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Exhibit Tells of Human Life in Americas
Visitors learn, for example, that hunter-gatherers had a lot of leisure time because they only had to work two to three hours a day to collect their food.
Some egalitarian farming societies lasted for centuries, compared to approximately 150 years for the Incan and Aztec empires, in which far-flung communities were required to pay taxes and tribute to their leaders.
  A display of ceramic pottery from the Moche culture, who lived along the northern coast of Peru, is seen at The Field Museum's new exhibit called "The Ancient Americas." Tuesday, March 6, 2007, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) (Charles Rex Arbogast - AP) 
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The exhibit's lead curator, Jonathan Haas, said he hopes the exhibit helps visitors appreciate the accomplishments of the people and cultures of North, South and Central America.
"They are woefully underrepresented and misunderstood in the public's eyes, and we have a responsibility to change that," he said.
Besides the interactive and technological elements, the exhibit features 2,200 artifacts, representing more than 20 distinct societies, all drawn from the Field's extensive collection.
Among the highlights:
_More than 100 pieces of ceramic pottery from the Moche culture, which lived along the northern coast of Peru. The unique, quirky vessels depict individual people from different backgrounds _ instead of the generic, idealized faces common in artwork of many other societies. On one vessel, a woman bends under the weight of the water jug on her back; on another, a man and woman embrace.
_A black-and-white checkered cotton shirt likely worn by a high-ranking Incan official.
_Wooden cradle boards, used by women to carry their babies while working in fields, and a baby's sandal that have survived for more than 1,000 years.
_A tiny green stone figurine of a leader wearing an elaborate headdress of animal skins, made by the Wari people of south Peru.
_Massive, wide-mouthed vessels used to store a type of beer made of fermented maize served by Tairona leaders at huge feasts.
Near the end of the exhibit, a small room containing a broken sculpture touches on the first contact of indigenous Americans with European explorers.
The museum estimates that within the first several centuries of the Europeans' arrival, 90 percent of an overall indigenous population that once numbered in the millions were dead, mostly from diseases such as smallpox.
But instead of ending on that sad note, the exhibit closes with a large room where visitors can watch videos of indigenous artists keeping cultural traditions alive. Performances are planned for the space, as well.
And throughout the exhibit are portraits of descendants of indigenous people _ such as Evo Morales, the president of Bolivia, and Wilma Mankiller, the first female chief of the Cherokee Nation.
"We use this exhibit to tell the story of humanity _ all humanity," Haas said.
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