The best sites to visit in New York for an ancient sites enthusiast Museum New York

Submitted by Runemage on Wednesday, 08 November 2017 Page Views: 2246

Country: United States State: New York Type: Museum

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**American Museum of Natural History (New York)** submitted by dodomad : Why did prehistoric Native Americans fashion the enigmatic objects known as bannerstones? Art historian Anna Blume, who is making an intensive study of these artifacts in the collection of the American Museum of Natural History in New York Banded slate bannerstone, Michigan (left), height 5 inches; Porphyry granite bannerstone, Iowa (right), height 3.4 inches, width 4.5 inches Phot... (Vote or comment on this photo)

It’s that time of year where thoughts are leading towards Christmas and already our TVs are filled with picturesque winter wonderland scenes in New York, happy shoppers laden with boxes and Americanised Jolly Santas by the hundred in their red suits ho-ho-ho-ing and ringing their Bells of Good Cheer. But this is the Megalithic Portal I hear Andy B in the background(*) - we can't be talking about such things - we must remain at least vaguely relevant to our subject! So coming out of my daydream I wondered what there might be in NY to lure an ancient site enthusiast to visit, once the desire for materialistic things has subsided.

Browsing the Megalithic Portal's site pages, I was impressed that the museums in New York City offer so much to see. I think I could spend at least a week in the American Museum of Natural History. There are so many different exhibitions running I’d be spoilt for choice for which one to see first, but for me it would probably be the Human Origins and Cultural Halls. There is a truly worldwide scope here with every continent represented, and so fascinating to compare artefacts from different cultures.

If that wasn't enough, I’d also want to visit the National Museum of the American Indian, which is now part of the Smithsonian and as such the exhibits are very well displayed. I’d start with the Infinity of Nations exhibition, which shows 200 exquisite objects. There are ancient and modern artefacts from all over the Americas including an Olmec jade head (900 to 600 BC), a superb Moche–Huari tunic (AD 700 to 900), a Mexica (Aztec) sculpture of a maize goddess (ca. AD 1500), and an impressive Maya limestone relief depicting a ball player, demonstrating the degree to which native cultures were interconnected long before Europeans arrived.

The building itself is also of architectural interest, it was originally The Custom House built 1902-1907. It's also just across from Battery Park, which is one of the places you can take a ferry to Liberty Island and Statue of Liberty, which is fascinating for its symbolism, its history and the level of engineering that went into it.

Being within a stone’s throw of arguably the most iconic site in the US, who could be so close and not visit? However there are only a few hundred tickets each day to go up to the crown of the Statue of Liberty, and they are typically sold out months in advance. If you can't get a ticket you can still book to visit the pedestal, which is itself 47 meters high, giving you a great view of the harbour and NYC skyline. Grounds only tickets are cheaper and almost always available but must be bought in advance along with a ferry ticket to the island.

Liberty island can get very busy so to avoid the crowds and give your feet a well deserved rest you can book a Liberty Cruise at GoNYTours.com to see all the sights of New York Harbour by boat in the company of an expert and informative guide.

Back in 2006 we reported that the Statue of Liberty, along with Stonehenge was shortlisted to become one of an updated list of 7 Wonders of the world, with a world wide vote which got many countries in a frenzy to get on the list, with Brazil offering free texts and calls so that apparently 10 million people could vote for their Christ the Redeemer statue! With this level of competition neither Stonehenge nor the Statue of Liberty got a look in but the final list does include many wonderful ancient sites, which is good to see.

But I digress - that's my little daydream about visiting New York - perhaps I'll get to go one day. In the meantime Part 2 of this article next week will look at some more places to lure ancient site enthusiasts to visit the wonders of New York City. This article was kindly supported by GoNYTours.com

(*) This is a figure of speech - contrary to popular belief the Megalithic Portal Admins do not all live in one big house together like the Monkees or the Partridge Family but are spread all over the world.

Contributor Bio for Runemage: Based in UK, contributing since 2005. Favourite site: Uragh.

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