Fear for the future leads us to the past

by Rosa Ziegler

The Maya 2012: Lords of Time exhibit opened this weekend at the Penn Museum. Despite having been many times before, I’d never actually made it to an opening. Honduran President Porfirio Lobo Sosa spoke about the importance of Maya culture and its influence on the rest of the world. He seemed to have a personal interest in how it is that the Maya theory that the world would end in 2012 became such an international phenomenon. He joked that we were all crazy for believing it, but that it was in fact a huge help to the country because the myth has drawn so many talented archaeologists.

After the President cut the ribbon we flooded the gallery. Inside there are a surprising number of original artifacts and a few reproductions of pieces that were too fragile to make the trip. What I liked most about the exhibit was that above many of the larger artifacts was a projected image of the piece. One at a time, sections of the projections were then turned into simple outline drawing versions of the hieroglyphs. Meanwhile, audio explanations were played which gave of the meaning of each symbol. This was really helpful for people like me who get lost following complicated diagrams.

The coolest artifact, hands down, was a deer shaped vessel that they believe was used to store chocolate offerings!

Upstairs I watched artisans designing an Alfombra de Aserrín (a carpet made with colored sawdust). The alfombras were originally made out of flowers for kings to walk on. I also watched a Mayan weaver hard at work on a belt and saw several kids try their hand at the craft. I didn’t do any weaving, but I did make a worry doll version of myself. Worry doll Rosa looks pretty snazzy.

The exhibit is on display until January 13th. To find out more, visit the Penn Museum website at http://www.penn.museum/sites/2012/.