A Grand Quest

Greetings my love and random followers of this grand adventure! 

So late this morning, I am enjoying the air conditioning and the company of Pork chop Sandwiches (The Atom Dog Co Official lounge dog) when the doorbell rings and a package is placed at the foot of the door.

I'm waiting for some pants to come in the mail so it was no surprise when the package was addressed to me. Sure, it was heavier than expected, but I ordered some text books too.... 

When I opened it I found a mish mash of things including a military sighting compass, measuring tape, a small trowel. This is nothing close to anything I would normally order. What is this for? Am I being sent on a quest? Summoned for some grand adventure?

I call up my dad to see if he ordered anything that he accidentally shipped to me. It became this whole tag team ordeal. Well, did James order anything? How about Meredith? No?

I'm digging through this box trying to find some receipt or proof of order when I stumble across what might perhaps be a small pick ax. Then all the pieces tumble together. This. This is Cas' stuff. She ordered a bunch of shit for field school. No one back in PA needs a small pick ax type device.... 

So alas, I am not being sent on a quest. But the good news is your stuff arrived!

Always with Love,
-Hill

Murals, Updates, and Lentijuelas, the Glitteriest Buttons*

*Title shamelessly stolen from Jenny Lawson's book Let's Pretend This Never Happened.


Hello, Hello, Hello!

Look! Have fuzz on the sides, that's how long its been!

Wow, updates updates updates. It's been a week since my last post and we've been busy churning through obsidian at a frenetic pace. I'm fairly sure that we are on track to the goal of 300,000 analyzed pieces. If not, I honestly don't want to see what that pace looks like because this one is blistering enough.

Occasionally, our obsidian is candy-striped.

TINY OBSIDIAN VELOCIRAPTOR

PUPPY

I have pictures for you of many things, including myself and the Mural Museum in Teotihuacan. We actually visited the mural museum the same day as the pyramids, but honestly the pyramid post was somewhat huge and honestly deserved its own space.

The Mural Museum was fantastic, and an example of excellent conservation. Properly titled the Beatriz de la Fuente Museum, the murals and figurines showcased within come directly from the site of the Pyramids, more specifically a compound just outside the Pyramid of the Sun.

Lizard man?

Quetzal Bird, maybe..

Quetzalpapolotl, or Bird-Butterfly

Censer figurines

Next tattoo, probably. Not even sure what it is, but its pretty

Obsidian. LOOK FAMILIAR?!

Notice goggle eyes. Probably Tlaloc.

Elaborate censer top.

Reconstruction!!!

Jade Quetzal thing

Abalone shell.

Jaguars!!

Look at these figures. Awesome.

I say "goggle eyes and moustache," you say Tlaloc.

More Abalone

Stars and stuff

Primordial Earth/Jade Goddess

Really, the mural museum was absolutely amazing and I can't say enough about foreign museums when compared to those in the United States. Having been to the National Museums of Ireland and Scotland in addition to this small museum, the amount of conservation that goes into artifacts is astounding. Don't get me wrong I love the national museums in D.C., but there's so much more going on outside of the United States in the preservation of cultural heritage.

Now for something completely different. The second part of his post is a really cool bit of technology unique to Teotihuacan, which is the lentijuela, or sequin. Crafted from 3rd series sections, usually medial though also proximal, these were used for decoration and are incredibly tiny.

Lentijuela!!

We also find, given the difficult nature of crafting these tiny sequins, a lot of distinctive shatter from when a section broke during crafting. Most of the time, this breaking comes when the center drill is being drilled.

Sad broken sequin.

But its cool tech and they are really fun to find.

Hope you are doing well, I will try to also update this weekend in a more personal post. Missing you much, my dear. 

Hope the rest of you are well!

Cheers,

Cas