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Welcome to the Penn Museum blog. First launched in January 2009, the Museum blog now has over 800 posts covering a range of topics in the categories of Museum, Collection, Exhibitions, Research, and By Location. Here you’ll hear directly from our staff and Penn students about their work, research, experiences, and discoveries. To explore the Museum's other digital content, visit The Digital Penn Museum.


MAYA 2012: Tunnels

By: Gabrielle Niu

Loa Traxler, curator of MAYA 2012: Lords of Time, explains how archaeologists used tunnels to excavate at the ancient site of Copan in Honduras. Get a look into the excavation tunnels in the video below:

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MAYA 2012: The Ancient Maya and Human Sacrifice

By: Gabrielle Niu

In the movie Apocalypto, Mel Gibson offers a very Hollywood portrayal of the human sacrifice rituals at end of the Maya Classical Period. While human sacrifice played a role in the ritual practices of the ancient Maya, it was not exactly as Gibson and Hollywood conceived of it. Loa Traxler, curator of MAYA 2012: Lords […]

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