Revealing Ancestral Central America - Smithsonian Latino Center

94 Pages·2013·8.26 MB·English

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e Revealing
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Ancestral
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Edited by
Rosemary A. Joyce
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Smithsonian A
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Revealing
Ancestral
Central
America

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Revealing
Ancestral
Central
America
Edited by
Rosemary A. Joyce
The Smithsonian Latino Center
and the
National Museum of the American Indian
Smithsonian Institution
3 CHAPTER TITLE GOES HERE
Printed in conjunction with the exhibition
Cerámica de los Ancestros: Central America’s Past Revealed,
on view at the National Museum of the American Indian
in Washington, DC, March 29, 2013–February 1, 2015.
© 2013 Smithsonian Institution. All rights reserved. SMITHSONIAN LATINO CENTER and
NATIONAL MuSEuM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
No part of this book may be reproduced in any man-
Director, Smithsonian Latino Center: Eduardo Díaz
ner whatsoever without written permission of the
Director, National Museum of the American Indian:
Smithsonian Institution except in the case of brief
Kevin Gover (Pawnee)
quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Associate Director for Scholarship, NMAI:
The Smithsonian Latino Center ensures that Latino David Penney
contributions to the arts, sciences, and humanities Associate Director for Museum Programs, NMAI:
are highlighted, understood, and advanced through Tim Johnson (Mohawk)
the development and support of public programs, Associate Director for Museum Assets and
research, museum collections, and educational Operations, NMAI: Jane Sledge
opportunities at the Smithsonian Institution. Exhibitions and Public Programs Director, SLC:
For more information about the Smithsonian Latino Ranald Woodaman
Center, visit the SLC website at www.latino.si.edu. Lead Curator: Ann McMullen, NMAI
Guest Curator: Alexander Benítez
The National Museum of the American Indian
General Editor: Rosemary A. Joyce
(NMAI) is committed to advancing knowledge and
Copy Editor: Joan Mentzer
understanding of the Native cultures of the Western
Editorial Assistance: Ann McMullen and
Hemisphere—past, present, and future—through
the NMAI Publications Office
partnership with Native people and others. The
museum works to support the continuance of culture, Design: Studio A
traditional values, and transitions in contemporary Alexandria, Virginia
Native life. Typeset in Serifa and Locator
For more information about the Smithsonian’s Printed in the uSA by Four Colour Print Group
National Museum of the American Indian, visit the
This publication received federal support from
NMAI website at www.AmericanIndian.si.edu.
the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the
FIRST EDITION Smithsonian Latino Center, and additional support
The name of the “Smithsonian,” “Smithsonian from the National Council of the National Museum of
Institution,” and the sunburst logo are registered the American Indian.
trademarks of the Smithsonian Institution.
Cover: Fig. 86. Greater Nicoya female figure on a
feline-effigy bench. See page 61. Photo by Ernest
Smithsonian Institution Amoroso.
Back cover: Fig. 56. Classic period Maya male figure.
See page 41.
Title page: Fig. 10. Greater Coclé animal figure.
See page 16.
Page 10: Fig. 60. Classic period Maya vessel depict-
ing a nobleman carried on a palanquin (detail).
See page 44.
Page 68: Fig. 112. Greater Coclé (Conté style) footed
plate with crocodile design. See page 75.
4 REVEALING ANCESTRAL CENTRAL AMERICA
6 Foreword
Kevin Gover and Eduardo Díaz
8 Acknowledgments
Ancestral Central America
13 Surrounded by Beauty:
Central America before 1500
Rosemary A. Joyce
23 Dwelling in the Ancestral
Joya de Cerén Village
Payson Sheets
33 Artisanry in Motion
Contents
Christina Luke and Rosemary A. Joyce
45 Authority in Ancestral Central America
John W. Hoopes
59 Between Beliefs and Rituals:
Material Culture of Ancestral Costa Rica
Patricia Fernández
Collectors and Collecting
70 A New Dream Museum
Ann McMullen
72 Minor Keith and the united Fruit Company
Alexander Benítez
74 Adventurers, Dilettantes, and Looters
Ann McMullen
76 Accidental Interests
Ann McMullen
78 Promoting Heritage
Alexander Benítez
80 List of Figures
88 References Cited
Foreword
Kevin Gover (Pawnee)
Director, National Museum of the American Indian
Eduardo Díaz
Executive Director, Smithsonian Latino Center
C
entroamericanos—they are the realized that the NMAI was quietly caring for
backbone of the Latino communi- one of the largest and most significant col-
ties surrounding Washington, D.C., lections of Central American archaeology in
the Smithsonian’s own backyard. They hail existence, with approximately 17,000 objects
from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, from the region. Astoundingly, this includes
Nicaragua, Belize, Panama, and Costa Rica. more than 10,000 intact vessels, embodying
They have a growing presence throughout countless untold stories.
the united States, yet representation of The Central American Ceramics Research
their cultural and social legacies in Latin Project, or CACRP, is the Latino Center’s
American scholarship has remained largely initiative to learn more about these works.
marginalized by earlier focus on the politi- Launched in 2009, the CACRP supported
cal dominance, riches, and the epic drama of the two-year study, documentation, and
Mesoamerican and Andean empires. Through identification of items in the NMAI’s Central
a partnership between the Smithsonian Latino American ceramics collections. This initiative
Center (SLC) and the National Museum of the has been the catalyst for other research and
American Indian (NMAI), we have seized this projects, such as an exhibition, based on a
opportunity to connect with our local Latino number of the objects that examine cultural
communities, many of which remain rooted diversity, complexity, and change across
in their indigenous heritage and history. space and time; a series of public programs
Herein we honor the enduring, economically exploring cultural and scientific dimensions
and politically stable cultural traditions of of the project; training opportunities for
pre-Hispanic Central America through their Central American museum staff; an interac-
exceptional material culture. Sharing this cul- tive website; and this publication.
tural patrimony and acknowledging its value All of this work springs from unprec-
is both our challenge and our responsibility, edented new scholarship related to these
and we gladly take up the charge. objects, few of which had been previously
The generation of this project occurred studied or publicly exhibited. The objects
by accident, with a discovery at the NMAI of a highlighted in this book, largely drawn from
vast collection of Central American archaeo- the NMAI’s Central American archaeologi-
logical objects by visiting staff researchers cal collection, have much to say to us today.
from the Smithsonian Latino Center. They They testify to the complexity of long-lived
6 REVEALING ANCESTRAL CENTRAL AMERICA
governments and social systems, and to the devoted aficionado familiar with the history
importance and sophistication of the art and and cultures of the region, the experience of
science in the communities where they were seeing our exhibition or reading this book is
made. They speak of the patience, sensitivity, meant to engender new paradigms for under-
and innovation of their makers. standing the pre-Hispanic past.
The essays that follow reveal the lives of The effort to uncover this ancestral inheri-
the ancestors of the indigenous, mestizo, and tance has been a multi-year labor of love. We
afromestizo peoples of Central America. Their would like to thank the brilliant and dedicated
histories have often been lost or obscured, team of scholars, curators, editors, project
but through archaeology, the available managers, conservators, exhibition designers,
records, and understandings from contem- web designers, educators, fundraisers, pub-
porary indigenous peoples, we can partially licists, and other museum professionals who Ulúa River female figure,
reconstruct and begin to glimpse the organi- made all of this possible. We are particularly AD 250–900. Río Ulúa
valley, Honduras. Pottery.
zation of their daily lives and their ideas about indebted to general editor Rosemary Joyce,
Formerly in the collection
nature, power, and the supernatural. From the whose exemplary efforts, coupled with the of Marco Aurelio Soto;
figurines depicting powerful women in the leading-edge scholarship of the contributing MAI purchase from an
Greater Nicoya region to the finely decorated authors, shaped this publication. Joyce not unknown source, 1917.
vessels of the wealthy farming hamlets of only contributed her expertise and dedication
the ulúa Valley and the fantastical designs to this project, but was an advocate for creat-
on Coclé pottery, we can see that the peoples ing access to this new knowledge. We hope
of pre-Hispanic Central America developed that you are moved by these groundbreaking
uniquely local identities and cultural tradi- explorations of the Central American past.
tions while also engaging in vital exchanges
of ideas, goods, and technologies with their
neighbors in all directions. By emphasizing
notions of heritage and connection to our
pre-Hispanic collections, this project has
the potential to engage surrounding Central
American communities and introduce them to
the Smithsonian’s broader panoply of cultural
resources. For the newly initiated or the most
7 FOREWORD
Acknowledgments
Ranald Woodaman
Exhibitions and Public Programs Director, Smithsonian Latino Center
R
evealing Ancestral Central America This publication accompanies the exhi-
is a collaboration between the bition, Cerámica de los Ancestros: Central
Smithsonian Latino Center and the America´s Past Revealed. The exhibition’s
National Museum of the American Indian. curatorial team and network of scholars
It was made possible through federal sup- in the united States and Central America
port from the Latino Initiatives Pool, adminis- played an essential role in its develop-
tered by the Smithsonian Latino Center, ment. I am especially grateful to lead
with additional support from the National curator Ann McMullen (NMAI) and guest
Council of the National Museum of the curator Alexander Benítez (George Mason
American Indian. university), who have been involved in
Classic period Maya
metate in the form of
an animal and mano,
AD 250–900. Chiltiupán,
La Libertad Department,
El Salvador. Stone.
Collected or excavated
by Samuel K. Lothrop,
1926.
8 REVEALING ANCESTRAL CENTRAL AMERICA
this project since it began in 2009 as the
Central American Ceramics Research
Project. Special thanks are due to general
editor Rosemary A. Joyce and contribut-
ing authors Payson Sheets, Christina Luke,
John Hoopes, and Patricia Fernández,
as well as the NMAI’s associate director
for museum scholarship, David Penney.
Revealing Ancestral Central America could
not have been possible without the support
of the NMAI Publications Office, as well as
the NMAI’s team of talented photographers,
conservators, and collections managers.
The National Museum of Natural History
also deserves thanks for generously sharing
images from its anthropological collections.
My sincerest thanks to all those inside and
outside the Smithsonian Institution who
have shared their time and vision with us in
order to tell the story of Central America’s
ancestral peoples.
9 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS