a tourist’s point of view, the Piedra del Sol is the most important part of the Museum of Anthropology. It is the building’s main hall and holds very valuable sculptures like the Coatlicue, a Cuauhxicalli in the shape of a cat, the Piedra de Tzoc, an obsidian vase in the shape of a monkey, and a turquoise-covered skull.
Room 7: Oaxaca’s Cultures
The area that is now the state of Oaxaca was home to two great cultures: the Zapotecs, who built the city of Monte Albán (a beautiful archeological site can be seen today near the city of Oaxaca de Juárez), and the Mixtecs, who were known for their artistic skills and whose sense of morality has been passed down to us through their codes.
Room 8: Gulf Coast Cultures
The Olmecs, the Totonacs, and the Huastecs have all lived on the Gulf Coast, which is the side that faces the Atlantic Ocean, at different times in history.
Room 9: Maya
Among the many peculiarities of the Mayans, their complex writing systems emerge, which they used to record events that marked the political life of the reigning dynasties, as well as their extraordinary artistic expressions, among the most notable of the pre-Hispanic past.
Cultures of the West (Room 10)
In the western part of Mesoamerica, different societies were known for their art, how they thought about the human body, and how well they knew how to make metals.
Room 11: cultures of the North
The area that is now northern Mexico and the southwestern United States was home to many different cultures. These cultures included hunter-gatherers and sedentary people who lived in large towns like Paquimé or Alta Vista, as well as people who lived in small villages like the Hohokam and Anazazi.
First floor: rooms for ethnography
There are 68 indigenous groups spread out across Mexico. Together, they have more than 11 million people, or about 10% of the country’s population. The National Museum of Anthropology has a huge collection of ethnographic items. Some of these items are spread out in 11 rooms on the second floor, while others are kept in warehouses. Even though some of the items date back to the colonial era, they all tell a story about the world and how the indigenous people of Mexico live today.
Also on the top floor, the rooms are set up so that you move from one to the next in the opposite direction of the central patio.
Room 12: Indigenous peoples
The room shows the history and traits of the indigenous peoples of today. They are the keepers of a cultural heritage that includes the Catholic religion, in which each region has its own cosmology, the economy, ceremonies, dances, and rituals, as well as the worship of ancestors, social organization, and daily life.
Room 13: Grand Nayar
On the land that is now Nayarit, Jalisco, and Zacatecas, there are Coras, Huicholes, Tepehuanes, Nahuas, and Mestizos. Each group stands out by putting its own artistic spin on things like jewelry and decorations that are made by hand.
Room 14: Puréecherio
Since before the Spaniards came, the purépecha have lived in this part of the state of Michoacán. They are an ethnic group that still follows their customs and traditions and does things like fishing and community celebrations.
Room 15: Otopame
Objects are on display that show how the Matlatzinca, Tlahuica, Mazahua, Pame, Chichimeca Jonaz, and Otom people see the world, how they celebrate agriculture, saints, and ancestors, and what they know about knowledge, technology, food, music, dance, and the cycle of life.
Room 16: Sierra de Puebla
The Nahuas, Totonacas, Otomes, and Tepehuas are the four main indigenous groups that have lived together for hundreds of years in the high mountains and rough terrain. The room shows examples of artistic and technical specialization in the textile industry, such as how baskets, jewelry, and other hand-made items are made.
Room 17: Oaxaca, indigenous peoples of the south
The room has a painting of the legend of how the sun and moon came to be, along with a picture of Cocijo, the Zapotec god of rain who is connected to agriculture, which is the main way the Oaxaqueos make a living. The collection on display shows how many different cultures live in the area, which is home to 16 indigenous groups like the Mixtec and Zapotec.
Room 18: Cultures of the Gulf of Mexico
As cultures change, the rooms that show how they express themselves through art and ideas need to be updated from time to time. In 2017, the Costa del Golfo de México: Huasteca and Totonacapan will be featured, with items from the different ethnic groups that live in the area.
Room 19: Mayan peoples of the plains and jungle
Here are pictures of the Mayan people of southern Mexico. For hundreds of years, they lived in a large area that stretched from the plains along the Gulf of Mexico to the jungles and the northern slope of the Sierra Norte de Chiapas. Their culture was based on farming, fishing, hunting, gathering, trading, and other activities.
Room 20: Mayan peoples of the mountains
It talks about the tzotziles, tzeltales, tojolabales, and mames who live in the Los Altos de Chiapas area. These people, among other things, have a great textile tradition that goes back to the beginning of Mayan culture.
Room 21: The North-East: Mountains, Deserts, and Valleys
Northeast Mexico is home to many different ethnic groups, such as the tarahumara, pimas, tepehuas, seris, pápagos, yaquis, and mayos, each with their own myths, dances, and agricultural rituals.
Room 22: The Nahuas
Even though the Nahuas are made up of different people and live in 13 different states in Mexico, they are all part of the same ethnolinguistic family, which is the largest in the country. However, their cultures are different because they live in different places.
Useful information, opening hours, and prices for the Museum of Anthropology
Address
Museo Nacional de Antropologia, Av. Paseo de la Reforma y Calzada Gandhi, s/n Col. Chapultepec Polanco, Del. Miguel Hidalgo Ciudad de Mexico (Mexico City)
Price
Admission is 90 pesos (about 4.5 euros). Mexican citizens over 60, under 13, with disabilities, teachers, and students can get in for free.
In every case, the document in question must be shown. On Sundays, Mexican citizens and foreigners living in Mexico (with proof) can get in for free.
Tuesday through Sunday, from 9 am to 8 pm. Every Monday of the year, it’s closed.
Guided tours
Free tours are given Tuesday through Saturday at 10 and 12 a.m.
How to get there
Take the subway and get off at either Auditorio (Line 7) or Chapultepec (Line 1), then walk for just over 1 km from the exit.
