University of Pennsylvania Finding Aids

The Antigua Guatemala expeditions were conducted in 1969 and 1970 by Dr. Ruben Reina. Originally from Argentina, Dr. Reina received his B.A. at the University of Michigan and his M.A. at Michigan State University. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina followed by a Research Assistantship at the Institute for Research in the Social Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Dr. Reina began his career at the University of Pennsylvania after teaching at the University of Puerto Rico. He became a Professor in the Anthropology Department in 1967 and assumed the position of Curator of Latin American Ethnology, American Section of the Penn Museum. Dr. Reina spent 34 years at the University, becoming Professor Emeritus in 1990. The expeditions to Guatemala yielded three boxes of field notes and drawings, a catalogue of findings, extensive information on native ceramic pottery, and photographs. In addition, Dr. Reina's trips produced a file of five-by-eight catalogue and excavation unit cards and an additional photograph catalogue file of three-by-five cards. Both of the card files are housed separately in smaller archival boxes.

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.

The Cape Nome expedition collection was donated to the University Museum by the author himself, John Bockstoce. The collection documents Bockstoce’s records and analysis of his archeological findings in Cape Nome fom 1969-1974. It consists of five series: field notes, drawings, photographs, reports and publications, and oversized documents. The expedition was conducted by Bockstoce for the purpose writing a dissertation on the cultures of the Arctic and obtaining a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Oxford, which he achieved in 1974. This expedition was advised by Dr. Froelich Rainey of the University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Douglas Anderson of the Haffenreffer Museum of Brown University, and Dr. Derek Roe of Oxford University.

The collection comprises the papers of Diana Buitron-Oliver (1946-2002) relating to her archaeological excavation work in the archaic precinct of the Apollo sanctuary at Kourion on the island of Cyprus. The collection consists primarily of correspondence, field notes, and reports on the work by Diana Buitron-Oliver.

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.

The Dun Ailinne, Ireland Excavation Records are housed in 5 boxes, plus oversized material in Print Cabinet P-11 and Map Case M-10. It includes correspondence, financial records, field notes, maps and drawings, artifact drawings, information regarding artifact analysis, progress reports and publications, artifact inventories, photographic prints and negatives and 35 mm slides from years ranging from 1968 to 2005 (Bulk 1968-1975).

Gregory L. Possehl, known for his discoveries in India and Pakistan, was born in Tacoma, Washington in 1941 and studied at the University of Washington and the University of Chicago attaining his Ph.D.in anthropology from the latter in 1974. Possehl's field work in Pakistan and India explored the Harappan civilization who populated the Gujarat region of India including the sites of Rojdi, Oriyo Timbo, and Babar Kot from 2500 BC to 2000 BC. Possehl was funded for his work from the late 1970s to the mid 1990s by the Smithsonian Institution and the National Science Foundation. Dr. Possehl is also a noted professor at Penn in the Departments of Anthropology and Oriental Studies and a curator in the Asian section of the Penn Museum. He published award-winning books on the Harappan civilization and trained many future scholars in the field. The Gregory L. Possehl Indus Civilization papers are composed of twelve boxes of correspondence, a seven box visual archive of negatives, slides, photographs and drawings and twenty-three boxes of field data, notebooks, field cards, analysis, professional and publication material and correspondence related to the individual sites and years of the expeditions. There are two small file boxes of notes and a bibliography. Oversize maps, drawings and photographs are placed in eight drawers in the map case.

William R. Coe , Curator American Section of The University Museum, ran the excavation site at Tikal Guatemala, which was active from 1956-1970. At this time the Museum wished to maintain a site in Guatemala, specifically a place which could be dated to the post-classic Mayan period. Tayasal was the ethnohistoric capital of the Itza family (as in Chichen Itza) see by Cortez in 1525 while traveling in the Peten area of Guatemala which fell to the Spanish in 1697 and disappeared from the records. When the Itza were driven out of the area in Classical times, they were also driven out of the Chichen Itza area. They returned and built a town somewhere around Lake Peten. Excavations at Tayasal occurred during the summer of 1971, and in a sense are a continuation of work at Tikal. The field work records from the Tayasal project contains notebooks, drawings, notecards, correspondence and images. There are also oversized plans, maps and drawings.

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.