Museo Ixchel would have been a museum my mom would have loved, for its unique textile offerings, vibrant colors, natural dye methods, and natural color fast methods. Traditional Mayan daily dress includes the huipil. There are 117 huipiles from 117 municipalities, located in 17 of Guatemala's 22 departments. Huipiles are distinct in that each municipality and department have an embroidery pattern. When looking at a huipil that a Mayan is wearing, you would be able to tell where they are from. Huipiles are grouped according to the language spoken in the country (16 of Guatemala's 22 Mayan languages). Some styles are on the verge of disappearing because of the small number of weavers who remain active. Weaving is a special part of Mayan culture, in which this type of distinctive clothing is a dynamic manifestation of identity. It reflects the deep history of a people who have passed down generations of patterns, connecting the past and present, a unique form of communication. This form of embroidery in huipiles, and other textile variations were originated in the pre-Columbian era.
Museo Popol Vuh was a really interesting pre-Columbian artifacts museum. I'm particularly facinated with the Classic Period (AD 250-900) for its hieroglyphic inscriptions, which provide insight into historical events--wars, famines, crop variations, times of prosperity, marriage alliances, royalty, etc. After having been to Teotihuacan in Mexico in 2008, it was interesting to see how that empire flooded the Petén region in Guatemala. Particularly since the Ruins of Tikal is considered as the "cradle" of the Mayan world.
Jade necklaces, as jade was a natural resource found in the region.
Look at how detailed these faces are! They were as tiny as my pinky nail--that's pretty tiny!
Dresden Codex--the Mayans apparently wrote on paper long before the Egyptians did. This was done on the bark of a native fig tree, and folded such that one could read several pages at once. There seems to be a lot written about the gods, cultivation, and other natural resources.
Pre-colonial Mayan handcrafted bowl
Funeral Urn
After heading back to the hostel, I met Andrea (Argentina) and Luís (Colombia), who live in Mexico DF. We decided to head to a local creperie for dinner and hang out. We became instant friends and we found out that we were are all headed to Antigua tomorrow and will meet up there later in the evening. Hasta Antigua!
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