[Aztlan] Institute of Maya Studies March Lectures

[michael ruggeri]

March 11, 8:00-9:30 PM
Institute of Maya Studies Lecture

“21st-Century Archaeology” with Ray Stewart

The practice of archaeology today is significantly different from that  
of just a few decades ago, not only in the battery of new hardware and  
sophisticated technical analyses now available, but in new approaches  
to interpreting the past and new methods of studying ancient people.

Today’s archaeologists incorporate many hi-tech tools such as remote  
sensing multi-spectral images from satellites and computer-based  
geographic information systems (GIS) to better understand the extent  
and complexity of Maya sites and monuments. Artifacts that have be  
lying dormant and dusty for years in museums are now rewriting history  
through hi-tech examination. Ray Stewart shows us how!

The Institute of Maya Studies
Miami Science Museum,
3280 South Miami Avenue, across from Vizcaya;
Maya Hotline: 305-235-1192;
www.instituteofmayastudies.org

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March 18, 8:00-9:30 PM
Institute of Maya Studies Lecture

“Chocolate: Food of the Gods” with Dr. Anne Stewart

The first part of the binomial name that was given to the “chocolate  
tree” by Linnaeus, who invented the binomial system, was given in  
Greek ... Theobroma. It means “food of the gods” Which gods? Why  
wasn’t the species name cacao used as the first part of the binomial?  
Where did the tree originate? Where was cacao first cultivated?

Chocolate had a variety of uses in Mesoamerica including as a drink  
for the elite, a medicine, forging political alliances, in religion,  
as tribute payment, and as money. Chocolate was mixed with numerous  
substances that include honey, various flowers and chiles. Get the  
whole story from Dr. Anne Stewart. You can sample a taste of chocolate  
with chile after the meeting!

The Institute of Maya Studies
Miami Science Museum,
3280 South Miami Avenue, across from Vizcaya;
Maya Hotline: 305-235-1192;
www.instituteofmayastudies.org


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