What Is Dia De Los Muertos

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For my anthropology assignment, I wanted to uncover the elements of dia de los muertos. In the documentary I watched, they primarily focused on how elements of the festival mixed many Aztec and Catholic beliefs. First, the documentary illustrates how Mexico has certain parts that still have heavy Aztec influence, yet are primarily Catholic regions. The filmmakers follow a historian who shows them Aztec religious and burial sites that are still present in Mexico today. The historian notes how Aztecs often buried their important people in cross-shaped coffins and were accompanied by gifts for them in the afterlife like gold and other goods. In addition, the historian notes the connection between the decorative sacrificial heads during Aztec times to those seen around the day of the dead. …show more content…
He then recalled the project we did and how we had to create mini altars in shoeboxes filled with yellow flowers, food, skulls and other goods. Then I asked him if he had any other experiences similar to Dia de los Muertos, which he expanded on his experiences we had in high school. While I only did two years of Spanish, Brendan continued all four years in high school and even into a study abroad program in Barcelona. In those extra two years, he said that they did similar projects to the one we did together freshman year. For his junior year, he was actually able to eat pan de muerto that one of his teachers made for the class. They also glass Mexican soda bottles and he said the pineapple one was his favorite. I then discussed how this is similar to what occurs during dia de los muertos since families would often drink and eat at gravesites of passed loved ones. I discussed with him some of the general things that were covered during class and he even watched some of the documentary with me. I then asked him what surprised him, or what were some misconceptions that he previously had around the