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COLLECTION Identifier: 58-38 ‡63-33

Expedition to Altar de Sacrificios records

Overview

The records contain original field records pertaining to the Peabody Museum Expedition (directed by Professor Gordon R. Willey) to Altar de Sacrificios, a lowland Maya site located on the Rio Pasion in the southwestern portion of the Department of Peten, Guatemala .

Dates

  • Creation: 1959-1963 (bulk)

Creator

Extent

1.5 linear feet

The papers contain original field records, including field notebooks, catalogue number ledgers, negatives and subsequent analyses of ceramics.

Biographical / Historical

The Peabody Museum Expedition to Altar de Sacrificios, a lowland Maya site on the Rio Pasion, in the southwestern portion of the Department of Peten, Guatemala, was directed by Bowditch Professor Gordon R. Willey from 1959 to 1963. The Expedition was undertaken "to fill in a part of this southern Peten geographic gap in our knowledge of lowland Maya archaeology." (Willey1973:5). Research areas included: epigraphy, ceramic analyses, settlement patterns, influences of Teotihuacan and the Toltec, and chronology. Principal investigators included: Dr. Willey, A. Ledyard Smith, Richard E.W. Adams, John A. Graham, Frank B. Saul, W.R. Bullard, Jr., and John Ladd. The results of the expedition were published (see references below). Type collections, primarily of ceramics, from the site may be found in the Museum's artifact collections (accessions 58-38; 63-33).

Physical Location

Peabody Museum Archives

Immediate Source of Acquisition

58-38 63-33

These records may be viewed as an extension of accession files 58-38 and 63-33.

Related Peabody Museum Collections:

  1. #58-38: receipts, financial records, 1958; correspondence;paper by Frank Saul re: osteobiology; negatives; memos .
  2. #63-33 notes re: type collections, cataloguing, and collections sent out foranalysis.

Published References:

  1. Willey, Gordon R. and Al. L. Smith. The Ruins of Altar de Sacrificios, Department of Peten, Guatemala: An Introduction. Peabody Museum Paper vol. 62. no.1. 1969.
  2. Smith, A. Ledyard. Excavations at Altar de Sacrificios: Architecture, Settlement, Burials, and Caches. Peabody Museum Paper vol. 62. no. 2. 1972.
  3. Adams, R.E.W. The Ceramics of Peabody Museum . Paper vol. 62. no. 2 .Peabody Museum Paper. vol.63. no.1. 1971.
  4. Saul, F.P. The Human Skeletal Remains of PeabodyMuseum . Paper vol. 62. no. 2 : An Osteobiographic Analysis. Peabody Museum Paper.vol. 63. no. 2. 1972.
  5. Willey, Gordon R. The Artifacts of Altar deSacrificios. Peabody Museum Paper. vol. 64. no. 1. 1972.
  6. Graham, J.A. The Hieroglyphic Inscriptions and Monumental Art of Altar de Sacrificios. Peabody Museum Paper. vol. 64. no. 2.
  7. Willey, Gordon R. The Altarde Sacrificios Excavations: General Summary and Conclusions. Peabody Museum Paper.vol. 64. no. 3. 1973.

General note

Collections records may contain language, reflecting past collecting practices and methods of analysis, that is no longer acceptable. The Peabody Museum is committed to addressing the problem of offensive and discriminatory language present in its database. Our museum staff are continually updating these records, adding to and improving content. We welcome your feedback and any questions or concerns you may want to share.

Processed by

V. Swerdlow; 6/10/1987 edited by Patricia H. Kervick, Associate Archivist; August 2009

Title
Altar de Sacrificios: Records of the Peabody Museum Expedition: A Finding Aid
Author
Peabody Museum Archives
Language of description
und
EAD ID
pea00042

Repository Details

Part of the Peabody Museum Archives Repository

Papers in the Peabody Museum Archives consist of primary source materials that document the Museum’s archaeological and ethnographic research and fieldwork since its founding in 1866. More than 2,800 feet of archival paper collections contain documents, papers, manuscripts, correspondence, data, field notes, maps, plans, and other historical records that represent diverse peoples from around the world, and which were created or collected by the Museum, its individual affiliates, or related entities. The collections also document the history or provenience, as well as the creation of, many of the Museum’s archaeological and ethnographic collections.

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