Durango gets going late, with no attractions being open before 10:00, so I had a lazy morning Friday. Rather a shame I’m no longer a going out for breakfast kind of person.

My first stop of the day was the Museo de Arqueología de Durango Ganot-Peschard on Zaragoza. Entry was just $10. Like with all the museums and attractions that I visited in Durango, you need some Spanish to really get the most out of your experience because there is usually very little, if any, English signage.

The museum is, of course, housed in a beautiful building. I took this picture to remember the orange walls and arches, but the mural was interesting, too, as it is a topographic cross section showing where Durango is in relation to other communities, as well as sea level. It really showed me how far up I climbed the day before!

This exhibit was unique! How many times have I seen exhibits about stone tools? Too many to count. How many times have I seen an actual demonstration of how the tools were held? This was the first!

I liked how the pottery was presented in these columns:

The skulls were fascinating! They were all intentionally deformed in childhood.

This one really spoke to me for some reason and reminded me that s/he was a person once upon a time.

I wish my Isla house had walls this colour!

At the very end of the museum is my favourite bit, the excavation. I’ve only ever seen something like this once, at Pointe-à-Callière in Old Montreal. This was full of steep staircases and tight turns, very fun!

Sabertooth tiger skull:

Super narrow and short passageway. Duck!

They put in some glass to mimic a sunset above; nice detail.

I already have the yellow walls in Miranda. Possible to put dark wood beams on an RV ceiling?

I had to go back to the skulls. It’s no wonder some folks thought these skulls belonged to aliens!

I just love the Aztatlán pottery:

I had a chat on the way out with the museum curator, clumsily raving about the skulls and the excavation exhibit, and she had me painstakingly write out a brief review in Spanish for their guestbook!

From the museum, I went around the block to 5 de febrero and then on to the Plaza de arms to do the mining tunnel museum, but I was accosted by a security guard who, in very rapid Spanish that I would not know until sometime later I actually understood (mostly) informed me that the entrance was now an exit because they were having a special exhibit on the sex trade and child trafficking. That’s really what I got, but, in all honesty, I was understanding the words but not sure I was actually getting what was said. So it would be gratifying sometime later to have my doubts confirmed! We will return to the tunnel.