'Lords of Time' reign at Penn museum exhibit on Mayan calendar
and culture April 26, 2012By Peter Crimmins Photos by Emma Lee
When archaeologists present the obscure complexities of their
research, they rarely get a marketing boost as big as the end of
the world as we know it. Upon entering "Maya 2012: Lords of
Time" at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology
and Anthropology, visitors are confronted with a wall jammed
with monitors blaring news stories and pop-culture movie clips
related to an apocalypse believed to be coming this year. That
belief is based on a misunderstanding of the Mayan calendar,
which ends its 5,125 year cycle Dec. 23. "This is fantastically
exciting material, in a fantastically challenging story," said
museum director Richard Hodges. "Enjoy the story. But, actually,
really savor the material." The expansive gallery behind that
video wall is filled with Mayan artifacts which Penn researchers
have been digging up in Honduras, Mexico, San Salvador, and
Guatemala for the last