Albanian Lapidar Survey

Lushnje Martyrs' Cemetery

Lushnje Martyrs’ Cemetery

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Albanian Lapidar Survey

The three volumes produced by the Albanian Lapidar Survey are the result of the work of researcher Vincent W.J. van Gerven Oei, photographer Marco Mazzi and assistant photographer Xheni Alushi who spent 50 days in June and July 2014 to quantify the monuments of Albania’s Socialist past. More information on the project can be found on the Department of Eagles website.

Volume I contains articles related to the lapidars (the generic name given to the variety of monuments, statues and mosaics) produced and inaugurated between 1944 and 1990, both historical and contemporary. Perhaps more importantly it also contains a list 659 lapidars from all over the country. This list includes the location (city, town or village); the latitude and longitude; altitude; inscriptions; and other data (such as date of inauguration, sculptor/architect, etc.).

Although comprehensive the list is being added to as more information becomes available and updates are regularly placed on the ALS blog.

Volumes 2 and 3 contain (normally) a couple of the images of each lapidar captured during the survey.

This is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in these unique works of art and it is hoped that the greater exposure to the wider world will ensure their long-term preservation.

Description and photos of the Lapidars (Monuments), statues, bas reliefs and mosaics

Sculptors and Architects of Albanian Lapidars

Volume 1

Volume 1

 

 

Containing the most comprehensive list of Albanian lapidars available to date.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Volume 2 contains pictures of those lapidars from (around about) Berat to the north of the country. Due to size they are presented here in two parts.

Volume 2

Volume 2

Volume 2

Volume 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Volume 3 consists of those lapidars south of the line through Berat to the border with Greece. This is also in two parts.

Volume 3

Volume 3

Volume 3

Volume 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos and a description of the lapidars, as well as other examples of public Socialist Realist art, staues, bas reliefs, mosaics, etc. can be found here.

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Tabasco Regional Anthropology Museum, Villahermosa

Tabasco Regional Anthropology Museum, Villahermosa

Tabasco Regional Anthropology Museum, Villahermosa

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Tabasco Regional Anthropology Museum, Villahermosa

Museo Regional de Antropología Carlos Pellicer Cámara is supposed to be Mexico’s second largest collection of anthropological artefacts in a museum opened in 1980.

It’s in the CICOM complex, a 15-minute walk from Zona Luz and just south of the Paseo Tabasco bridge.

This is a fine museum with some quite unique (Mayan) artefacts, the like of which I haven’t seen elsewhere – and I’ve seen a lot by now. My only criticism is that items from the different cultures were all mixed up and it became difficult to get any idea of development as you moved from different cultures over different time periods.

It will be a better place to arrive when the malecon is completed but even before then it’s well worth making the effort.

In the slide shows below I’ve tried to separate the Mayan artefacts from the other cultures represented. I think I got it right – if not I apologise and my only defence being a, perhaps, faulty memory.

Location:

Periférico Carlos Pellicer Cámara 511

86080 Villahermosa

How to get there;

The museum is in a new building that is part of a cultural complex that includes the Teatro Esperanza Iris. This area is at the southern end of the malecon (the pedestrian path that follows the shore of the river) which is presently under construction.

Entrance;

M$28

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Maya

Olmec, Nahua and Zoque

Comalcalco Site Museum

Comalcalco site museum

Comalcalco site museum

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Comalcalco Site Museum

The museum attached to the Coamlcalco archaeological site is one of the most extensive and so am devoting a separate post to it.

Comalcalco is quite unique in Mayan architecture in that they used manufactured bricks in the construction of the structures rather than local stone, sufficient amounts and quality which were lacking in the Comalcalco area. That in itself is still quite impressive. To manufacture millions of such flat bricks would have entailed as much work as to quarry the stone that was used in other Mayan sites.

I’m not an expert, in any way, about bricks but with a quick investigation the bricks used at Comalcalco seem to resemble what is known in Europe as a Roman flat brick – which continues to be used throughout Europe, in those areas where the Romans had dominated, to this day. The Roman bricks were fired as this made them less brittle and therefore less likely to break when used in construction.

That indicates that the Mayan bricks must also have been fired but it’s strange that they arrived at that conclusion when I’m not aware of any other sites where bricks were used. So we have one of those coincidences where inventions occurred in locations separated by thousands of kilometres independently from each other.

For some reason in what I’ve read the Mayan specialists don’t seem to be interested in this coincidence and there doesn’t seem to have been any investigation into the evolution of the brick created by the Maya, not to searching for any kilns that were used to produce so many in the first place.

Did the Maya just invent the brick for Comalcalco? Did they decide that natural stone was a better building material and therefore didn’t use bricks in major constructions again? Was there more labour involved in brick production that made it less cost effective? I haven’t a clue of the answers, can only come up with questions.

However, what it means is that the vast majority of the exhibits in the site museum at Comalcalco are of examples of decorated and inscribed bricks (more like tiles).

The inscriptions seemed to have multi-purposes; as a signature for accounting procedures; just for fun; as an artistic canvass; to draw plans of the construction and to have a record of what was decided; some even just look like random doodles when someone scratched marks on a brick whilst it was still soft and before going to be fired.

Hopefully, the slide show will provides a representation of what is on show in the museum.

If any further information is encountered about ‘The Brick and The Maya’ it will be added to this post at some time in the future.

How to get there;

The museum is on the pre-paying side of the ticket office to the main Comalcalco archaeological site – so it’s possible to visit the museum without visiting the site. It’s to the left as you enter the parking area.

Entrance;

Free, and open at the same time as the site itself.

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