Archaeology as Spectacle: Excavations in the Heart of Turn-of-the-Century Mexico City

In 1900, sanitation works in downtown Mexico City unearthed some pre-Hispanic structures. The Mexican government summoned Leopoldo Batres, the head of the Inspectorate of Monuments, to investigate the findings. Over the course of several weeks, Batres excavated the area, unearthing hundreds of artifacts. While he was not exactly sure what he had found, Batres trenched through nothing less than part the Templo Mayor, the long-lost main temple of the Aztecs. His work at Escalerillas street was one of the first attempts by a series of twentieth-century archaeologists to unearth the temple, excavations that today continue to reap more findings. Batres’s excavation drew media attention as crowds flocked to the site. Foreigners traveled to Mexico just to get a glimpse of the discoveries. Escalerillas became a spectacle. This paper analyzes Batres’s Escalerillas excavation as a type of performance. Visual and written accounts have romanticized the excavation, depicting Batres as a brave explorer, unearthing fabulous treasures. The reality was much messier, as Batres spent much of his time fending off thieves and observers and dealing with toxic fumes that emanated from the sewers. The paper explores the ways in which Escalerillas fulfilled romanticized notions about the science of archeology and the meaning of pre-Hispanic antiquity in early twentieth-century Mexico.