Interactive, artefact-based history workshops on Mexico, the Mexica/Aztecs and the Maya, in over 3,000 UK schools, museums and arts centres since 1980.

London, UK
Joined September 2012
Meet just some of the primary schools in England that have received hand drawn #Mesoamerican codex pages painted by modern scribe Dinorah Lejarazú - part of our story of 'El uso de códices mesoamericanos en la educación primaria en Inglaterra' - mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/writ…
5
275
#Aztec limerick no. 98 (ode to #Mexica scribes):- Writing was called ‘black and red’, A proud #Toltec art, it was said. The black meant the lines, The red meant the signs. And the meaning? That was all in the head… mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/writ… Illustration by Phil Mursell/@Mexicolore
6
48
915
Help kickstart 'El Quinto Sol' - an excellent new ‘cosmological map of ancient #Mesoamerica hidden within a deck of playing cards’.... kickstarter.com/projects/the…
1
15
376
The 5 famous ancient #Maya lintels from Yaxchilan, Mexico, aren't displayed in the British Museum how they were originally made to be seen. Read a major article generously written for #Mexicolore by Professor Claudia Brittenham... mexicolore.co.uk/maya/home/t…
1
20
499
The #Codex Azcatitlan, an early 16th century #Aztec manuscript, has gone on display at the Museo Nacional de Antropología in Mexico City, after 186 years abroad (in France). Shown here: #Mexica #tlatoani Axayacatl, on a throne covered in jaguar skin... bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ck98…
4
104
11
450
8,782
First #Nahua depiction of the sighting (note 2 eyes, centre!) of Spanish galleons off Mexico in 1518 - the year Moctezuma's #Aztec/#Mexica merchants spied Juan de Grijalba’s expedition off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. Image from the Codex en Cruz. mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/span…
30
614
Go and see 'Hold to This Earth', major exhibition of Native North American art at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park . The Indigenous artists represent 35 tribal nations. Here: #Tonantzin by Rose B. Simpson, inspired by the #Mexica/#Aztec goddess 'Our Mother' - mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/insp…
5
29
705
Myth: #Mexica/#Aztec/#Maya warriors blew Whistles as Weapons in War ('WWW'). Fact: there is ZERO evidence for this. Yes, they were used for signalling, and as toys, rhythm markers, hunting decoys, in household shrines, etc. We examine the 'evidence' - mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/musi…
15
570
What role does the descending hummingbird play here?To Eva Hunt it 'descends over the lips of a pregnant woman, symbolising her death in labour’. To Gordon Brotherston however the woman 'is kissed by the golden hummingbird that eases labour pains’... More: mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/writ…
9
40
883
To mark #Mexico's 3,000 year old relationship with ballgames, #INAH has launched a new exhibition '#Tlachtli. Spaces of the Sacred Game' plus a documentary. artdaily.cc/news/197772/New-…. And the Mexicolore website is 25 years old this month! mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/
7
36
1,447
So what would YOU choose as the 'most memorable moment in #Aztec history'? Great question from a 10-year-old in a #Mexicolore workshop. Our Panel of Experts chose: the formation of the Triple Alliance, arrival in Lake Texcoco, the invasion and LOTS more... mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/home…
1
7
50
1,681
Guess when the current #Aztec/#Mexica 52-year Calendar Round ends? 2027! There've been 10 since 1507 (last before Spanish invasion). In #Nahuatl it was called a 'xiuhmolpilli' or 'bundle of reeds[years]'. New for kids: Basic Aztec facts: AZTEC CALENDAR' - mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/kids…
1
21
671
We have picture and text evidence for the #Mexica / #Aztec eating 'packed lunches', from the Codex Boturini. The modern Mexican Spanish word 'itacate' comes from the #Nahuatl 'ihtácatl'... Learn more here - mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/azte…
1
6
1
26
970
Did you know #Nahuatl, the lingua franca of the #Mexica/#Aztec empire, gave names to 3 countries - Mexico, Guatemala and Nicaragua? Nahuatl is spoken by nearly 2 million people today, in 15 Mexican states. Learn more about these and other fun facts here - mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/lang…
2
60
1
270
4,476
The original Mexican 'papel picado' (paper streamers)? The figures represent the animating principle or ‘heart-soul’ of ancient fertility deities; hung from vines in #Nahua communities today, they continue to play a key role in religious ceremonies... mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/arte…
1
42
1
198
3,347
How did the #Mexica/#Aztecs show romance? By offering each other gifts (here, he's giving her a quetzal or parrot, she him a ritual rubber ball with precious feather attached); and they flirted during dance classes in the 'Cuicacalli' in the evenings...! mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/ask-…
32
3
157
7,404
Most #Mesoamerican (#Aztec/#Mexica, #Maya, #Mixtec...) families lived in ‘multi-generational’ or extended family compounds - where ‘aunts and uncles, grandparents, and other family members played a very important role in the raising of children’... mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/home…
39
219
4,343
So you thought war was an all-male domain for the #Mexica / #Aztecs? Think again...! Image: Two Mexica female warriors fight alongside male comrades in the war against Coyoacan; Tovar Manuscript. Read more - mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/azte…
26
123
2,790
'The balanced composition of this image and the symmetry in the presence and number of men and women reveal the parallel and complementary organising principles of indigenous [#Mexica/#Aztec/#Nahua] social and gender relations' mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/azte… Pic: Florentine Codex Bk II
7
37
977
The evidence for #Aztec cannibalism may actually be weaker than you thought... mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/home… Image (spot the human arm on a bowl!) from the Codex Ixtlilxochitl
1
10
46
1,350