The museum is the synthesis of an ideological, scientific, and political feat. The museum’s collections include the Stone of the Sun, giant stone heads of the Olmec civilization that were found in the jungles of Tabasco and Veracruz, treasures recovered from the Mayan civilization, at the Sacred Cenote at Chichen Itza, among others. It also has a model of the location and layout of the former Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, the site of which is now occupied by the central area of modern-day Mexico City. The permanent exhibitions on the ground floor cover all pre-Columbian civilizations located on the current territory of Mexico as well as in former Mexican territory in what is today the southwestern United States. The museum also hosts visiting exhibits, generally focusing on other of the world’s great cultures