Artifacts on display at the site museum

The Great Altar

This magnificent structure, toward which everything in the outer chamber was directed, represents the essence of religious communication as practiced by the ancient North Americans. Although it was capable of communication with a large number of gods, the altar seems to have been intended primarily for communion with the gods MOVIEA and MOVIEB. Judging by impact marks on the top and sides of the upper altar, some aspect of this communication was dependent upon pounding the surface. Communication with the altar was symbolically continued into eternal life by placing the communicator box in the hand of the deceased. Below the exquisite glass face of the upper altar are a number of sealed spaces for offerings.


 

Three Fragments From The Plant That Would Not Die

This plant, developed by the ancients specifically for eternal life, was grown in separate pieces through a now lost biological process. The proportion and size of each plant could then be perfectly matched to its ultimate location. Many such plants were found throughout the complex.


 

The Ceremonial Burial Cap

This extraordinary headdress, made especially for the deceased, stands to this day as an unparalleled example of flexible plasticus workmanship. Each colored disc was applied by hand, and together they form a pattern so complex that a full interpretation of the arrangement continues to elude scholars.


 

The Sacred Urn

This most holy of relics was discovered in the Inner Chamber. It was carved from a single piece of porcelain and then highly polished. The Urn was the focal point of the burial ceremony. 

We have managed to reconstruct the final ritual of the ceremony. The ranking celebrant knelt in front of the urn with the sacred collar on his head. It was his responsibility to lead the chant embedded in the ceremonial paper strap.  After each repetition of the words, sacramental parchment was deposited in the urn and the handle pulled down. When it was released, water from a sacred spring - symbol of mortal life - flowed into the urn. Inscribed on the urn was the single word "Crane": The North Americans, like members of many primitive societies, saw birds as simultaneous symbols of life and death.