American Museum of Natural History

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Hall of Mexico and Central America

The diverse art, architecture, and traditions of the Maya, Toltec, Olmec, Aztec, and other Mesoamerican pre-Columbian cultures are the subjects of this hall. The outstanding collections on display include monuments, figurines, pottery, and jewelry that span from around 1200 B.C. to the early 1500s. ... [ + ]Each object provides clues about the political and religious symbols, social traits, and artistic styles of its cultural group. Especially striking works on view include Costa Rican gold ornaments and a 3,000-year-old Olmec jade sculpture called the Kunz Axe, which may represent a chief or a shaman who transformed himself into a jaguar to partake of the animal's power. Also displayed are 9th-century Mayan stone carvings depicting scenes of conquest. Existing as early as 1500 B.C., the Mayan culture did not consist of a single empire, but rather was a collection of independent city-states that alternately warred and traded with one another.

Hall of South American Peoples

This hall explores the pre-Columbian cultures of South America as well as the traditional cultures living in the region today, encompassing the ancient Inka, Moche, Chavin, and Chancay cultures as well as the many peoples of modern Amazonia. Especially evident in this hall is the exceeding importanc... [ + ]e of textile art among the ancient Andeans; this artistic tradition, which conveyed status and identity, harks back at least 5,000 years. Andean achievements in metallurgy were also remarkable. Throughout the hall, works of exquisite craftsmanship abound, as in the Royal Llama of the Inka from Bolivia. The figure, approximately 500 years old, is made of silver and its blanket is cinnabar trimmed with gold. Also on view are examples of spectacular Amazonian featherwork, including a headdress made from toucan and macaw feathers that once adorned a young man from the Rikbaktsa tribe. This object and others like it demonstrate the importance of ornamentation among the indigenous cultures of the Amazonian rain forest.

Hall of Pacific Peoples

The renowned anthropologist Margaret Mead (1901-1978) worked in the Museum's Anthropology Department from 1926 until her death. Through her groundbreaking expeditions to Samoa, New Guinea, and Bali, Mead brought anthropological work into the public consciousness. Her studies provide the foundation f... [ + ]or the Hall of Pacific Peoples, which reflects a remarkable geographic and cultural diversity. The Hall explores the cultures of the South Pacific islands, which range from tiny stretches of land to the island continent of Australia and include Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia. Highlights include a display of elaborately painted and adorned dance masks from Northern New Ireland, part of Papua New Guinea. Made of wood and bark fibers, the masks represent specific spirits and are used in traditional dance ceremonies. Also on view are intricately detailed shadow puppets from Java. Originating in the 11th century, Javanese puppet theater is used as an educational tool to communicate information about religious tenets, moral codes, history, and myths.

Hall of Asian Mammals

Between 1922 and 1928, Museum Trustee Arthur S. Vernay and British Colonel John C. Faunthorpe conducted six expeditions to collect animal specimens in India, Burma (now Myanmar), and Siam (now Thailand). The specimens were then donated to the Museum and formed the foundation for this hall, which ope... [ + ]ned in 1930. The mounting of the animals in the Hall of Asian Mammals was overseen by James L. Clark using Carl Akeley's methods, and the hall's layout is similar to that of the Akeley Hall of African Mammals. As in the Akeley Hall, a group of elephants forms the centerpiece. These complementary exhibits allow the visitor to note the differences between the two types of elephant: The Asian elephant is generally smaller in size, with smaller ears and a higher forehead. The animals featured in this hall also include the water buffalo, gaur, leopard, and rhinoceros, and many represent species threatened by poaching and loss of habitat. Two examples of Asian mammals, the Siberian tiger and the giant panda, were among the animals relocated to the Endangered Case in the Hall of Biodiversity when it opened in 1998.

Hall of North American Mammals

More than 25 Museum expeditions, ranging from Mexico to Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic and from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans, produced the magnificent examples of North American mammals displayed in this hall. James Perry Wilson (1889-1976), a master of artful illusion, painted the ba... [ + ]ckgrounds for many of the dioramas at the Museum, including those in the Hall of North American Mammals. In addition to accurately capturing every detail, his paintings evoke the intangible feel of the places they depict. This is owed in part to Wilson's dizzyingly precise perspective, one of his signature qualities. In his dioramas the real materials of the foreground merge impeccably with the painted background, uniting the two- and three-dimensional into a seamless whole.
Jaguar Diorama

Creating these illusions involved a great deal of research. To prepare the bison diorama, Wilson traveled to Wyoming in 1938 with a scientific specialist and another artist. There Wilson made color sketches, took photographs, and collected specimens for the foreground of the scene. On his return he painstakingly reproduced the Wyoming plains on the curved walls of the diorama. Other dioramas in the hall feature bighorn sheep, two moose locked in combat, and watchful jaguars.