Gallery VIII , which forms the exhibit's entrance and exit, houses the Aztec and Mixteca-Puebla collection . Although these two cultures were separate geographically, they are grouped together here because of their political, religious, and stylistic overlap. The famous Mixtec artisans of Oaxaca are represented by exquisite gold necklaces and earrings made using lost-wax casting. There are also carved shell and stone adornments, including pairs of extremely thin obsidian earspools. The Classic period city of Teotihuacan is the focus of Gallery I .
Frescoes also decorate the delicate tripod funerary vessels in the exhibit.
The collection's solid, carved stone masks are now believed to have adorned mummy bundles. The virtuoso stone carving skills of the Olmec are here represented in numerous small jade and greenstone objects. Some figures appear to be nobles or rulers, seated and wearing elaborate regalia, while others may represent shamans transforming into supernatural felines. Effigies of axes and atlatls on display illustrate how tools may have been formally ritualized for use in offerings and burials. Limestone relief panels carved with graceful figures are glossed with rows of hieroglyphs that record the ruler's name and his lineage, important events in his life, and calendrical dates.