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The Popol Vuh Museum or "Museo Popol Vuh" is home to one of the major collections of Maya art in the world. It is located on the campus of the Universidad Francisco Marroquin in Zone 10, Guatemala  City and is especially known for its extensive collection of pre-Colombian and colonial art of the Mayan culture.

The Popol Vuh Museum is a private, nonprofit, scientific institution supported by its own funds and external donations. The museum is operated by a Board of Directors of citizens of Guatemala interested in the preservation and public display of the exhibits. One of its missions is to provide an educational focus for people who want to see and learn about the pre-Colombian past of Guatemala with the preservation, research, and diffusion of information.

Although the museum is best known for its funerary ceramics, the collection includes a variety of portable stone sculptures, especially from the Preclassic period and from the coast and adjacent highlands. The section on Maya pottery includes some of the great Maya vases and bowls.

History


The Museum was founded by Jorge and Ella Castillo who donated most of the collection of archaeological and colonial pieces in 1978 and are the basis of the Popol Vuh Museum today. They began their private collection of archeological and colonial objects years before they established founding in 1977. Their collection was donated to the Universidad Francisco Marroquin to formally establish the museum. The first location was in La Reforma Ave and 16th street, but later moved to the Galerias Reforma building in Zone 9 in Guatemala city after three years. Sixteen years later, it was moved to Zone 10, where it stands today.

The museum is named after the Popol Vuh, a book written soon after the Spanish conquest of Guatemala. It narrates myths and pre-Colombian history of the Quiche, whose kings dominated great part of the Western plateau of Guatemala. The collection at the Popol Vuh Museum includes many objects related to narratives of that book.

The Popol Vuh Museum Facilities
The Museo Popol Vuh is the most modern of all the museums in Central America, in terms of physical facilities and in learning about advanced technology of display. It is also wheelchair accessible.

The museum offers guided tours of each gallery along with workshops such as archeological excavation, restoration activities, Mayan pottery creation, etc. Presentations, lectures, and courses are organized throughout the year to educate the community of the Mayan culture in the Guatemalan heritage.

The Collection
The exhibit galleries are organized chronologically beginning with the Paleoindian, Archaic, Preclassic, Early Classic, Late Classic, and Postclassic periods of the ancient Maya and ending with Colonial Art. More than 400 archaeological and colonial treasures are on display.

Paleoindian (15,000 – 9,000 B.C.):

This period is characterized by hunter-gatherer groups who entered the America by crossing a land bridge connecting eastern Siberia and Alaska. The oldest object in the Museum, which dates back to 9,000 B.C., is the clovis projectile point, used as a sharp stone tool. It was found in Nahuala in Guatemala’s western highlands and is one of the few found in the country.

Archaic (9,000 – 1,500 B.C.):

The Archaic period is recognized as the second period of human existence in the Americas and the shift from agriculture to sedimentary farming. Political organizations of chiefs and caciques and permanent agricultural settlements had been established by the end of this era. Most of the art found from that time was excavated from the central highlands and eastern pacific coast and includes many styles of pottery.

Preclassic (1,500 B.C. – 250 A.D.):

Popular material found in artifacts during the Preclassic period involves ceramic, jade, and stone, much of which was traded with the Olmecs in the southern coast. Large centers and structures were developed. The most notable site is the Kaminaljuyu in the valley of Guatemala, which became popular for its irrigation canal system and its great buildings. The scale of their development also reflected the status, power, and wealth of the chiefs of Kaminaljuyu. Many of the oldest examples of hieroglyphic texts are from Guatemala from this rich site. Exhibits from this era include ceramics from the Middle and Late Preclassic from the Kaminaljuyu and southern coast.

Early Classic (A.D. 250 – 600):

During this period, hieroglyphic text was adopted as the main form of communication and art and multi-colored ceramics emerged as a popular element of Classic Maya art. Exhibits include polychrome ceramics from this period. Influence from the large city of teotihuacan in central Mexico is evident in ceramics with incense burner and cylindrical tripods of decorative styles. The largest area of the permanent exhibit is dedicated to the Classic period.

Late Classic (A.D 600 -900):

This period is known for the greatest exponential growth of population in the northern lowlands. Hieroglyphic texts were advanced, indicating a great level of complex interaction between cities and their political leaders. Exhibits include painted ceramics of several regional styles depicting mythology, religion with god like figures, containing hieroglyphic texts, and often indicating the owner of the piece and the artist.

Postclassic (A.D. 900 – 1,500):

This era is registered as the collapse of the Maya civilization after the Spanish conquest. During this time, much of the population in the highlands and southern coast sough change with the use and trade of gold and copper. Exhibits in the museum from this era include plumbate pottery which has orange and grey tones and depicted lives of animals and supernatural entities of their surfaces. Such pottery was greatly influenced by Mexican culture and was widely traded throughout the Mesopotamia until the end of the Early Postclassic period.

Colonial Period (A.D 1,500- 1,800s):

The colonial period was marked by a rigidly stratified society. At the top of the system were the peninsulares, Spaniards born in Spain, followed by the creoles , persons of pure Spanish ancestry born in America. The peninsulares held all of the major offices. The creoles were followed by the mestizos, of mixed Spanish and Indian ancestry, and at the bottom were the Indians and Negroes .During the Colonial period in Guatemala, artistic forms were predominantly educational and religious. Guatemalan sculpture of the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries includes examples of Renaissance, Baroque, and Neoclassic styles.

Location and Access
The Popol Vuh Museum is located on the campus of Universidad Francisco Marroquin in Zone 10 of Guatemala City. It is open Monday through Friday from nine to five, Saturday from nine to one and is closed on Sunday. Wheelchair accessibility is available in the facility. There are no bus routes available to the museum. Transportation includes walking downhill from Sexta Avenida or yellow cab service.