The Dumbarton Oaks Tlazolteotl: looking beneath the surface
The Dumbarton Oaks Tlazolteotl: looking beneath the surface. Some of the earliest and most revered pre-Columbian artifacts in the world’s major museum and private collections were collected prior to the advent of systematic, scientific archaeological excavation, and have little or no reliable proven...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Société des américanistes
2008-07-01
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| Series: | Journal de la Société des Américanistes |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/jsa/8623 |
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| _version_ | 1832096292402102272 |
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| author | Jane MacLaren Walsh |
| author_facet | Jane MacLaren Walsh |
| author_sort | Jane MacLaren Walsh |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Dumbarton Oaks Tlazolteotl: looking beneath the surface. Some of the earliest and most revered pre-Columbian artifacts in the world’s major museum and private collections were collected prior to the advent of systematic, scientific archaeological excavation, and have little or no reliable provenience data. They have consistently posed problems for researchers due to anomalies of theme, material, size, technical virtuosity and iconography. This paper offers a historical and scientific approach to objectively determining the authenticity of unprovenienced pre-Columbian artifacts. Using the Dumbarton Oaks Tlazolteotl sculpture as a case study, the article presents the results of archival research to flesh out the object’s acquisition history and analysis using scanning electron microscopy to determine whether pre-Columbian lapidary technology was used to fashion the artifact, or whether it was carved or reworked in modern times. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1c2cb524872e4c43ac9aa48580ae6901 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0037-9174 1957-7842 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2008-07-01 |
| publisher | Société des américanistes |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal de la Société des Américanistes |
| spelling | doaj-art-1c2cb524872e4c43ac9aa48580ae69012025-02-05T15:54:02ZengSociété des américanistesJournal de la Société des Américanistes0037-91741957-78422008-07-0194174310.4000/jsa.8623The Dumbarton Oaks Tlazolteotl: looking beneath the surfaceJane MacLaren WalshThe Dumbarton Oaks Tlazolteotl: looking beneath the surface. Some of the earliest and most revered pre-Columbian artifacts in the world’s major museum and private collections were collected prior to the advent of systematic, scientific archaeological excavation, and have little or no reliable provenience data. They have consistently posed problems for researchers due to anomalies of theme, material, size, technical virtuosity and iconography. This paper offers a historical and scientific approach to objectively determining the authenticity of unprovenienced pre-Columbian artifacts. Using the Dumbarton Oaks Tlazolteotl sculpture as a case study, the article presents the results of archival research to flesh out the object’s acquisition history and analysis using scanning electron microscopy to determine whether pre-Columbian lapidary technology was used to fashion the artifact, or whether it was carved or reworked in modern times.https://journals.openedition.org/jsa/8623Tlazolteotlpre-Columbian museum collectionstool markslapidary technologyscanning electron microscopy |
| spellingShingle | Jane MacLaren Walsh The Dumbarton Oaks Tlazolteotl: looking beneath the surface Journal de la Société des Américanistes Tlazolteotl pre-Columbian museum collections tool marks lapidary technology scanning electron microscopy |
| title | The Dumbarton Oaks Tlazolteotl: looking beneath the surface |
| title_full | The Dumbarton Oaks Tlazolteotl: looking beneath the surface |
| title_fullStr | The Dumbarton Oaks Tlazolteotl: looking beneath the surface |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Dumbarton Oaks Tlazolteotl: looking beneath the surface |
| title_short | The Dumbarton Oaks Tlazolteotl: looking beneath the surface |
| title_sort | dumbarton oaks tlazolteotl looking beneath the surface |
| topic | Tlazolteotl pre-Columbian museum collections tool marks lapidary technology scanning electron microscopy |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/jsa/8623 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT janemaclarenwalsh thedumbartonoakstlazolteotllookingbeneaththesurface AT janemaclarenwalsh dumbartonoakstlazolteotllookingbeneaththesurface |