The Maya and Teotihuacan: Art, Ritual, and a Pre-Columbian Mystery lecture given by Lexy Hartford

Park City Museum will host a lecture called The Maya and Teotihuacan: Art, Ritual, and a Pre-Columbian Mystery given by Lexy Hartford on October 11th from 5-6 p.m. at the Park City Museum Education and Collections Center Building located at 2079 Sidewinder Drive. Please register for the lecture at www.parkcityhistory.org/events.

Teotihuacan (1-550 AD), located in Central Mexico, was the largest urban center in Mesoamerica prior to the Aztec. Because of its monumental pyramids, perfectly aligned grid layout, and thousands of “apartment complexes,” the Aztec referred to the site as the “City of the Gods.” Despite not knowing whether Teotihuacan was governed by kings or community rule, evidence from the site suggests that Teotihuacan’s enormous power and influence extended all the way into Honduras. But to what extent did Teotihuacan control the great kings and queens of the Maya? Through a look at elaborate ritual practices, human sacrifices, Maya texts alluding to mysterious deaths and possibly murders, and recently discovered 2000-year-old murals, this lecture will examine the current state of this mystery.

Lexy is the Museum Assistant at the Park City Museum and has previously worked at Pecos National Historical Park and the Museum of International Folk Art in New Mexico, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology in Boston, and the Horniman Museum and Gardens, Courtauld Institute of Art, and Whitehall Historic House in London. She holds master’s degrees in both museum studies and archaeology from University College London in the UK and Harvard University, respectively. Lexy has led archaeological excavations at Cahokia Mounds, Harvard University, Copan, Honduras, and Teotihuacan, Mexico, where she was part of the team that discovered the 2000-year-old murals.

Register for this lecture