GUANAJUATO, MEXICO. “Alhondiga de Granaditas” Guanajuato Regional Museum lodges the exhibition “Same Culture. Guanajuato Ceramics through the Centuries”, a collection of new findings from the 4 archaeological zones in the state since August 4th, and until September 2009.

Prehispanic ceramic tradition of Bajio region is represented by 160 pieces recovered at National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) explorations in El Coporo, Cañada de la Virgen, Peralta and Plazuelas.

Ceramics is considered an indicator of uses and customs, a marker of time, and a feature of culture around the world, and helps understanding technologic development in time and space.

Guillermina Gutierrez Lara, director of Guanajuato INAH Center, commented that the exhibition is result of several months of planning, and the route script illustrates how earthenware production in Guanajuato is part since remote times of quotidian life.

Exhibit mounted in Manuel Doblado and Casimiro Chowell halls at Alhondiga de Granaditas Museum, presents the earliest ceramic vestiges found in the region along with contemporary earthenware created by Angelica Escarcega, Javier Servin, Pedro Espinosa, Pedro del Villar and Tomas Santana.

The vessel known as “Don Coporo” is the most important piece, exhibited for the first time since its full restoration. Found in 1992, it might have been a funerary urn where a ruler’s ashes were deposited.

Carlos Torreblanca, director of El Coporo Archaeological Zone, mentioned that the origin of the anthropomorphic object has not been determined, but it is attributed to Tunal Grande Culture developed in San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas and Guanajuato between 200 and 1000 AD.

Don Coporo was found in Sierra de Jacales, near El Coporo Archaeological Site, and has been dated between 600 and 900 AD. It represents a seating individual with a headdress and a cloak that distinguish it as a high rank person. The cloak shows a procession and faces of different characters, elements that suggest the chronicle of a ceremonial act.

Another important object is a big pot found in 495 pieces as part of the funerary offering at Recinto de los Gobernantes, in Peralta Archaeological Zone. The rest of the offering is also exposed, vessels, dishes and beads. The big pot is dated near 600 of the Common Era, associated to groups of Otomi-Nahua affiliation.

Ceramics of the next museums’ heaps is also exhibited: Pueblo de Guanajuato, Olga Costa-Jose Chavez Morado, Casa Diego Rivera, Jose y Tomas Chavez Morado and Alhondiga de Granaditas.

“Alhondiga de Granaditas” Guanajuato Regional Museum is located in 6 Mendizabal Street, Historical Center, in Guanajuato, Guanajuato. Admission fee is 48 MXP, but children under 13, physically challenged persons, senior citizens, students and teachers with valid ID do not pay.