Milwaukee Public Museum and Meso and South America

I'd like to put one last article up for the MPM.  Their displays were exceptional and if you have some time to visit, I would highly recommend it.  They had artifacts from cultures I had never heard of before and many I am familiar with.  Here are some pictures from ancient cultures of MesoAmerica and South America.

The above picture is of a gold disk showing a human sacrifice.  This is a practice that seemed to be global and was stamped out for the most part.  I haven't found the origin of the practice but I do have some theories as to how it got started.  The other part of this practice was cannabalism and this part is not mentioned often in the majority of the available literature.

What I find interesting about the above picture is the skullcap of the figurines.  It is similar to what Ptah of ancient Egypt wore.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Relief_of_Ptah.jpg

by Rita Jean Moran (www.thelibrarykids.com)

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptah