University of Pennsylvania Finding Aids

The American Section was one of the first to evolve during the early development of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The University Archaeological Association established in 1887 and later, the American Exploration Society, established in 1892, exhibited several small collections in College Hall before the building campaign for the museum began. Charles Abbott was the first curator of the section succeeded by Henry C. Mercer and then Stewart Culin who was also named Director in 1899. Each succeeding curator was responsible for adding collections, many of them representing their own expeditions in the United States, Alaska, Mexico, Central America and South America. Records in the files are dated from 1826 through the 1980s. The transfer of materials to the Archives took place piecemeal and without a central organization. The current re-processing placed the files into three series, Deaccessions and Loans, Collectors and Collections and Exhibits.

The Benque Viejo (Xunantunich), Cahal Pech expedition, conducted by Dr. Linton Satterthwaite, was an extension of his expedition to Caracol, British Honduras (Belize). It was conceived as a "Housemound Project" and continued for two seasons from 1950 to 1953. The area of Benque Viejo, Cahal Pech contained seventeen structures and five stelae for investigation. Much of the collection relates to the Ball Court and East Plaza sites, as well as Structure A6 first and A6 second. The expedition produced objects and numerous photographs of the area. The Benque Viejo, Cahal Pech expedition records consist of twenty-nine folders in three archival boxes. Materials relate to the proposal for the expedition, preliminary data, budget and financial records, maps, notebooks, field notes, diaries, bag study sheets, progress and summary reports, press and publication materials, and photographs.

Linton Satterthwaite, a professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania and Curator of the American Section of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, conducted three trips to Caracol, Belize in the 1950s to investigate a previously unknown site of Maya culture. While his primary interest was in Maya inscriptions and chronology, his journeys to Caracol yielded artifacts for the Museum, including twenty-six vessels of the early classic period, nine vessels of the late period, Stela 11, a new "giant glyph" altar, and the bottom portion of Stela 3. The Caracol expedition collection consists of 16 boxes of correspondence, field notes and notes on individual stela, altars, and stones, glyph decipherment and chronology data, information for publication, and photographs and drawings including contact sheets and photographs from Caracol, Benque Viejo, and Cayo X. Satterthwaite organized and catalogued the photographs according to the type of film used, field numbers, and monument number. The collection also contains three file boxes of card notes to the photographs and a few pieces of oversized material. Satterthwaite's "The Monuments and Inscriptions of Caracol, Belize" with co-author Carl Beetz, was published after his death. The publication materials relate to his instructions and notes for publication and Beetz' collection of Satterthwaite's monument notes for the book.