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n NEW EXHIBITS El Paso Museum of Archaeology El Paso, Tex.—The traveling exhibit “Kennewick Man on Trial” approaches several controversial questions regarding the 9,000-year-old human remains discovered in Washington state and known as Kennewick Man.The exhibit, organized by the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture at the University of Washington where the Kennewick Man remains are stored, was curated by a member of the Comanche Nation, and includes multiple perspectives and insights from Native Americans, scientists, and anthropologists. (915) 755-4332, www.elpasotexas.gov/ arch_museum (Through July 5)
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. —The new exhibit “Spying on the Past: Declassified Satellite Images and Archaeology” demonstrates how archaeologists recognize visible signs in these images and draw conclusions about the ancient world from them.
Events
Using declassified U.S. government spy satellite and aerial images, Harvard student archaeologists explored ancient sites where images reveal complex early cities, extensive tracks, intricate irrigation canals, and even traces of nomadic journeys. (617) 496-1027, www.peabody.harvard.edu (Through December)
San Diego Museum of Man San Diego, Calif.—Explore centuries of Latin America’s mysterious ancient past through the new exhibit “Gods & Gold: Ancient Treasures From Mexico to Peru,” featuring the museum’s stunning collections of Mexican, Central American, and South American archaeological objects. The exhibit includes rare gold and jewelry, exotic figurines, intricate stonework, and exquisite pottery from ancient Mesoamerica. Explore distinctions in artistic styles, techniques, and materials used to create numerous intriguing pieces by the Maya, Aztec, Inca, and other cultures. (619) 239-2001, www.museumofman. org/exhibits (Through December 6)
Schingoethe Center for Native American Cultures Aurora University, Aurora, Ill.— The center’s award-winning exhibit “Native Peoples of Illinois: There’s No Place Like Home” provides detailed historical information on the early inhabitants of Illinois. The exhibit was recently expanded to include displays devoted to understanding the lifeways of the Woodland tribes in Illinois, including a full-scale wigwam and campsite. Try your hand at assembling the frame and covering of a wigwam, a task that will give you an appreciation for the skill and foresight of native peoples. (630) 892-6431, www.aurora.edu/museum (Long-term exhibit)
CONACULTA-INAH-MEX © foto zabé. Reproduction authorized by the National Institute of Anthropology and History.
J. Paul Getty Museum Los Angeles, Calif.—Spanish exploration and colonization in the Americas coincided with the Renaissance rediscovery of Europe’s Greco-Roman past. To many Spaniards, the Aztecs were the Romans of the New World. In an unprecedented look at this convergence of cultures, the new exhibit “The Aztec Pantheon and the Art of Empire” considers the Spanish conquest of Mexico, European attempts to interpret Aztec civilization through the lens of classical culture, and comparative approaches to the monumental art of empire. Masterpieces of Aztec sculpture from the collections of the National Museum of Anthropology and the Templo Mayor Museum in Mexico City will be on display, as well as the Florentine Codex, one of most valuable chronicles of Aztec history and culture, which returns to the Americas for the first time in more than four centuries. (310) 440-7300, www.getty.edu (Through July 5)
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