Breaking Through Mexico's Past: Digging the Aztecs with Eduardo Matos Moctezuma

The life of celebrated Mexican archaeologist Moctezuma tells of a man rising to the challenges of life and a man who has eloquently spoken to the the importance of understanding the roots of civilization.

This biography of Mexico's award-winning archaeologist, Eduardo Matos Moctezuma, is based on a series of interviews conducted by Davíd Carrasco and Leonardo López Luján, respected Mesoamericanists in their own right. Born in 1940 Mexico City, Matos Moctezuma's father was a diplomat from the Dominican Republic and his mother was a Mexican national. Thanks to his father's career, Eduardo was exposed to other cultures throughout Latin America and he learned to appreciate all that each had to offer.

Carrasco and López Luján demonstrate Eduardo's determination to recover Mexico's cultural past. In addition to secondary archaeological projects, he recently supervised the Teotihuacan Project, where he conducted important excavations at the Pyramid of the Sun, and he is currently general coordinator of the Templo Mayor Project. He served as director of the Templo Mayor Museum (1987-2001) and the National Museum of Anthropology (1985-1987).

Matos Moctezuma has received many awards during his career, including the first H. B. Nicholson Award for Excellence in Mesoamerican Studies from the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University.

Davíd Carrasco is Neil L. Rudenstine Professor of the Study of Latin America with a joint appointment in the Department of Anthropology and the Divinity School at Harvard University. He was recently awarded the Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle.

Leonardo Lípez Luján is senior researcher and professor at the Museo del Templo Mayor, INAH, Mexico City.

Eduardo Matos Moctezuma is Mexico's most prominant archaeologist. He is the curator and chief excavator at the Templo Mayor Museum in Mexico City.