Dieseldorff Collection: Ceramic Corpus of the Terminal Classic Originating from Molds

Erwin Paul Dieseldorff: His Contribution to Guatemalan Archaeology

Erwin Paul Dieseldorff was born in Hamburg on June 10^th, 1868, son of Daniel Dieseldorff, pioneer in the opening of markets between Germany and countries such as Australia. Under the expansionist criteria of the family business, in 1888 Erwin became determined to reside in Guatemala with the objective of exploiting the cultivation of coffee, thus initiating his own business (Nañez, 2000).

His first experience as a coffee grower was in 1891, when he acquired the Seacté farm – presently known as part of the Secol farm. During this time he had the opportunity to interact with the indigenous peoples of the region, which motivated his fascination for learning the language, religion and other aspects of the Keckchí Mayan society (Nañez, 1970).

His interest in archeology developed through several expeditions he carried out for the project led by Dr. Karl Sapper, a German geographer and cartographer whose priority was to draw a map of the Southwest of Cobán, Alta Verapaz. Inspired by the exotic surroundings, Dieseldorff explored caves and excavated sites such as Las Pacayas, Chajcar and Chamá (Nañez, 1970).

It is well known that he carried out investigations in the majority of his properties and that the results were published in a series of 36 articles and books (Nañez, 1970). In the same manner, it is possible to affirm that he maintained direct contact with important scientists in the field, such as Eduard Seler, Alfred P. Maudsley, Sylvanus G. Morley, Walter Lehmann, Alfred M. Tozzer, J. Eric Thompson, Frans Blom, William Gates, Thomas Gann, J. Alden Mason, Oliver Ricketson Jr., George C. Vaillant, A.V. Kidder, Karl Sapper, Hans Ludendorff, Ernst Föstermann and Paul Schellhas (Nañez, 1970). There are also documents in existence in the archive of the MUNAE that show that Dieseldorff had contact with the Minister of Public Education, who was the Regent of Patrimonial Affairs of Guatemala (Appendix 2).

During his stay in Guatemala, Dieseldorff spent the majority of his time among the coffee fields studying the culture of the Verapaces, as well as buying prehispanic artifacts in order to arrive at his own interpretations as to the function and meaning of such objects. In his archives there were also historic documents regarding the indigenous peoples of Alta Verapaz, and their compilation included manuscripts that narrated theatrical dances of the ancient Keckchíes. It is calculated that at the moment of his death, he possessed more than three thousand pieces in his personal collection (Nañez, 1970).

While still among the living, Mr. Dieseldorff bestowed part of his collection to the Museum für Völkerkunde in Berlin (Nañez, 1970), and in 1942 the remaining portion was donated by his son, William E. Dieseldorff, to the Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología (MUNAE) – (Documents obtained from the MUNAE archive, Files No. 10410 Ref. S/R. RLP-fac. and No. 3477 Ref. U-32/912 01º).

The interpretations by Dieseldorff of themes related to the botany and archaeology of the Verapaces are exceptional for his time, he brought to light the properties of various indigenous plants and with finds like the Chamá vases, opened a wide field of investigation. His knowledge regarding the calendaric systems of the Maya won him the respect of the scientists of the time, and the quality of his drawings, as well as of his notes, made it possible to contextualize the artifacts found, allowing them to be reference sources even today.

Previous Page  |  Table of Contents  |  Next Page

Return to top of page