[Aztlan] Opening in March at the Field Museum of Chicago

[michael ruggeri]

The Ancient Americas: A New Permanent Exhibition at The Field Museum

                             Opens Friday, March 9, 2007

     CHICAGO, Nov. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ancient Americas, The Field
Museum's innovative new exhibition, is an exploration of the challenges
that human beings everywhere have faced for millennia. It tells the epic
story of human life on the American continents, from the arrival of  
small
groups of hunter- gatherers, whose way of life survived into the 20th
century, to the great but fragile empires of the Aztecs and the Incas -
empires that stretched thousands of miles, encompassed as many as 10
million people, and came to sudden, brutal ends. Seven listening posts
inside the exhibition offer gallery overviews in Spanish. All exhibition
videos are subtitled in Spanish, and a Spanish language gallery guide is
also available.
     Based on ground-breaking research by Field Museum scientists and
others, The Ancient Americas will shatter long-held preconceptions.
Visitors will see for themselves the intelligence and creativity that
distinguish human beings, the innovations that allowed groups to  
diversify
and populate the hemisphere from the Arctic to the tip of South America,
and the great cities, trade networks, and sophisticated cultures  
built by
Indigenous Peoples long before Europeans decimated their populations and
imposed their own cultures on these lands.
     These stories of The Ancient Americas are told through captivating
displays and activities, with something for visitors of all ages and all
levels of interest. Visitors will step into the world of Ice-Age mammoth
hunters - Chicago circa 11,000 B.C. They'll walk through a recreation  
of an
800-year-old pueblo dwelling, survey the monumental earthworks of mound-
building peoples, and explore the great cities of Tenochtitlan and  
Cuzco,
capitals of the Aztec and Inca empires. They'll make new discoveries at
interactive maps, dioramas, and computer activities, and watch animated
videos created specially for this exhibition. They'll follow the  
Museum's
own archaeologists at work in the field, and have opportunities to begin
more intensive investigations of their own.
     And the artifacts! The Ancient Americas is built on the Field  
Museum's
unsurpassed archaeological collections. Thousands of objects from these
collections bring depth and beauty to the stories of the people who made
them, and allow visitors to see for themselves the evidence on which our
knowledge of the ancient Americans is based. On display are more than  
200
ceramic vessels from the Museum's world-famous Peruvian collections;
hundreds of luxury and spiritual items from our comprehensive Hopewell
collection; 200 of the scarce gold objects left after conquistadors  
raided
Colombia of its treasures, and much more.
     Admission
     Admission to The Ancient Americas is free with general admission  
to The
Field Museum ($12 for adults, $7 for children 4-11, seniors, and  
students
with ID). Discounts are available for Chicago residents. Visit
http://www.fieldmuseum.org or call (312) 922-9410 for details.




Mike Ruggeri's Ancient America and Mesoamerica News and Links
http://community-2.webtv.net/Topiltzin-2091/MIKERUGGERISANCIENT/ 
index.html

Mike Ruggeri's Maya Archaeology News and Links
http://community-2.webtv.net/Topiltzin-2091/MIkeRuggerisMaya/index.html

Mike Ruggeri's Ancient America Museum Exhibitions, Conferences and  
Lectures
http://community-2.webtv.net/Topiltzin-2091/AncientAmerica/index.html

Mike Ruggeri's Mound
Builders and Ancient Southwest News and Links
http://community-2.webtv.net/Topiltzin-2091/MIKERUGGERISMOUND/index.html

Mike Ruggeri's Andean Archaeology News and Links
http://community-2.webtv.net/Topiltzin-2091/MikeRuggerisAndean/ 
index.html