National Museum of the American Indian

Marshall Saville photograph collection, 1901-1922 (bulk 1907-1918)

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAI.AC.001.037
Creators:
Saville, Marshall H. (Marshall Howard), 1867-1935
Pepper, George H. (George Hubbard), 1873-1924
Saville, Foster H. (Foster Harmon), 1874-1942
Dates:
1901-1922
bulk 1907-1918
Languages:
No linguistic content; Not applicable
.
Physical Description:
526 Negatives (photographic)
526 glass plate negatives
black and white
51 Photographic prints
black and white
2 Lantern slides
black and white, color
Repository:
Photographs and glass plate negatives documenting the various archaeological expeditions of all three Savilles. The bulk of the images concern the activities headed by Marshall Saville (and assisted by Foster and Randolph) in both South and Central America. Included to a lesser degree are the explorations of Foster in North America and Randolph in the Caribbean, South and Central America. Images document archaeological digs, their settings, the peoples encountered, as well as the objects found. The dates of the images found in this collection and taken by the various Savilles during their numerous expeditions are as follows (the photographer(s) attributed to photographs taken during a specific expedition is/are listed in parentheses following the country of the specific expedition) : 1891: Honduras (Marshall), 1900-1902: Mexico (Marshall), 1907: Cuba (Marshall), 1907: Ecuador (Marshall, Foster, Randolph), 1915: Honduras (Marshall), 1915: Cuba, Jamaica, Belize, Honduras, Guatemala (Randolph), 1914-1916: Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Jamaica (Marshall, Foster, Randolph), 1918: Pantigo site, Easthampton, Long Island, New York (Foster), 1922: Photographic portrait of Marshall

Arrangement note

Arrangement note
negatives: organized in boxes; arranged numerically by image number
prints: organized in folders; arranged numerically by image number

Biographical/Historical note

Biographical/Historical note
American archaeologist Marshall H. Saville (1867-1935), after having studied anthropology at Harvard, began his work in Mesoamerica and Central America under the auspice of the Peabody and its director and his mentor, Frederic W. Putnam, who acted concurrently as the director of the American Museum of Natural History. He became the first curator of the Mexican and Central American Archaeology at the American Museum of Natural History. He started conducting archaeological excavations and fieldwork in Mitla, Xoxocotlán, Monte Albán (Oaxaca); Xochicalco, (Morelos) in Mexico from 1897 to 1904, excavating at sites such as Xoxocotlán in the Mexican state of Oaxaca and at the San Lorenzo Olmec site. He made substantive contributions to the knowledge regarding Aztec, Maya and Olmec cultures. In 1903, Saville joined the faculty at Columbia University for which he worked until his retirement in 1932. With the patronage and participation of George G. Heye, he headed various digs in Ecuador starting in 1907, focusing particularly on cultures in the Manabi and Sigsig provinces. Among those accompanying him in this investigation in Ecuador were George G. Pepper of the Museum of the American Indian in New York, his brother Foster H. Saville (1874-1942), whose personal work concentrated on the North American Woodlands cultures of Long Island (Pantigo) and the Northeast Coast (Connecticut and Rhode Island). His son Randolph M.(H.?) Saville also accompanied them. From 1915-1918, Marshall (and Randolph) explored and excavated in Central America (Panama, Belize, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala), Cuba and in South America (Ecuador, Colombia). Both Marshall (1918-1932) and Foster Saville were eventually employed as MAI staff.

Administration

Processing Information note
Processed by Mimi Games

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access note
Researchers must contact the NMAI Archives for an appointment to access the collection

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Archaeology -- Ecuador Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Honduras -- Archeology Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sigsig (Ecuador : Canton) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Jamaica -- Archeology Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Costa Rica -- Archeology Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
East Hampton (N.Y.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cuba -- archeology Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Belize Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Woodland Indians Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mexico -- Archeology Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Manta Indians Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Guatemala Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Colombia Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Panama -- archeology Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Museum of the American Indian
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Suitland, Maryland 20746-2863
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