December 1: The Futures of the Maya Past

1. Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos, “Archaeology in Guatemala: Nationalist, Colonialist, Imperialist”

Oswaldo Chinchilla, a Guatemalan archaeologist, is currently a professor of anthropology at Yale University. Chinchilla is a specialist in ancient Maya art, myth, religion, and writing. He has also conducted archaeological investigations focused on settlement patterns and urbanism at Cotzumalhuapa, a site on the Pacific Coast of Guatemala.

Chinchilla received his PhD from Vanderbilt University. Before moving to Yale, he was a professor at the Universidad de San Carlos in Guatemala and curator at the Museo Popol Vuh, Universidad Francisco Marroquín, Guatemala. He has written several articles and book chapters on the history of archaeology in Guatemala and on the creation of the National Museum in Guatemala.

In this chapter from The Oxford Handbook of Mesoamerican Archaeology, Chinchilla reviews the history of archaeology in Guatemala using a framework developed by archaeologist and historian Bruce Trigger. Trigger, who has written the definitive history of archaeology in his 732-page book, A History of Archaeological Thought, proposed that there are three different kinds of archaeology, which develop in relation to the context in which they are practiced: nationalist, colonialist, and imperialist. Chinchilla both uses Trigger's categories to chronicle the history of archaeology in Guatemala and argues against a rigid framework by highlighting how the distinctions between nationalist and colonialist or colonialist and imperialist are easily blurred.

Access a PDF of Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos's, “Archaeology in Guatemala: Nationalist, Colonialist, Imperialist” here.

As you read Chinchilla's chapter, think about how the history of Maya archaeology has been presented in other texts we have read this quarter (e.g., Stephen Black's article from Week 2 or David Webster's chapter from last week). Note how most chronicles begin with Stephens and Catherwood—despite the fact that state-sponsored expeditions and even excavation had taken place in Guatemala well before Stephens and Catherwood's travels. Think too about the way Chinchilla describes the entwined interests of the United Fruit Company and archaeologists at the site of Quirigua in relation to Leandro Katz's Paradox from last week.

After reading Chinchilla's chapter, ask yourself the questions outlined for this week: Does the history of Maya archaeology look different when written from Guatemala rather than North America? What role has and does Guatemalan nationalism play in interest in the ancient Maya past?

Background images: 1) Plan of the city of Tecpan, Guatemala, including the ruins of Iximche' at center (an 1889 copy by Otto Stoll from Antonio Fuentes y Guzmán's 1690 Recordación Florida); 2) View of a ruined compound at the site of Utatlán (from the archaeological expedition sponsored by the Guatemalan government). Lithograph by Julián Falla, 1834; 3) A Maya woman surrounded by archaeological artifacts, drawing a connection between the past and present. Image by Otto Stoll, 1889.

5. Optional: Iyaxel Ixkan Anastasia Cojtí Ren, "The Experience of a Mayan Student"

As Oswaldo Chinchilla noted in his chapter on the history of Guatemalan archaeology, indigenous peoples have been left out of the study of the past until recently. We have seen this in previous reaadings ourselves, not only in critiques of that exclusion, but also in how it can change, especially the central role of indigenous scholars and linguists in the creation of the Kaqchikel stela at Iximché. In this short chapter, Iyaxel Cojtí Ren—one of the experts consulted on the Iximché stela (whom some of you might also recognize from the Maya at the Playa conference in October)—describes her experience as a Maya-K'iche' archaeologist. Since writing this chapter, Cojtí Ren has received her PhD in anthropology from Vanderbilt University and is currently a post-doctoral fellow at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, DC. Beginning next year, she will be an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas in Austin.

Her chapter describes her personal challenges navigating an often exclusionary education system in Guatemala, but also provides her perspective on the history of Guatemalan archaeology. She also highlights possibility for further incorporation of indigenous people into archaeological practice and ways to improve the field as a whole.

Access a PDF of Iyaxel Ixkan Anastasia Cojtí Ren's, "The Experience of a Mayan Student" here.

As you read Cojtí-Ren's chapter, consider how it bridges Chinchilla's history of archaeology and MacLellan and colleagues' recognition of the mutliple roles archaeology can (and perhaps should) fill beyond scholarship and tourism. Think too about the common thread in these pieces—the way that foreign (especially American) academia still dominates Guatemalan archaeology. Many projects are still funded by external money, relationships wax and wane with field seasons (which often correspond to US academic calendars), and success in Guatemala is better ensured by an advanced degree from a foreign institution. Does the possibility to change those systems exist? What might it look like?

Background image: Iyaxel Cojtí Ren. Source: https://www.goafar.org/conference-directory/2020/2/5/iyaxel-cojti-ren

4. Optional: Bárbara Arroyo, "Juan Pedro Laporte (1945-2010)" (in Spanish)

Juan Pedro Laporte was an incredibly influential figure in Guatemalan archaeology. He began working with the Tikal Project, the National Museum, and the excavations at Kaminaljuyú as a high school student, completed his bachelor's degree at the University of Arizona, his licenciatura and master's degrees at the Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia de México, and his PhD at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and eventually returned to Guatemala to head the newly formed program in archaeology at the Universidad de San Carlos.

Laporte produced a wealth of information about Guatemala's ancient past, developed strong relationships with local communities in the Peten (including the creation of regional museum in the town of Dolores), and trained multiple generations of professional archaeologists in Guatemala. He authored several books and was also one of the founders of the annual Symposium of Archaeological Investigations in Guatemala. Until his death, Laporte was the director of the Arcaheological Atlas of Guatemala Project, which identified, surveyed and mapped, and catalogued archaeological sites throughout Guatemala.

Access a PDF of Bárbara Arroyo's obiturary, "Juan Pedro Laporte (1945-2010)," here.

Background image: Juan Pedro Laporte. Source: Bárbara Arroyo, "Juan Pedro Laporte (1945-2010)," Journal de la Sociéte des américanistes, 96, no. 2 (2010): 293-296.