University of Pennsylvania Finding Aids

The Akhenaten Temple Project was the first computer project assumed by the University of Pennsylvania Museum. It was proposed in 1965 by Ray Winfeild 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 five series: Financial; Correspondence and Reports; Project Negatives; Photographs; Misc.

The Antiguas 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.

Although classical, including Etruscan, collections had been donated to the University of Pennsylvania Museum since the early 1890s it was in 1896 that the Museum formally authorized excavations in Italy and the acquisition of Etruscan tomb groups, as well as individual objects, for the Museum. Professor Arthur L. Frothingham of Princeton, then Secretary of the American School of Classical Studies in Rome, was commissioned to represent the Museum in Italy. Most of the tomb groups which Frothingham obtained are from Narce and Vulci, although there are objects from many other sites including Cerveteri, Orvieto, and Civita Castellana. The textual records from the excavations in Italy consist of one linear foot of correspondence, notes, financial accounts, and photographs related to the excavation of Etruscan tombs through which the Museum obtained the majority of its Etruscan collections.

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.

From 1921 to 1933, the Palestine Expedition of the University of Pennsylvania Museum conducted excavations at Bet Sh'ean, a site located 12 miles south of the Sea of Galilee in Israel. The expedition was intended to be an extensive research effort in Syria-Palestine, but this goal was never fully achieved due to financial stringencies imposed during the Depression of the 1930s. Clarence S. Fisher, Curator of the Egyptian Section of the University Museum, directed the first three seasons of work at Bet Sh'ean. Alan Rowe and Gerald M. FitzGerald directed the subsequent seven field seasons. Nine major occupation levels were described, the earliest dating to the Late Neolithic, and the latest from the Arab/Crusader periods. Records describing the excavations at Bet Sh'ean consist of forty linear feet of records, including diaries, a card catalog, plans, photographic material, field notes, correspondence, financial records, notes, and publication drafts, as well as dozens of maps, drawings, and paintings.

Located approximately 12 miles west of Jerusalem, this site was originally excavated in 1911 and 1912 by Duncan Mackenzie for the Palestine Exploration Fund. Under the sponsorship of Haverford College, Haverford professor Elihu Grant undertook excavation at this mound from 1928 to 1931 and again in 1933. When the Bet Shemesh (Ain Shems) artifacts, known as the Haverford Collection, were purchased by the University Museum in 1962, the field notes, notes on pottery, drawings, photographs, and correspondence relating to these finds were also acquired.

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.

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.

Daniel Garrison Brinton is considered one of the founders of modern American Anthropology. He was also the first to hold a professorship in Archaeology in the United States. His library, which includes the Carl Hermann Berendt collection of manuscripts in the indigenous languages of Mexico and Central America, is considered the core of the University of Pennsylvania Anthropology Library. Among the collection are 4515 items; rare illustrations, contemporary photographs, portraits of individual authors, and texts in Spanish, French, Italian, and German. Brinton gathered his information from archival and library studies and did not participate in any archaeological expeditions. This small collection, attributed to Brinton by J. Alden Mason of the University Museum, consists of four folders. Two contain linguistic notes on the Maya languages. The remaining two, contain drawings of pottery, objects, sites, and maps of Maya regions, primarily in Mexico. Some of the drawings are believed to be those of Carl Hermann Berendt, purchased by Daniel Brinton for the library at the University. The collection is in fragile condition and many of the items are in need of conservation assessment, particularly the Berendt drawings.

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 Elin Danien Collection of Robert Burkitt Papers was discovered by Danien on her trip to Guatemala in 1985. Consisting of notebooks on the languages of the native Indians in the Guatemalan Highlands, the collection was found on the property of a family with whom Robert Burkitt stayed while working for the Penn Museum in Guatemala. Previously thought to be destroyed, the works are from the early portion of Burkitt's time in Central America, 1903 to 1913, before he formally began to collect and catalogue artifacts for the Museum. The collection consists of four linguistic notebooks, a comparative chart of the languages with a word list, a Spanish-Kekchi dictionary created by Burkitt, a portion of Burkitt's Dresden Manuscript, an Index to a linguistic notebook that is not a part of the collection, and loose papers from other notebooks. A purchased Espanol-Quecchi dictionary from Coban, 1890, is also a part of the collection.

From 1931-1933, The University Museum sponsored Erich Schmidt's excavations and survey at Tepe Hissar and sites around the city Damghan, both in Northwestern Iran, near the Caspian sea. These sites were unique because they were the first American excavations in Iran, but more particuarly because of the long time span represented in the archaeological record. Remains from the Bronze Age to the Islamic era were collected, but Schmidt focused his investigation on the Bronze Age and Sassanian eras.

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.

Between 1895 and 1901, William Furness, III., Alfred C. Harrison, Jr., and Hiram M. Hiller made a series of extended trips to Oceania, South and Southeast Asia, and East Asia. Furness, Harrison, and Hiller all donated or sold substantial collections of ethnographic, archaeological, and skeletal material acquired on the voyages to the Penn Museum. The Furness, Harrison, and Hiller collections, particularly those from Oceania, are extensive and reasonably well-documented for their time.

George Byron Gordon led expeditions to Copan at the end of the nineteenth century and, with his brother MacLaren Gordon, to Alaska in 1905 and 1907. As Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and as Director of the Museum, Gordon was first to conduct regular lectures to undergraduate and graduate students in Anthropology and oversaw one of the the largest periods of Museum growth. The G.B. Gordon Central America collection includes diaries, surveying notes, reports and stories from the Copan Expeditions and the Yucatan Expedition in 1910, original stories, articles, and book reviews written by Dr. Gordon, communication with The British Museum about Maya site excavation, Gordon's introductions composed for speakers for the Saturday Afternoon Lecture Series, speeches to professional organizations, and class lectures.

James Pritchard, first Curator of Biblical Archaeology, Professor of Religious Thought, Associate Director (1967-1976), and Director (1976-1977) at the University of Pennsylvania Museum, conducted his primary fieldwork in three sites in the Near East Of these, locating the site of Ancient Gibeon (El-Jib) in Jordan was perhaps Pritchard’s most notable accomplishment. He and his team conducted five seasons of fieldwork here, discovering three prominent architectural features: a tunnel, pool, and the city wall. The archival records for these excavations consist six linear feet of field notes, reports, a field diary, correspondence, object catalogues, drawings, photographs and a photographic catalogue, an annotated map, publication notes, and financial records.

This collection, the Gorgas Mill Complex records, includes documents from the Monastery archaeological site, on the Wissahickon Creek in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The excavation site was an 18th-century mill site which later became part of Fairmount Park. It was excavated in 1974 by the field school of the Penn Museum under the direction of Jeff Kenyon. This collection was divided into four series based on subject: administrative records, historical research, field notes and visual materials.

The textual records from the excavations of Gournia and the papers of Harriet Boyd Hawes consist of one linear foot of correspondence, financial records, field notes and drawings, drafts of lectures and materials for publication, and research notes. The records have been compiled from several sources, none of which contributed a significant original order. Sources of the records include the files of the American Exploration Society, the records of University of Pennsylvania Museum Mediterranean Section Curator Sara Yorke Stevenson, and the papers of Harriet Boyd Hawes, contributed to the Archives on two occasions (in 1973, by her son Alexander Hawes, and in 1993 by her daughter Mrs. Mary Allsebrook via researcher Dr. Vasso Fotou.

The Henry L. Smith collection of Augustus Le Plongeon correspondence documents the letters received by Henry L. Smith from the photographer, antiquarian, and amateur archaeologist, Augustus Le Plongeon in 1906 and 1907. Le Plongeon is most noted for his photographs in the Northern Yucatan during travels with his wife, Alice Dixon Le Plongeon, during a thirteen year period from 1873 to 1885. These photographs depict ancient ruins and inscriptions some of which were later damaged or destroyed. The collection consists of one folder of thirteen letters from Le Plongeon, and two additional pieces of information sent to Henry L. Smith, an article from Appleton's Booklovers Magazine and a brochure from the Lowell Institute. H. L. Smith's signature is found on a label for the letters.

The Henry L. Smith collection of Augustus Le Plongeon correspondence reflects the letters received by Henry L. Smith from the photographer, antiquarian, and amateur archaeologist, Augustus Le Plongeon in 1906 and 1907. Le Plongeon is most noted for his photographs in the Northern Yucatan during travels with his wife, Alice Dixon Le Plongeon, during a thirteen year period from 1873 to 1885. These photographs depict ancient ruins and inscriptions some of which were later damaged or destroyed. Le Plongeon's theories about the Maya civilization were later debunked by archaeologists and anthropologists. He maintained his beliefs throughout his life, attempting to gain support and a publisher until his death. The collection consists of one folder of thirteen letters from Le Plongeon, an article from Appleton's Booklovers Magazine, a brochure from the Lowell Institute, and a paper signed by H. L. Smith.

The J.Alden Mason Linguistic Expeditions to Mexico consist of six trips to study the languages of the Northern and Southern Tepehuan Indians of the region around Durango and the Nevome of the lower Pima Bajo area. From 1912 to 1954, Mason gathered information on the languages, ceremonial activities, prayers, and botany of the Piman tribes of northern and southern Mexico. Mason took numerous photographs and his second expedition, financed by Percy C. Madeira who accompanied Mason, consisted entirely of aerial photographs of the area. The 1936 Durango Expedition with Robert M. Merrill produced photographs, plates and objects from archaeological sites like Chalchihuites and Zape in the Durango region. The photographs and plates were reproduced in a 1937 article, "Late Archaeological Sites in Durango Mexico." During this trip, Mason shot unedited film showing the indigenous people and the countryside around Durango. Two additional expeditions in 1951 and 1954 resulted in reports of the Northern Tepehuan and Nevome languages and cultures.

J. Alden Mason, noted archaeological anthropologist and linguist and curator of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, conducted ethnographic and archaeological research in Puerto Rico from 1914 to 1915. Holdings include field notebooks, most notably phonetic recordings of Puerto Rican folklore from Utuado, San German, Loiza, Copa, and Coamo. Notable items include a draft of the manuscript "Painted Cave Petroglyphs in Puerto Rico" from 1939 and correspondence regarding wax cylinder recordings. Included also are letters from Mason to his daughter, Kathy, and several translated tales sent to her.

Excavation at Khafajah was initially directed by Henry Frankfurt and Pinhas Delougaz of the Oriental Institute; the Joint American Expedition, under the field direction of E. A. Speiser, continued excavation in conjunction with the work in progress since 1931 at Tepe Gawra (700 miles north of Khafajah). During the second season, 1937-1938, P. Delougaz was the field director. Excavation did not occur at Khafajah in 1938 because of political conditions. Karatepe is mentioned only briefly in the General Correspondence. The Penn Museum was involved with this site during the 1930s.

The papers of Louis Shotridge are one of the most extensive groups in the Arctic research collections of the University of Pennsylvania Museum Archives. Shotridge, a Tlingit Indian, was intermittently employed by the museum to make ethnographic collections of Northwest Coast materials between 1903 and 1912. The archives has papers concerning his original research, arranged topically, manuscripts for articles published in The Museum Journal, oral histories, Tlingit language notes, and general ethnographic notes on the Tlingit and other Northwest Coast groups.

Henry Kerr (1869-1935), a Presbyterian minister, worked in several villiages in Cameroon, West Africa from 1892-1899. The Presbyterian Mission League tasked him with expanding the mission locations, translating hymns and the four Gospels, teaching, and promoting industry. Contained in the collection are his own photos and correspondence, both letters sent and replies. The bulk of the collection is in the format of a scrapbook compiled by Kerr.