Eduardo Matos Moctezuma (born December 11, 1940) is a prominent Mexican archaeologist. Since 1978 he has directed excavations at the Templo Mayor, a major
AztecThe Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the Late post-Classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Often the term...
pyramid in downtown
Mexico CityMexico City is the capital city of Mexico. It is the economic, industrial, and cultural center in the country, and the most populous city, with about 8,836,045 inhabitants in 2008...
.
Matos Moctezuma graduated with a master's degree in archaeology from the National School of Anthropology and History and a master's degree in anthropology from the
National Autonomous University of MexicoThe National Autonomous University of Mexico is a public university based primarily in Mexico City and generally considered to be the largest one-campus university in the Americas in terms of student population...
. He has excavated at archaeological sites in both the Maya area and in central Mexico.
Eduardo Matos Moctezuma (born December 11, 1940) is a prominent Mexican archaeologist. Since 1978 he has directed excavations at the Templo Mayor, a major
AztecThe Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the Late post-Classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Often the term...
pyramid in downtown
Mexico CityMexico City is the capital city of Mexico. It is the economic, industrial, and cultural center in the country, and the most populous city, with about 8,836,045 inhabitants in 2008...
.
Matos Moctezuma graduated with a master's degree in archaeology from the National School of Anthropology and History and a master's degree in anthropology from the
National Autonomous University of MexicoThe National Autonomous University of Mexico is a public university based primarily in Mexico City and generally considered to be the largest one-campus university in the Americas in terms of student population...
. He has excavated at archaeological sites in both the Maya area and in central Mexico. In addition to the Templo Mayor project, Matos has directed major fieldwork projects at the sites of
TulaTula, formally, Tula de Allende is a town and one of the 84 municipalities of Hidalgo, in central-eastern Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 305.8 km² , and as of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 93,296, with 28,432 in the town.The municipality includes numerous smaller...
and
TeotihuacanTeotihuacan is an enormous archaeological site in the Basin of Mexico, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas...
. He has also made important contributions to the study of the history of archaeology in Mexico.
Matos Moctezuma was director of the Templo Mayor project from its start in 1978. This was one of the most important archaeological projects in the world. Several seasons of excavations uncovered the construction history of this central temple of the Aztec Empire. Numerous rich offerings were located around the temple area. This project overturned scholarly understanding of Aztec religion, empire, and ideology. Matos Moctezuma oversaw the creation of the Templo Mayor Museum in which these spectacular finds are displayed in lavish exhibits, and he directed the Museum for many years. 1987 saw the creation of the Urban Archaeology Program (directed by Matos) in which excavations in downtown Mexico City were expanded beyond the immediate site of the Templo Mayor. This research continues today.
Eduardo Matos Moctuzuma has published nearly 500 works during his career. His books include technical archaeological reports, interpretive works on archaeological finds, scholarly studies in the history of archaeology, exhibit catalogs, and collections of chapters. In addition to his work at the Templo Mayor and its museum, Matos Moctuzuma has held many important posts in the field of Mexican archaeology. For the National Institute of Anthropology and History, he has directed the Department of Pre-Hispanic Monuments, the Archaeology Council, and the National Museum of Anthropology and History. Eduardo Matos Moctezuma has worked to explain archaeology and Aztec civilization to the public through lectures, writings, and museum exhibits.
Professor Matos has received many honors and awards, both in Mexico and in other countries. The most notable is election to the
Colegio NacionalThe National College is a Mexican honorary academy with a strictly limited membership created by presidential decree in 1943 in order to bring together the country's foremost artists and scientists, who are periodically invited to deliver lectures and seminars in their respective area of speciality...
, a prestigious group of the top scholars and artists in Mexico. He has been distinguished as a
Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques,
Chevalier de l'Ordre National du MériteThe Ordre national du Mérite is an Order of Chivalry awarded by the President of the French Republic. It was founded on December 3, 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle...
and given the
Ordre des Arts et des LettresThe Ordre des Arts et des Lettres is an Order of France, established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture, and confirmed as part of the Ordre National du Mérite by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963...
by the Government of
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
. He has also received
VenezuelaVenezuela , officially titled Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It is a continental mainland with numerous islands located off its coastline in the Caribbean Sea...
's Andrés Bello Award,
Harvard UniversityHarvard University is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and currently comprises ten separate academic units...
's Henry B. Nicholson Medal and an honorary doctorate in science by the
University of ColoradoThe University of Colorado at Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the University of Colorado system and was founded five months before Colorado was admitted to the union in 1876...
. He is also a member of the
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
Archaeological Institute, the Archaeological Institute of America, the Mexican Society of Geography and Statistics, the Mexican Academy of History and many other professional organizations. He was awarded the
National Science and Arts PrizeThe National Prize for Arts and Sciences is awarded annually by the Government of Mexico in six categories. It was established in 1945...
in 2007.
Major publications
- Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo (1988) The Great Temple of the Aztecs. Thames and Hudson, New York.
- Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo (1995) Life and Death in the Templo Mayor. Translated by Bernard R. Ortiz de Montellano and Thelma Ortiz de Montellano. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.
- Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo (editor) (1999) Excavaciones en la catedral y el sagrario metropolitanos: programa de arqueología urbana. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.
- Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo (1999-2005) Estudios mexicas. 5 vols. El Colegio Nacional, Mexico City.
- Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo and Felipe Solis (2005) The Aztec Calendar and Other Solar Monuments. Grupo Azabache, Mexico City.
- Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo and Felipe R. Solís Olguín (editors) (2002) Aztecs. Royal Academy of Arts, London.
External links