Research Catalog

Title

The orphans of the muse : archaeological collecting in nineteenth-century Oaxaca / Adam T. Sellen.

Author

Sellen, Adam T.

Publication

Mérida : Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 2015.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

• Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, issuing body. http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/isb
• Centro Peninsular en Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales.

Description

267 pages : illustrations; 23 cm.

Summary

• "The rediscovery, starting in the late eighteenth century, of Oaxaca's magnificent pre-Hispanic tombs and artifacts -many associated with the ancient Zapotec or Mixtec civilizations of southwestern Mexico- gave rise to vigorous debates about their origins and significance. Spearheading this renewed interest in the past was a group of Mexican collectors, affluent members of the state's local elite who, through exploration and systematic collection-forming, laid the foundation for a better understanding of the chaotic material culture that seemed to be everywhere underneath their native soil. The history of these early collectors illustrates a remarkable moment in archaeological discovery, as concepts and typologies that are now familiar were first taking shape, but unfortunately many of the sites they explored were later obliterated as population growth and agricultural development overrode other concerns. Objects were dispersed, and the records of the debates they had inspired languished in obscure publications and archives.
• The aim of this book is to reunite the orphaned, decontextualized remnants of this early burst of proto-scientific inquiry, not merely to profit from the discoveries of some truly remarkable pioneers but also to honor these unjustly forgotten figures. Their story is part of a larger human narrative, the ongoing effort to extend and accommodate systems of knowledge and classification to the material of past lives, an occasionally uneven process of discovery and interpretation that is now at the heart of the discipline of archaeology."--

Series Statement

Regiones ; 1

Uniform Title

Regiones (Centro Peninsular en Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales) ; 1.

Alternative Title

• Archaeological collecting in nineteenth-century Oaxaca
• Colección regiones Oaxaca

Subject

• Indian art > Collectors and collecting > Oaxaca (State)
• Collectors and collecting > Oaxaca (State)
• Indians of Mexico > Collectors and collecting > Oaxaca (State)
• Excavations (Archaeology) > Oaxaca (State)
• Oaxaca (Mexico : State) > Antiquities

Note

• "Centro Peninsular en Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales"--Page preceding title page.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 247-267).

Contents

Introduction -- Archaeology in nineteenth-century Mexico : a gentleman's pursuit -- Early collecting in Oaxaca -- The Oaxacan collections in ninteenth-century Mexican musems -- The beginnings of the Museo de Oaxaca -- The Pofiriato and the politics of archaeology -- "The Archaeological Club" -- Thhe debates on origin -- A final word on the end of an era.

ISBN

• 9786072716940
• 6072716946

OCLC

• ocn942846860
• 942846860
• SCSB-5892678

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries