 | |
| Established | 1924 |
|---|---|
| Location | Tulane University, Dinwiddie Hall, 3rd floor, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 29°56′06″N90°07′20″W / 29.935012°N 90.122190°W |
| Type | Archaeology museum |
| Director | Marcello Canuto |
| Website | mari |
The Middle American Research Institute was established at Tulane University in 1924.
The Middle American Research Institute seeks to study and safeguard the culture and history of the areas of Mesoamerica and lower Central America. The Institute supports education and research in archaeology, ethnography, ethnohistory, linguistics, and art history throughout Mexico and Central America. The Middle American Research Institute seeks to disseminate the results of its scholarship to academics, students, educators, and the public.
The Department of Middle American research started at Tulane in 1924 with William E. Gates as its director. Samuel Zemurray, president of the Cuyamel Fruit Company, generously donated $300,000 to “support the new Department of Middle American Research in the university, and supply money for an archaeological expedition.” [1] Additionally, Zemurray bought Gates’ private library of original sources on the prehistory of Mexico and linguistics of the Maya area. At its beginning, the department was housed in a part of Dinwiddie Hall with a library containing 2,500 pieces, mostly from Gate's private collection. [2] These texts would one day become the core of Tulane's Latin American Library. In 1925, Gates hired field archaeologist Frans Blom to lead the Department's first expedition into the Mexican hinterland. The report of the First Tulane Expedition, Tribes and Temples, [3] became the Department's first publication. More staff hires included Ralph Roys, and Oliver La Farge.
Following disputes between members of the Department of Middle American Research and the president of Tulane, Frans Blom took over in the position of Director of the Department. In this position, Blom decided to promote “archaeology as the major function of the department.” [4]
During Blom's time as director, he led multiple extensive expeditions to Latin America. In his own words, Blom describes the first expedition: “We discovered twenty-four ruined cities hitherto unrecorded by scientists… To sum up the matter in a few words, the work that we have begun in Central America will put Tulane University on the map as having the greatest department in the country on Maya Indian study.” [5] Throughout his time with the Department, Blom participated in four major expeditions covering areas and topics including Guatemalan ancestral ritual calendars, investigations of Mayan ritual cycles at Jacaltenango, and a long trek from the southern coast of Chiapas to Chichen Itza on the Yucatán. Tulane's location in New Orleans (a major port city servicing Latin America) meant that the Department was often frequented by researchers on their way into the field.
The Department of Middle American Research became known internationally when reproductions of architecture from the Nunnery Quadrangle at Uxmal, discovered during the Institute's expeditions, were displayed at the World's Fair of 1933. [6] These early expeditions account for most of the Institute's current anthropological collections.
In 1938 the Department of Middle American Research was renamed the Middle American Research Institute. Blom's career at the Institute lasted until he was asked to resign for health reasons in November 1941.
Robert Wauchope taught archaeology at the University of Georgia and then directed the Laboratory of Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Following World War II, Wauchope came to the Middle American Research Institute to pursue his research at Zacualpa in the Guatemalan highlands. During Wauchope's time as director, the Institute became increasingly integrated with Tulane. Researchers took roles as professors, and projects spanned multiple departments within the university. Wauchope was praised for his “revitalization of the Middle American Research Institute in less than a decade.” [7]
In 1954, he became President of the Society for American Anthropology, and in 1957 Wauchope was named the general editor for the Handbook of Middle American Indians. [8] The Handbook became the “most ambitious single project of scholarly editing ever undertaken at Tulane.” [9] The project was funded by the National Science Foundation, and strived to create an encyclopedia of all current knowledge of North and South American Indians. Wauchope was responsible for organizing the content of more than three hundred authorities who submitted articles. This work was done with the help of Margaret Harrison, an editor of the handbook. The University of Texas Press published the handbook between 1957 and 1974.
During the 1960s the Middle American Research Institute began, once again, to focus more heavily on anthropology as opposed to multi-disciplinary research.
After over three decades as the Middle American Research Institute's Director, Wauchope retired, passing on the responsibility to the son of an old friend and coworker, E. Wyllys Andrews V.
Andrews began his time with the Middle American Research Institute as the director of the Program of Research on the Yucatán Peninsula from 1972-1974. He soon followed in the footsteps of his father, archaeologist E. Wyllys Andrews IV, who worked with M.A.R.I. at the site of Dzibilchaltun in Yucatán, Mexico until 1971. [10] Andrews took over as Director of the Middle American Research Institute in 1975.
Andrew's main goal was to publish the archaeological research of the Institute from the archaeological program in Yucatán from the 1950s through the 1970s. Such publications include Excavations at Dzibilchaltun, Yucatán, Mexico [11] and Prehistoric Maya Settlement Patterns at Becan, Campeche, Mexico. [12] This continued focus on publication and field research lead to a tripling of the number of graduate students working in Maya archaeology.
In the late 1970s Andrews gathered grants to begin research on Maya farming settlements around Komchen, Mexico. Work at Komchen revealed trade networks spanning into the highlands of Guatemala.
The Copan Acropolis Archaeological Project was directed by Andrews from 1990 to 1994 following the director Robert J. Sharer of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. Work focused on variation in material culture and behavior within the Late Classic royal residence. This was achieved through ceramic and obsidian artifact analysis, study of sculpture, and investigations of El Cementerio
Marcello Canuto is the current director of Tulane University's Middle American Research Institute. His field work focuses on the areas of La Corona in Guatemala and the El Paraíso valley in Honduras, where he studies the socio-political organization of the prehispanic Maya. [13]
During his time as director the Institute's home, Dinwiddie Hall, was renovated. This renovation allowed the Institute the opportunity to build a larger modern exhibit gallery, as well as digitized storage systems for archives and collections. The Middle American Research Institute is also working on community outreach through the continuation of the Tulane Maya Symposium as well as school group visits, and updated exhibits.
Since the Institute was founded a century ago, M.A.R.I. has sponsored archaeological, linguistic, historical, and ethnographic research in Mesoamerica. In the early 1900s, expeditions focused on Mexico, and have since expanded to include research in Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, and El Salvador.
Recently, the Middle American Research Institute has received some attention for Dr. Canuto's role as director of excavations at La Corona in Guatemala. [14] For this research, Canuto was awarded the National Geographic Society grant. [15] Other recent findings include a broken stone monument at the site of El Achiotal, which speaks of the anniversary of an Early Classic king installed by Siyaj K'ak' from the Valley of Mexico, [16] discovered by graduate student Luke Auld-Thomas in 2015, as well as a 6 foot tall stucco mask. [17] Francisco Estrada-Belli, a Research Assistant Professor at the Middle American Research Institute, discovered an impressive stucco frieze in Holmul, Guatemala in 2013. [18] Additionally, Marc Zender is an epigrapher studying Maya hieroglyphic writing and comparative writing systems, and he also teaches and studies on the linguistics of Mesoamerican languages. [19]
The Middle American Research Institute gallery is open to the public Monday through Friday from 9am to 4pm at Tulane University, Dinwiddie Hall, 3rd Floor, New Orleans, LA 70118.
For further information contact the Institute at mari@tulane.edu or (504)-865-5110.
Archaeological artifacts, ethnographic materials, and miscellanea comprise the M.A.R.I. physical collection. M.A.R.I. curates objects from all over the world with emphasis on collections from Middle America. Stone tools from the United States, Honduran pot sherds, Egyptian coffins, Mexican masks, Guatemalan textiles, Amazonian featherwork, and the iconic Tulane pennant exemplify the range of materials in the collection.
The Institute houses an extensive archive of primary and secondary sources including Institute correspondence, maps, journals, and photographs. The archive spans the entirety of the Americas including the Pepper Collection of photographs from the U.S. Southwest; field journals, maps, and photos from the Institute's early expeditions in Middle America; and miscellaneous personal archives donated to the Institute by scholars interested in Mesoamerican archaeology and ethnography. Records concerning the acquisition and documentation of the physical collection are also included in the archives.
Starting in 2002, the Stone Center at Tulane University began hosting an annual Tulane Maya Symposium. The Middle American Research Institute took over this program in 2010. Yearly, a weekend is dedicated to workshops and talks centered on the study of the Maya civilization of Mexico and Central America, with each year focusing on a specific theme in Maya studies. This effort in scholarship reflects the mission statement of the Institute, promoting both education and research.
Middle American Research Institute Official Site: http://mari.tulane.edu/
Barr, Kenneth. Find amazing relics of Mayas’ empire. The New York Times, 20 August 1925, p. 1, 6.
Barr, Kenneth. Tales of Maya Indians recounted by explorer. The New York Times 30 August 1925, p. XX6, New York.
Brunhouse, Robert L. Pursuit of the Ancient Maya: Some Archaeologists of Yesterday. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque. 1975.
Kelker, Nancy L., and Karen O. Bruhns. Faking Ancient Mesoamerica. Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, California. 2010.
McVicker, Donald. Institutional Autonomy and Its Consequences: The Middle American Research Institute at Tulane University. Histories of Anthropology Annual 4:34–57. 2008.
New York Times. Tulane explorers find sacred island. 29 March, p. E4, New York. 1925.
New York Times. Mayan ruins found near Puerto. 2 April, p. 14, New York. 1925.
New York Times. Marvels in tomb of Maya monarch. 21 August, p. 1, 6, New York. 1925.
New York Times. Back with relics of ancient Mayas. 24 November, p. 13, New York. 1925.
Wauchope, Robert. Lost Tribes and Sunken Continents: Myth and Method in the Study of American Indians. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. 1962.
Wicks, Robert S., and Roland H. Harrison. Buried Cities, Forgotten Gods: William Niven's Life of Discovery and Revolution in Mexico and the American Southwest. Texas Tech University Press, Lubbock. 1999.
Becan is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. Becan is located near the center of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the present-day Mexican state of Campeche, about 150 km (93.2 mi) north of Tikal. The Maya sites of Balamku, Calakmul, Chicanna and Xpuhil are nearby. The name Becan was bestowed on the site by archaeologists who rediscovered the site, meaning "ravine or canyon formed by water" in Yukatek Maya, after the site's most prominent and unusual feature, its surrounding ditch.
Mayapan is a Pre-Columbian Maya site a couple of kilometers south of the town of Telchaquillo in Municipality of Tecoh, approximately 40 km south-east of Mérida and 100 km west of Chichen Itza; in the state of Yucatán, Mexico. Mayapan was the political and cultural capital of the Maya in the Yucatán Peninsula during the Late Post-Classic period from the 1220s until the 1440s. Estimates of the total city population are 15,000–17,000 people, and the site has more than 4,000 structures within the city walls, and additional dwellings outside.
The Maya peoples are an ethnolinguistic group of indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. The ancient Maya civilization was formed by members of this group, and today's Maya are generally descended from people who lived within that historical region. Today they inhabit southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, and Honduras. "Maya" is a modern collective term for the peoples of the region; however, the term was not historically used by the indigenous populations themselves. There was no common sense of identity or political unity among the distinct populations, societies and ethnic groups because they each had their own particular traditions, cultures and historical identity.
Zacualpa is a town and municipality in the Guatemalan department of El Quiché.
Tat'yana Avenirovna Proskuriakova was a Russian-American Mayanist scholar and archaeologist who contributed significantly to the deciphering of Maya hieroglyphs, the writing system of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica.
Arthur Andrew Demarest is an American anthropologist and archaeologist, known for his studies of the Maya civilization.
Sylvanus Griswold Morley was an American archaeologist and epigrapher who studied the pre-Columbian Maya civilization in the early 20th century. Morley led extensive excavations of the Maya site of Chichen Itza on behalf of the Carnegie Institution and published several large compilations and treatises on Maya hieroglyphic writing. He also wrote popular accounts on the Maya for a general audience.
Frans Blom was a Danish explorer and archaeologist. He was most associated with his research of the Maya civilization of Mexico and Central America.
Chunchucmil was once a large, sprawling pre-Columbian Maya city located in the western part of what is now the state of Yucatán, Mexico.
David S. Stuart is an archaeologist and epigrapher specializing in the study of ancient Mesoamerica, the area now called Mexico and Central America. His work has studied many aspects of the ancient Maya civilization. He is widely recognized for his breakthroughs in deciphering Maya hieroglyphs and interpreting Maya art and iconography, starting at an early age. He is the youngest person ever to receive a MacArthur Fellowship, at age 18. He currently teaches at the University of Texas at Austin and his current research focuses on the understanding of Maya culture, religion and history through their visual culture and writing system.
Robert Wauchope was a well-respected American archaeologist and anthropologist, whose academic research specialized in the prehistory and archaeology of Latin America, Mesoamerica, and the Southwestern United States.
Robert E. Lee Chadwick was an American anthropologist and archeologist, primarily known for his contributions to the Handbook of Middle American Indians.
Chichén Itzá was a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya people of the Terminal Classic period. The archeological site is located in Tinúm Municipality, Yucatán State, Mexico.
Edward Barna Kurjack was a Mayan anthropologist who was known for his contributions to the study of Mayan settlement patterns and society.
David Michael Pendergast, is an American Archaeologist, and is most famous for his work at Altun Ha and Lamanai, Belize. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology in 1955 from the University of California, Berkeley, and earned his Ph.D. in 1961 at the University of California, Los Angeles, studying with Clement Meighan. He was later married to Elizabeth Graham, also a Mesoamerican Archaeologist.
William L. Fash, Jr. is one of the founders of The Copan Association, which he describes as "charged with research on and preservation of the Copan Archaeological Site, and other archaeological, cultural and natural resources of Honduras." The other founder is Ricardo Agurcia Fasquelle. Fash currently holds the position of Bowditch Professor of Central American and Mexican Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard and was previously Chair of the Anthropology Department and the Director of the Peabody Museum. He has been awarded the highest civilian honor of the Government of Honduras, The Order of Jose Cecilio del Valle. Also, in 2008, he was given the Hoja de Laurel de Oro by the Government of Honduras for 30-plus years of "preserving and documenting Honduras' cultural heritage." He describes his research interests as "the rise and fall of complex society and civilizations; ideology and political symbolism; settlement pattern studies; archaeology and ethnology of Mesoamerica; [and] archaeological conservation."
David Cheetham is a Canadian archaeologist. He works primarily in Central America and specializes in the identification of Preclassic/Formative era structures and pottery.
Herbert Joseph Spinden (1879–1967) was an American anthropologist, archeologist and art historian who specialized in the study of Native American cultures of the US and Mesoamerica.
Handbook of Middle American Indians (HMAI) is a sixteen-volume compendium on Mesoamerica, from the prehispanic to late twentieth century. Volumes on particular topics were published from the 1960s and 1970s under the general editorship of Robert Wauchope. Separate volumes with particular volume editors deal with a number of general topics, including archeology, cultural anthropology, physical anthropology, linguistics, with the last four substantive volumes treating various topics in Mesoamerican ethnohistory, under the editorship of Howard F. Cline. Select volumes have become available in e-book format.
Edward Wyllys Andrews IV was an American archaeologist noted for research of Maya civilization. During his career with Tulane University's Middle American Research Institute, Andrews focused on Mayan ruins, rediscovering several sites and leading investigation into Balankanche, Kulubá, Coba, and more.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
