Overview

In Ornamental Nationalism: Archaeology and Antiquities in Mexico, 1876-1911, Seonaid Valiant examines the Porfirian government’s reworking of indigenous, particularly Aztec, images to create national symbols. She focuses in particular on the career of Mexico's first national archaeologist, Inspector General Leopoldo Batres. He was a controversial figure who was accused of selling artifacts and damaging sites through professional incompetence by his enemies, but who also played a crucial role in establishing Mexican control over the nation's archaeological heritage. Exploring debates between Batres and his rivals such as the anthropologists Zelia Nuttall and Marshall Saville, Valiant reveals how Porfirian politicians reinscribed the political meaning of artifacts while social scientists, both domestic and international, struggled to establish standards for Mexican archaeology that would undermine such endeavors.

Full Product Details

Author:   Seonaid Valiant
Publisher:   Brill
Imprint:   Brill
Volume:   269/20
Weight:   0.607kg
ISBN:  

9789004353985

ISBN 10:   9004353984
Pages:   294
Publication Date:   20 October 2017
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Available To Order  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments List of Figures Introduction  Rise of Professionalism  Archaeology and Nationalism  Artifacts and Authority  Overview of the Book Part 1 1 Nation Building  Mexico before the Porfiriato  Porfirio Díaz  European Influences on the Porfiriato  Monumentalism in Mexico  Heir to Juárez  Heir to the Aztecs  Creating the Image of the Nation  Symbols of Centralization 2 Designing the Porfiriato  Mexico in Paris  Porfiriopoxtli  Policies  Assimilation  Aztec Patriotism: Sierra and Chavero 3 Rag of Barbarism: Aztecs and Mayas in International Thought (1804–1911)  Shifting Ideas  Baron Alexander von Humboldt  Humboldt’s Influence on other Archaeologists  Translating the Mayas: John Lloyd Stephens  Iroquois of the South: Prescott and Morgan  Sacrifice  Popular Culture Part 2 4 The Inspector General and Conservator of Archaeological Monuments  Antiquities  Leopoldo Batres (1852–1926)  Nepotism  Batres and the Scholarly Community  Batres’s Background  Race  Hrdlička  Manuel Gamio 5 Batres in the Field  Policing Archaeological Zones  Saville Seeks Access  Escalerillas: The Street of Staircases  The 1902 International Congress of Americanists in New York City  Thompson in the Yucatán  Batres at Teotihuacán 6 Batres Fought with All the World  La Isla de Sacrificios: Batres and Nuttall  Zelia Nuttall  Isla de Sacrificios  The National Museum 7 The Grand Tour: International Congress of Americanists, Mexico City, 1910  Two Automobiles from Teotihuacán: Corruption  Map from Teotihuacán  Eugène Boban  Batres’s Exit Conclusion Bibliography Index

Reviews

The author deftly weaves together what appear to be disparate threads of inquiry into a very valuable intellectual history of Mesoamerican studies and Mexican politics. This book, written in an accessible style, is both informative and surprisingly entertaining. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above; professionals. Jeff Seibert, in: Choice, Vol. 55, No. 9 (May 2018).

“The author deftly weaves together what appear to be disparate threads of inquiry into a very valuable intellectual history of Mesoamerican studies and Mexican politics. This book, written in an accessible style, is both informative and surprisingly entertaining. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above; professionals.” Jeff Seibert, in: Choice, Vol. 55, No. 9 (May 2018).

Author Information

Seonaid Valiant, Ph.D. (University of Chicago, History, 2014) is the Curator for Latin American Studies at Arizona State University. Her most recent publication is A Great Rascal: Leopoldo Batres and the Map of Teotihuacán (Mapline, 2017).

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