University of Pennsylvania Finding Aids

The Ceylon (Sri Lanka) Proto-History Project Collection includes budgets and proposals, reports and publications, financial records, artifact loans, field notes, artifact analysis, radiocarbon analysis, photographic prints and negatives, site plans and sections, and fourty-one pottery drawings. It is housed in 1 box and 2 oversized folders in Map Case M-20.

Dr. Robert H. Dyson, Jr., Director of the University of Pennsylvania Museum 1982-1994, directed excavations in 1966 and 1968 at Dinkha Tepe in the Ushnu Valley, west Azerbaijan, northwestern Iran. This expedition formed part of the Hasanlu Project. The papers documenting these excavations are for the most part primary reference materials and were deposited as a closed collection in The University of Pennsylvania Museum Archives for safekeeping until publication research begins within the next several years. Records were kept in their original order. The textual records of Dinkha Tepe consist of 2.66 linear feet of excavation notebooks, indexes and catalogues, photographic material, manuscripts, and drawings, maps and plans.

Excavation at Fara, initiated by German excavators between 1902 and 1903, was resumed in 1931 by Erich Schmidt, an archaeologist working under the aegis of the University Museum. Since the Museum’s participation was limited to one season which took place between February 15 and May 19, the records pertaining to this excavation are not numerous. The textual records at Fara include general correspondence, field notes, indexes and catalogues, and publications. Where possible, a chronological order was imposed on the records.

The Akhenaten Temple Project was the first computer project assumed by the University of Pennsylvania Museum. It was proposed in 1965 by Ray Winfield Smith, and in 1966 he began the project with the aid of IBM’s nascent computer technology. The IBM computer was abandoned in 1976. This collection spans Ray Winfield Smith’s entire involvement as director of the project 1968-1971, and begins the career of Dr. Donald B. Redford who acted as a consultant in 1971 and has been director since 1972. The records contain papers and photographs relating to the foundation of the Akhenaten Temple Project, and are divided into seven series: Financial; Correspondence and Reports; Publications and Publicity; Project Negatives; Photographs; Drawings; Misc.

The records of the excavations at Chalchuapa, El Salvador include correspondence, administrative records, field notes, photographs, manuscripts and reports. The bulk of these materials originate from the 1954 excavation by William R. Coe and the 1966 analysis by Robert J. Sharer, as well as the 1969-1970 re-excavations.

The collection of Schuyler Van Rensselaer Cammann’s papers, member of the Department of Oriental Studies at the University of Pennsylvania 1948-1982 and Associate Curator of the East Asian Collections 1948-1955, consist of 13 linear feet of correspondence; published and unpublished papers and book reviews; lectures; research notes; unpublished fiction; photographs; drawings; employment history at the University of Pennsylvania; teaching materials; and travels and tours. Professor Cammann wrote, lectured, taught, and consulted in several geographic areas (including China, Tibet, Mongolia, Japan) on such topics as textiles, carpets, art, ivory, snuff bottles, Magic Squares, and symbolism. He authored four books and hundreds of articles and reviews, and presented considerable number of lectures to various meetings, organizations and conferences.

Sir Leonard Woolley directed the excavations at Ur in southern Iraq from 1922 to 1934 for the Joint Expedition of the British Museum and the University of Pennsylvania Museum. As part of this involvement, the University of Pennsylvania Museum sent Leon Legrain, Curator of the Babylonian Section, during the 1924–1925 and 1925–1926 seasons. Most of the records of the Ur expedition are located at the British Museum. The Museum Archives hold only a few records. The records consist of general correspondence, indexes and catalogs, publications, and Legrain research. Where possible, a chronological order was imposed on the Near East records.

In July of 1970, in the straits of Messina about 100 meters from the village of Porticello, underwater excavation of a vessel subsequently determined to be 5th century B.C. Roman, commenced under the direction of David I. Owen, assistant curator of the Underwater Archaeology Section of the University of Pennsylvania Museum. The Porticello Shipwreck spans the period from 1969-1988 and primarily contains letters, field notes, object descriptions, drawings and photographs (prints, slides, and negatives) of objects and under water excavations relating to the project. The collection is divided into six series: Correspondence; Field Notes; Catalogues; Publications; Drawings; Photographs.

At the turn of the century, the Río Grande de Coclé changed course, revealing the site of a pre-Columbian cemetery when pottery and gold ornaments were washed out of the river banks. In 1940 the University of Pennsylvania Museum began to excavate Sitio Conte, which belonged to a private landowner, located in the province of Coclé. A very small portion of the pre-Columbian cemetery, estimated to cover four or five acres in its entirety, was selected for excavation. The expedition yielded 6,600 pounds of pottery and stone. The textual records consist of 1.5 linear feet of field notes, diaries, and object cards; correspondence; administrative records concerning contracts, expenses, transportation, and equipment; and unpublished and published reports and articles concerning findings. The arrangement of the records became apparent after some research, for the original order had been lost. Most of the original folder titles, however, have been maintained.

The curatorial files encompass the period from the Section's inauguration by Museum President William Pepper in 1894 to the 1970s. While the material in the Mediterranean curatorial files dates from 1895 to 1979, the bulk of the collection dates to the earlier years (1895-1949) and within that period, the majority relate to Edith Hall Dohan.

Piedras Negras is a Maya site in Guatemala particularly noted for the beautifully sculpted stelae and hieroglyphic inscriptions it has yielded. Between 1931 and 1939 the University of Pennsylvania Museum conducted extensive excavations at this site. John Allen Mason led the first two seasons of work at the site (1931–1932), and Linton Satterthwaite directed the remaining six seasons (1933–1939, excluding 1938). Most of the monuments at the Museum borrowed from Guatemala were returned in 1947; only Stela 14 and one leg from Altar 4 remain on display in the Museum today. The textual records from the excavations of Piedras Negras consist of 11 linear feet of correspondence, financial records, field notes and diaries, catalogs, and reports and publication materials. The arrangement of the records reflects the original order insofar as could be detected, and portions that had been separated over time were re-integrated into this scheme.

The William H. Davenport collection includes records from field research in the Santa Cruz Islands, Guadalcanal and San Cristobal Islands, and other Solomon Islands; the Moluccas and Sulawesi in Indonesia; and Sarawak in Malaysia, among other locations. Materials span the period from 1952-2002 and contain records primarily related to Davenport's field research, professional activities, student mentoring, and articles and publications.