archaeology
Though the project is slated to begin in earnest this month, by mid-September preparatory work had already begun. Dozens of casts (above) lay spread out on the large open floor of the High Energy Physics Laboratory’s high bay. All of them will be cleaned. Staff photo Rose Lincoln/Harvard News Office |
Maya, Aztec monument casts get the shake-out, dust-offPlaster reproductions of Maya and Aztec carvings, which preserve precious details now lost on the originals, are leaving dusty, haphazard storage for cleaning, cataloging, and crating that will prepare them for a new era of usefulness and relevance.Made more than a century ago, the plaster casts, housed at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, re-create the elaborate stone carvings that adorned Maya and Aztec cities that once buzzed with life across Central America. The original carvings held images of rulers and rituals as well as examples of script that have proven key to deciphering the Maya’s written language, a process ongoing today. |
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