Belize Archaeology Museum
  Location within Belize | |
| Coordinates | 17°14′47″N 88°46′20″W / 17.246284°N 88.772163°WCoordinates: 17°14′47″N 88°46′20″W / 17.246284°N 88.772163°W ⧼validator-fatal-error⧽ |
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The Belize Archaeology Museum, often referred to as the Belmopan Museum is a national museum in Belmopan, Belize. The originally planned building was not constructed, although recently there have been plans to revive the project. The collection has been open to the public sporadically since the late 1990s.
Origins[edit]
The museum was planned to be based in Belmopan, officially capital of the country since 1970 after Belize City was wrecked by a tidal wave. Belize City was quickly restored, and most of the government departments remained there.[1] In June 1993 the plans for the museum were settled and construction of the museum building had begun. A national election defeated the government and the plans were abandoned.[2] The museum building for the new Museum of Belize, designed by Mexican architects, was to have covered 4,500 metres (14,800 ft) in the 50 acres (20 ha) park. It was to have been a 2-story building around a glass-roofed patio, connected to an outdoor amphitheatre with 600 seats.[3]
As of 1996 the Belmopan Vault in the Department of Archaeology held some of the archaeological remains of the country. Most of the display were of ceramic vessels from across Belize. They were packed tightly and did not have labels. A group of 24 vases salvaged in 1973 from the Hokeb Ha cave in Toledo, southern Belize, was the most interesting part of the collection.[4] At that time the vault was open in the afternoon on Monday, Wednesday and Friday by prior appointment.[5] A 1997 guide said that the Archaeology Vault in Belmopan, which had been open for visitors to see a large collection of Mayan artifacts, had been closed for lack of funding. The Department of Archaeology had absorbed the Department of Museums, and plans to replace the Archaeology Vault with a National Museum of Belize were uncertain.[6]
Museum[edit]
The Belmopan Museum and the Museum of Belize in Belize City were both part of a government initiative in the late 1990s to develop museums by the National Institute of Culture and History (NICH). As of 2004 the Institute of Archaeology in Belmopan gave tours of the Belize City and Belmopan museum collections. The institute had an impressive research library.[7] The museum contained a selection of artifacts and relics from the past. Most of the building was used for research and to store the library collections, rather than exhibiting objects. However, the museum presented an interesting collection of pottery and tools.[8]
A 2006 guide said the archaeological collection in the Belmopan Museum was interesting, but the museum was closed for renovations. It was due to open again in January 2007. The Department of Archaeology could provide leaflets and brochures about the museum.[9] The building plot for the new museum was sold just before the 2008 elections.[10] In November 2014 the Belmopan Business Network said it was interested in reviving the Belmopan Museum.[11] In late 2014 a contract was signed to build a new Museum of Belize in Belmopan, replacing the museum opened in 2002 in Belize City. The new museum was to form the center of the NICH network of cultural and heritage sites.[12]
References[edit]
- ↑ Fullman & Mainwood 2006, p. 92.
- ↑ Price & Price 1995, p. 97.
- ↑ Price & Price 1995, p. 99.
- ↑ Kelly 1996, p. 58.
- ↑ Kelly 1996, p. 608.
- ↑ Pariser 1997, p. 213.
- ↑ McKillop 2004, p. 21.
- ↑ Belize Archaeology Museum – IIWINC.
- ↑ Fullman & Mainwood 2006, p. 147.
- ↑ When Will Belize Have A National Museum? – Naturalight.
- ↑ Smith 2014.
- ↑ National Museum of Belize – Lord.
Sources[edit]
- "Belize Archaeology Museum", Caribya!, IIWINC, retrieved 2017-04-08
- Fullman, Joseph; Mainwood, Nicola (1 December 2006), Belize, New Holland Publishers, ISBN 978-1-86011-341-3, retrieved 8 April 2017
- Kelly, Joyce (1996), An Archaeological Guide to Northern Central America: Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, University of Oklahoma Press, ISBN 978-0-8061-2861-0, retrieved 8 April 2017
- Kelly, Joyce (1996), An Archaeological Guide to Northern Central America: Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, University of Oklahoma Press, ISBN 978-0-8061-2861-0, retrieved 8 April 2017
- McKillop, Heather Irene (2004), The Ancient Maya: New Perspectives, ABC-CLIO, ISBN 978-1-57607-696-5
- National Museum of Belize, Lord Cultural Resources, retrieved 2017-04-08
- Pariser, Harry S. (November 1997), Explore Belize, Harry S. Pariser, ISBN 978-1-55650-785-4, retrieved 8 April 2017
- Price, Richard; Price, Sally (March 1995), "Executing Culture: Musée, Museo, Museum" (PDF), American Anthropologist, 97 (1), doi:10.1525/aa.1995.97.1.02a00710, retrieved 2017-04-08
- Smith, Richard (31 October 2014), Belize Business Network promotes Belmopan as Tourism Center, retrieved 2017-04-08
- "When Will Belize Have A National Museum?", 7 News Belize, Naturalight Productions, 27 January 2015, retrieved 2017-04-08
External links[edit]
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