While we were waiting in the queue to get tickets to go into the Picasso Museum we passed the Museu Barbier-Mueller Art PreColombi – Inca museum.
Now I am a bit of a fan of the Inca civilization from way back so I tell Paula that I would like to see this exhibition if we get the time. Well we found some time on the second to last day and I am so glad we did.
The first time we went was on Easter Monday and it was nearly 3pm, so the museum was closing and that’s why we had to return on another day as they close at 3pm on public holidays.
It only cost us 2€70 each with our 20% discount from the bus tour booklet. So a very inexpensive museum to visit.
There are three ‘spaces’ of exhibition and when we entered the first space we looked at each other and remarked ‘hmm, well I can see why it is so cheap. However when we came out of the first room and crossed the courtyard to the second exhibition space, we were pleasantly surprised. There are quite a number of really interesting objects.
The third exhibition space is back across the courtyard and upstairs, of course. And again we are delighted by the artefacts on display and also with the layout of the display.
The shop has some interesting pieces on sale if you are looking for a keepsake to take home.
Honestly, if you are in any way interested in ancient Inca civilizations then I recommend you take a look through this museum.
So where is the Museu Barbier-Mueller d’Art Precolombi
- Montcada 14. 08003 Barcelona
Opening times are:
- Tuesday to Friday – 11am to 7pm
- Saturdays and Sundays – 11am to 8.00pm
- Public holidays – 11am to 3pm.
- On non holiday Mondays the museum is closed
Here are some of the artifacts you will see in the museum:
- Pajcha (Ceremonial Receptacle) -Ceramic – Inca – Peru – 1450AD -1533AD
- Pajchas were used for libation of water or Chicha (fermented maize) onto the earth in rites seeking to foster fertility.
Portrait Vessel from Mochica Culture in Peru – 100BC – 600AD
- These portrait vessels are a beautiful example of Mochica art. They are a ritual item that accompanied the deceased at the time of their burial.
Cat With Handle
Nose Ring – Gold and Silver – Mochica Culture – Peru 100BC – 600AD
- Nose rings were a sign of elite status in life. They became part of the funerary dowry of the elite.
You can see more of the items on display in our photo gallery.
Your photo,forth one down of a Mochica Portrait Vessel,100BC – 600AD,
has what I would argue is a mushroom (A. Muscaria)encoded into the stirrup handle. I have found an abundance of archaeological evidence supporting the proposition that Mesoamerica, the high cultures of South America, and Easter Island shared, along with many other New World cultures, elements of a Pan American belief system so ancient that many of the ideas may have come from Asia to the New World with the first human settlers. I believe the key to this entire belief system lies, as proposed by the late ethno-mycologest R. Gordon Wasson, in early man’s discovery of the mind-altering effects of various hallucinatory substances. The accidental ingestion of these hallucinogenic substances could very well have provided the spark that lifted the mind and imagination of these early humans above and beyond the mundane level of daily existence to contemplation of another reality.
My study of pre-Columbian art and pre-Columbian mushroom cults began in 1996, inspired by a theory first proposed over fifty years ago by my father, the late Maya archaeologist Dr. Stephan F. de Borhegyi, that hallucinogenic mushroom rituals were a central aspect of Maya religion. He based this theory on his identification of a mushroom stone cult that came into existence in the Guatemala Highlands and Pacific coastal area around 1000 B.C. along with a trophy head cult associated with human sacrifice and the Mesoamerican ballgame. Despite the reluctance of the archaeological community to accept a theory of a mushroom cult among the Maya, he supported his theory with a solid body of archaeological evidence as well as historical evidence found recorded in various Spanish chronicles and Aztec codices.
The historical evidence came to the attention of my father through his extensive correspondence with Gordon Wasson. Wasson pointed him toward reports of ritual use of hallucinogenic mushrooms among the Aztecs in a number of Spanish chronicles written shortly after the Spanish conquest. Wasson also directed him toward reports of the existence of modern-day ritual use of hallucinogenic mushrooms in various parts of Mexico and, in particular, among the Mazatec Indians of Oaxaca. Together, Borhegyi and Wasson surmised that If the mushroom stones did, indeed, represent a mushroom cult, then the mushroom itself was an iconographic metaphor, and the mushroom stone effigies could supply the clues necessary to decipher their meaning.
My unique study presents visual evidence of encoded mushroom imagery never identified before, “Hidden In Plain Sight”, that proves that R. Gordon Wasson was in fact correct in surmising that the true identity of Soma was the hallucinogenic Amanita muscaria mushroom. Moreover, I also believe that both the Amanita muscaria mushroom and the Psilocybin mushroom were worshiped and venerated in Mesoamerica, and South America like the Vedic-Hindu god Soma was in ancient southwest Asia. These sacred mushrooms were so cleverly encoded in the religious art of both the New and Old Worlds, that prior to this study they virtually escaped detection.
For more on this little known subject read, SOMA IN THE AMERICAS: The origin of Mushroom Cults In The New World, by Carl de Borhegyi at mushroomstone.com
Thank you very much for your detailed and informative comment. I spent some time reading both your website and information about your fathers studies and found it all fascinating. I hope others who are interested in Mayan society and in particular the use of entheogenic drugs amongst them and other cultures will also take the time to visit your website.