The Museo de Arqueología Ganot-Peschard is an archaeology museum located in Zona Centro, Durango, Mexico. The museum plays a major role in preserving the indigenous history of

Northern Mexico Northern Mexico ( es, el Norte de México ), commonly referred as , is an informal term for the northern cultural and geographical area in Mexico. Depending on the source, it contains some or all of the states of Baja California, Baja California ...

. The Ganot-Peschard's collection offers archeological materials from the region's landscapes and dwellings including, funeral

urns An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape or ...

, skulls, vessels, arrowheads, winches, pectorals and other ornamental materials of

pre-Hispanic In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...

peoples. Its objective is to preserve and spread the archaeological heritage of Durango and the region formed by the states of

Zacatecas , image_map = Zacatecas in Mexico (location map scheme).svg , map_caption = State of Zacatecas within Mexico , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type ...

, Sinaloa,

Nayarit Nayarit (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nayarit ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Nayarit), is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its ...

and Jalisco. The Ganot-Peschard has seven permanent rooms: the Lytic Stage, Loma San Gabriel, Chalchihuita Culture,

Guadiana The Guadiana River (, also , , ), or Odiana, is an international river defining a long stretch of the Portugal-Spain border, separating Extremadura and Andalusia (Spain) from Alentejo and Algarve (Portugal). The river's basin extends from the ...

Culture, Aztatlán Culture, Rock Art and The Archaeological Method. Since opening, the museum has been visited by more than 250,000 people.

Museum

The Ganot-Peschard was built at the end of the 19th century, and functioned over the years as a house-room, printing house, and state archive. It is currently part of the catalog of historical monuments of the

National Institute of Anthropology and History National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

(INAH).

Founding and Mission

The building was restored in 1998 by the historian Javier Guerrero Romero and the architect Juan Águila. It was inaugurated as a museum on August 3, 1998 with the aim of preserving and disseminating the archaeological heritage of Durango and the region made up of the states of Zacatecas, Sinaloa, Nayarit, and Jalisco. The Ganot-Peschard still maintains its primary objective: to preserve, study and disseminate Durango's archaeological heritage. It is an important repository of knowledge for the indigenous populations who have inhabited the states of Durango,

, Sinaloa,

, and Jalisco for over 15,000 years.

Building

The museum's facade is noted for its simplicity, as it shows only the access gate framed in quarry. The interior is small with only 7 permanent exhibition rooms. Of the exhibition rooms, the Loma San Gabriel Stage room is of particular significance, as it depicts types of housing and instruments (estimated to be around 3,000 years old) from the Loma San Gabriel culture, perhaps the forerunner of the contemporary Coras,

Huichols The Huichol or Wixárika are an indigenous people of Mexico and the United States living in the Sierra Madre Occidental range in the states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Zacatecas, and Durango, as well as in the United States in the states of California ...

, and

Tepehuanes Tepehuanes Municipality is a municipality in the Mexican state of Durango. It is located in the North West of Durango at 25°12'"-26°25'"N 105°23'"-106°40'"W, at an elevation of about 1,830 meters (6000 feet). The municipal seat is at Sa ...

who still inhabit Durango. Ganot-Peschard003

The facilities consist of a lobby, a patio and two arcades where a mural of the

State of Durango Durango (), officially named Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Durango; Tepehuán: ''Korian''; Nahuatl: ''Tepēhuahcān''), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in ...

with its different areas is shown; the Semi Desert, the

Plains In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands. In ...

, the Valleys, the

Sierra Madre Occidental The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through northwestern and western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American ...

and the

Quebradas Quebradas is a barrio in the municipality of Yauco, Puerto Rico. Its population in 2010 was 883. A literally means "ravine". History Puerto Rico was ceded by Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish–American War under the terms of the Treaty of ...

In addition to its exhibitions, the museum offers organized guided tours, walks through archaeological sites, clay modeling, and saddlery courses.

Collection

The permanent exhibitions of the museum are listed as follows: *''Paleo-Indico y Arcaico'', de antigüedad aproximada de 12,000-

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

años a.C. *''Loma San Gabriel, Primeros Asentamientos'',

1000 1000 or thousand may refer to: * 1000 (number), a natural number * AD 1000, a leap year in the Julian calendar * 1000 BC, a year of the Before Christ era * 1000 metres, a middle-distance running event * 1000°, a German electronic dance music magazi ...

a.C. al presente *''Cultura Chalchiuites'',

200 __NOTOC__ Year 200 ( CC) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Victorinus (or, less frequently, year 953 ''Ab ur ...

850 ''For codepage, see CP850.'' __NOTOC__ Year 850 ( DCCCL) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * February 1 – King Ramiro I dies in his palac ...

d.C. *''Cultura Guadiana'',

- 1300 d.C. *''Cultura Aztatlán'',

1350 Year 1350 ( MCCCL) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * January 9 – Giovanni II Valente becomes Doge of Genoa. * May 23 (possible date) ...

d.C. Hasta el contacto Español *''Pinturas Rupestres'' *''Método arqueológico'' Much of the museum's materials were collected by Drs. Jaime Ganot Rodríguez and Alejandro Peschard Fernández over 30 years of research.

Cultura Chalchiuites 200-850 d.C.

One of the main permanent exhibitions in the museum, ''Cultura Chalchiuites'', features materials from the Chalchiuites culture, which existed from approximately

CE. The museum provides historical context for the rise of the culture and its ties to the

Teotihuacan Teotihuacan (Spanish: ''Teotihuacán'') (; ) is an ancient Mesoamerican city located in a sub-valley of the Valley of Mexico, which is located in the State of Mexico, northeast of modern-day Mexico City. Teotihuacan is known today as t ...

empire:

The expansion of the
Teotihuacan Teotihuacan (Spanish: ''Teotihuacán'') (; ) is an ancient Mesoamerican city located in a sub-valley of the Valley of Mexico, which is located in the State of Mexico, northeast of modern-day Mexico City. Teotihuacan is known today as t ...
empire began with trade routes that extended to the Southwestern United States, where trade in
turquoise Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrated phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula . It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gemstone and ornamental stone for thousands of year ...
was important. Following these routes, Teotihuacan astronomers arrived at the northernmost site where the sun moves during the year, and there they built a ceremonial center in
Alta Vista AltaVista was a Web search engine established in 1995. It became one of the most-used early search engines, but lost ground to Google and was purchased by Yahoo! in 2003, which retained the brand, but based all AltaVista searches on its own sear ...
, Chalchiuites,
Zacatecas , image_map = Zacatecas in Mexico (location map scheme).svg , map_caption = State of Zacatecas within Mexico , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type ...
. In the current
Tropic of Cancer The Tropic of Cancer, which is also referred to as the Northern Tropic, is the most northerly circle of latitude on Earth at which the Sun can be directly overhead. This occurs on the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted tow ...
, it functioned as an astronomical observatory, especially in determining the
equinoxes A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun crosses the Earth's equator, which is to say, appears directly above the equator, rather than north or south of the equator. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise "due east" and set ...
. From contact with the inhabitants who already populated the area, the Chalchiuites culture emerged, as it was fundamentally a hybrid culture. It had all but declined by AD 850, along with the
Teotihuacán Teotihuacan ( Spanish: ''Teotihuacán'') (; ) is an ancient Mesoamerican city located in a sub-valley of the Valley of Mexico, which is located in the State of Mexico, northeast of modern-day Mexico City. Teotihuacan is known today as ...
.

Cultura Guadiana 850-1300 d.C.

Another primary permanent exhibition features materials from the Guadiana culture (850- 1300 CE):

In 850 AD, a new expansion began in central Mexico. To the north was the Tolteca who primarily traded using two routes, one through the central part of the country and a second through the west towards the Pacific coast. The tension created through the Toltec's use of the first route forced some of the Chalchiuites to migrate north and occupy part of what is now considered Durango. Through contact with the region's inhabitants, a new culture emerged; this people was initially called the Guadiana Branch of the Chalchiuites, but it has since been accepted as an entirely different culture. Its main ceremonial center was La Ferrería, very close to the current city of Durango.

Selected collection highlights

File:Ganot-Peschard033.jpg File:Ganot-Peschard034.jpg File:Ganot-Peschard035.jpg File:Ganot-Peschard036.jpg File:Ganot-Peschard037.jpg File:Ganot-Peschard038.jpg

Cultura Aztatlán 1350 d.C.

The museum's fifth exhibit features materials from the Aztatlán culture ( 1350 CE); it is subtitled ''Hasta el contacto Español'':

The Aztatlán were inhabitants of a wide region of Western Mexico and the Pacific coast that extended to the current state of Sinaloa. Some branches had to migrate through the
Sierra Madre Occidental The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through northwestern and western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American ...
to the center of the state of Durango where various archaeological sites bear evidence of this migration. Ceramics, copper objects, funeral urns, intentional cranial deformation, pipes, winches and objects decorated with gods from the Mesoamerican pantheon have been found. The Aztatlán culture was mixed with the Guadiana culture. One of the people's characteristic art styles is a hybrid
ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...
type appearing in a terminal phase close to Spanish contact called El Molino.

Selected collection highlights

File:Ganot-Peschard005.jpg File:Ganot-Peschard006.jpg File:Ganot-Peschard008.jpg File:Ganot-Peschard019.jpg File:Ganot-Peschard028.jpg File:Ganot-Peschard021.jpg File:Ganot-Peschard017.jpg File:Ganot-Peschard011.jpg File:Ganot-Peschard014.jpg File:Ganot-Peschard030.jpg

References

{{Authority control Museums in Durango City museums in Mexico Mesoamerican art museums History museums in Mexico Museums in Mexico Art museums and galleries in Mexico Landmarks in Mexico National Monuments of Mexico Archaeological museums in Mexico Science museums in Mexico