Overview
- The Museo del Templo Mayor opened the temporary show this Wednesday, assembling more than 100 objects that trace the Mesoamerican ballgame and include many pieces on public display for the first time.
- Two rubber balls from El Manatí that date to roughly 3,400–3,700 years ago are on a limited three-month loan while conservators run instrumented trials to measure off-gassing and any material change.
- Conservation teams are using Oddy-type tests and metal test coupons in collaboration with UNAM to detect volatile emissions and to guide strict environmental controls for future displays.
- Curators present a provisional reconstruction of the Mexica teotlachco based on PAU excavations at Guatemala 16 plus earlier salvage finds by Leopoldo Batres and Metro-era recoveries, and the show includes a 2014 offering of 32 cervical vertebrae tied to ritual sacrifice.
- The exhibition runs through late September with special visits to the exposed ballcourt areas available only until July 19, and the conservation results could set rules for showing other fragile, anoxia-preserved organic artifacts in Mexico's museums.