The Latin America Collection is primarily pre-Columbian ceramics, mostly from Mexico and Peru, with some Central American and Amazonian material. There is also a substantial quantity of lithic materials, mostly obsidian from Mexico (both artifact and quarry source material). Our greatest single strength is from the Valley of Mexico. During the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, Professors James B. Griffin and Jeffrey R. Parsons and archaeologist Richard E. Blanton assembled type collections of potsherds, figurines, spindle whorls, and miscellaneous lithics obtained from site surfaces and from ditches and road-cuts produced by modern construction activities in and around Mexico City. These collections are supported by relevant field notes, site reports, drawings, maps, and photographs (including air-photographs). The Museum is happy to supply data collected by Drs. Parsons and Blanton in the Valley of Mexico.
There is also a large collection of ceramics and lithics, together with supporting field notes, from stratigraphic excavations undertaken in the late 1950s by William T. Mayer-Oakes at several sites in the western Valley of Mexico. Another substantial body of material consists of ceramic type collections from the Valley of Oaxaca in southern Mexico assembled by Professors Kent V. Flannery and Joyce Marcus during the 1960s. Our most important single collection from South America is a type collection of Viru Valley pottery assembled by James A. Ford in the late 1940s.
Museum curators have worked with other professional colleagues in an effort to assure that the Museum has representative collections of ceramics from several parts of Latin America that can be used by curators, students, and visitors to prepare for archaeological fieldwork and to carry out laboratory analysis. One of the largest of such acquisitions has been a collection of figurines and pottery vessels from different parts of Mexico acquired from Jackson Community College, which had originally received them as donations from alumni and friends.
The Latin America Collection consists primarily of pre-Columbian ceramics (sherds and whole vessels), mostly from Mexico and Peru, although there is also Central American and Amazonian material. There is also a substantial quantity of lithic materials, mostly obsidian from Mexico (both finished artifacts and quarry source material). One strength of the collection is abundant material from the Valley of Mexico. During the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, Professors James B. Griffin, Jeffrey R. Parsons, and Richard E. Blanton assembled type collections of pottery, figurines, spindle whorls, and miscellaneous chipped stone obtained from surface of archaeological sites as well as from ditches and road-cuts produced by modern construction activities in and around Mexico City. These collections are supported by fieldnotes, site reports, drawings, maps, and photographs (including aerial photographs). The Museum is happy to supply data collected by Drs. Parsons and Blanton in the Valley of Mexico.
There is also a large collection of ceramics and chipped stone, together with supporting fieldnotes, from stratigraphic excavations undertaken in the late 1950s by William T. Mayer-Oakes at several sites in the western Valley of Mexico.
Another substantial body of material consists of ceramic type collections from the Valley of Oaxaca in southern Mexico assembled by Professors Kent V. Flannery and Joyce Marcus during the 1960s.
Our most important single collection from South America is a type collection of Viru Valley pottery assembled by James A. Ford in the late 1940s.
Museum curators have worked with other professional colleagues in an effort to ensure that the Museum has representative collections of ceramics from several parts of Latin America that can be used by curators, students, and visitors to prepare for archaeological fieldwork in Latin America and to carry out laboratory analysis. One of the larger acquisitions has been a collection of figurines and pottery vessels from different parts of Mexico acquired from Jackson Community College, which had originally received them as donations from alumni and friends.
