LA RUTA MAYA CONSERVATION FOUNDATION
GIVES ARCHAEOLOGICAL OBJECTS ON LOAN TO
MIRAFLORES MUSEUM AND IS ONE OF THE SPONSORS
OF ITS NEW CATALOGUE "MAYA OF KAMINALJUYÚ"

Last October 2010 was a special occasion. Miraflores Museum -with La Ruta Maya and other sponsors, presented the Catalogue "Maya of Kaminaljuyú."

During the ceremony, Dr. Juan Antonio Valdés, curator of the museum, and Architect Federico Fahsen, famous Guatemalan epigrapher, were honored for their merits in Mayan archaeology and received a copy of the catalogue as part of their public recognition. Dr. Barbara Arroyo presented the importance of the site of Kaminaljuyú in the history of Mayan and Mesoamerican culture .

For both Museo Miraflores and La Ruta Maya, the publication of the catalogue is a another step forward for two entities that work on the dissemination, protection and display of our heritage. Part of the Pre-Columbian objects displayed in its full-color pages belong to the collection that La Ruta Maya has loaned to the museum.

La Ruta Maya was founded in 1990 in the United States by Wilbur Garrett, former editor of National Geographic Magazine. Since 2004 is chaired by Mr. Fernando Paiz, Guatemalan businessman known for his support to the arts and the environment. In Guatemala, La Ruta Maya is registered as a nonprofit organization and is the only private organization -perhaps in all of Central America- that seeks out and promotes the return of antiquities. After returning to the country, the objects are registered as national cultural heritage with the Registro de Bienes Culturales and exhibited in accredited museums and other entities with cultural projection.

The first museum to open its doors to La Ruta Maya collection was the Miraflores Museum, which promotes Mayan archeology among schoolchildren and a wide range of audiences. For La  Ruta Maya it is a privilege to work closely with the Museum, especially in the loan of archaeological objects in good condition. To date, a total of 77 works of art have been given on loan, especially from the Peten Lowlands.

For the year 2011, a new group of pre-Columbian objects have been selected, made of different materials and from the same period as Kaminaljuyú, mostly from the Central Highlands of Guatemala and the Pacific piedmont. This collection will be viewed at the Museum in the near future and will enrich the valuable collection Miraflores already has from this region of the country.