Leonardo López Luján, senior researcher and professor of archaeology at the Museo del Templo Mayor, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), in Mexico City, will deliver the keynote address during Convocation at the 2009 CAA Annual Conference in Los Angeles. Convocation takes place at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Wednesday evening, February 25, 5:30–7:00 PM.
For nearly thirty years, López Luján has worked on the excavations of the Templo Mayor (Grand Temple), a fifteenth-century Aztec pyramid and its surroundings that are located in the heart of the Mexican capital; he has been director of the project since 1991. The temple lies beneath the Zócalo, also known as the Plaza de la Constitución, one of the largest public squares in the world.
In his talk, López Luján will focus on the most recent archaeological discoveries, while giving an overview of the history of archaeology in the Aztec capital. He will also discuss other topics, among them the recovery of the Tlaltecuhtli stone, an iconographic analysis that may unveil this sculpture’s functions and meanings, the rich offerings buried underneath it, and the possible presence of a royal tomb in this area of the sacred precinct.
For more information on López Luján, please read the CAA News biography or download Johanna Tuckman’s article, “In Search of an Aztec King,” from the Summer 2008 issue of American Archaeology.
