Home»El Tajin renovation, Veracruz

El Tajin is a major ruin in the northern Verazruz State of Mexico. These few photos were taken in June 1990. Everything you ever wanted to know about El Tajin is on the Internet, but what interested me at the time was the restoration. Mexico over the course of two decades made a very major effort to exccavate and "restore" most of its major ruins. So as often grass covered mounds were dug out to reveal origonal construction, or portions excavated decades earlier, these areas were "reconstructed" to their origonal appearance. This is not an impossible job, but certainly requires skill and experience. Portions were "Disneyfied" so as to give the appearance of the wearing of time. Much the same has been done at our great ruins such as Mesa Verde or Chaco Canyon. Sites also had museums built to illustrate what tourists beheld. Over the course of time I will annotate the slide to point out details I think interesting.


This series in now in the photo archives of the Palace of the Governors/New Mexico History Museum in Sante Fe, New Mexico. If you have interest in them contact: http://www.palaceofthegovernors.org/photoarchives.html