Julio C. Tello
Encyclopedia
Julio César Tello was a Peruvian archaeologist
. Tello is considered the "father of Peruvian archeology" and was America's first indigenous archaeologist. He made the major discoveries of the prehistoric Paracas culture
and founded a national museum of archeology.
, Peru; his family spoke Quechua
, the most widely spoken indigenous language in the nation. He was able to gain a first-class education by persuading the Peruvian government to fund it. Tello completed his Bachelor's degree
in medicine
at the National University of San Marcos
in Peru in 1909. While still a student, Tello studied the practice of trepanation
among natives of Huarochirí and amassed a very large collection of skulls. He was also studying early pathologies in the population. His collection became the basis for a collection at his university. His abilities were recognized early and senior men acted as mentors.
He was awarded a scholarship by Harvard University
, where he learned English and earned his Master's degree
in anthropology
in 1911. Next he went to Europe, where he studied archeology. In 1912 he attended the Congress of Americanists in England, a group in which he became prominent in later years. It was the beginning of his active international life.
Tello traveled widely during his career, and regularly invited other scholars to Peru, developing an international network. Although Tello published a number of papers in his lifetime, they appeared in little-known journals and newspapers, so they were not well known then even to Spanish speakers. For some time his findings and theories were not widely known outside of Peru because he did not publish in recognized academic journals.
archeological site, where he discovered a stele
since named for him, the Tello Obelisk
. Construction of the first temple at this major religious center was dated to 850 BCE. The work of Tello and others established that the center had been a center of complex culture that lasted for several hundred years, to sometime between 500 and 300 BCE. Until late-20th century discoveries established the dates of the 5000-year-old Norte Chico
site, the Chavín culture
was believed to be the oldest complex civilization in Peru.
Tello is best known for his discovery in 1927 of 429 mummy
bundles in the Cerro Colorado area of Peru
on the Paracas Peninsula
. He first visited the site on July 26, 1925, following a trail that had begun in 1915 when he had purchased ancient textiles in Pisco
. On 25 October 1927, Tello and his team uncovered the first of hundreds of ceremonial mummified bundle burials. He was the first in Peru to practice a scientific method of archeological excavation, to preserve stratigraphy
and elements to establish dating and context. In 1928 the team began to remove the mummies and textiles for safekeeping. His findings and interpretations have been the most significant source of information regarding the Paracas culture
, which dates to 750 BCE – 100 CE.
The necropolis contained ritual burials, in which corpses were placed in baskets in a sitting position. Each of the bodies were covered by large textiles, works of woven cotton that had been embroidered in wool to create elaborate designs. He discovered these remarkable textiles which have been described as "spectacular". Tello and his team had collected 394 textiles and gained funding from the Rockefeller Foundation
for their preservation. They put more than 180 on display by 1938 at the Instituto de Investigaciones Antropologicas, where he and his team were on staff.
Unlike some of his colleagues, Tello long believed that the Andean highlands had been important centers of ancient culture and made study of the area a focus of his work. His theory was proven by his work at sites such as Chavin de Huantar and Ayacucho
, a center of Wari culture, as well as later scholars. In 1936 he, together with prominent scholars Alfred Kroeber, Samuel Lothrop, Wendell Bennett and others established the Institute for Andean Research (IAR), to organize and recognize contributions in the field.
In 1938 the President, Óscar R. Benavides
, approved a reorganization of the national museums. Impressed with the Paracas textile collection, he authorized the new Museo de Antropolgia to house it. On January 3, 1939, Tello was named its first director. This is now the Museo Nacional de Arqueología Antropología e Historia del Perú.
The Julio C Tello Museum on the Paracas Peninsula is named in his honour. After the reserve was established in 1975, the museum was built to house artifacts and interpret the archeology and culture of the Paracas, as well as the rich natural life of the marine reserve.
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
. Tello is considered the "father of Peruvian archeology" and was America's first indigenous archaeologist. He made the major discoveries of the prehistoric Paracas culture
Paracas culture
The Paracas culture was an important Andean society between approximately 800 BCE and 100 BCE, with an extensive knowledge of irrigation and water management. It developed in the Paracas Peninsula, located in what today is the Paracas District of the Pisco Province in the Ica Region...
and founded a national museum of archeology.
Biography
Tello was born a "mountain Indian" in an Andean village in Huarochirí ProvinceHuarochirí Province
Huarochirí Province is located in the Lima Region of Peru. Its capital is Matucana. The western section is part of the Lima Metropolitan Area.-Political division:The province is divided into thirty-two districts.* Antioquia...
, Peru; his family spoke Quechua
Quechua languages
Quechua is a Native South American language family and dialect cluster spoken primarily in the Andes of South America, derived from an original common ancestor language, Proto-Quechua. It is the most widely spoken language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a total of probably...
, the most widely spoken indigenous language in the nation. He was able to gain a first-class education by persuading the Peruvian government to fund it. Tello completed his Bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
at the National University of San Marcos
National University of San Marcos
The National University of San Marcos is the most important and respected higher-education institution in Peru. Its main campus, the University City, is located in Lima...
in Peru in 1909. While still a student, Tello studied the practice of trepanation
Trepanation
Trepanning, also known as trephination, trephining or making a burr hole, is a surgical intervention in which a hole is drilled or scraped into the human skull, exposing the dura mater in order to treat health problems related to intracranial diseases. It may also refer to any "burr" hole created...
among natives of Huarochirí and amassed a very large collection of skulls. He was also studying early pathologies in the population. His collection became the basis for a collection at his university. His abilities were recognized early and senior men acted as mentors.
He was awarded a scholarship by Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, where he learned English and earned his Master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
in 1911. Next he went to Europe, where he studied archeology. In 1912 he attended the Congress of Americanists in England, a group in which he became prominent in later years. It was the beginning of his active international life.
Tello traveled widely during his career, and regularly invited other scholars to Peru, developing an international network. Although Tello published a number of papers in his lifetime, they appeared in little-known journals and newspapers, so they were not well known then even to Spanish speakers. For some time his findings and theories were not widely known outside of Peru because he did not publish in recognized academic journals.
Marriage and family
In 1912 in England for a Congress of Americanists, Tello met Olive Mabel Cheesman, n English woman who was a student at London University. They married that year and had several children together. Their eldest daughter died in December 1938.Career
In 1919 Tello was working with a team at the Chavín de HuantarChavín de Huantar
Chavín de Huántar is an archaeological site containing ruins and artifacts constructed beginning at least by 1200 BCE and occupied by later cultures until around 400-500 BCE by the Chavín, a major pre-Inca culture. The site is located north of Lima, Peru, at an elevation of , east of the...
archeological site, where he discovered a stele
Stele
A stele , also stela , is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab...
since named for him, the Tello Obelisk
Obelisk
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...
. Construction of the first temple at this major religious center was dated to 850 BCE. The work of Tello and others established that the center had been a center of complex culture that lasted for several hundred years, to sometime between 500 and 300 BCE. Until late-20th century discoveries established the dates of the 5000-year-old Norte Chico
Norte Chico
Norte Chico or Near North Coast ranges over five river valleys north of present-day Lima: the Chancay River, the Huaura River, Supe River, Fortaleza River and Pativilca River....
site, the Chavín culture
Chavín culture
The Chavín were a civilization that developed in the northern Andean highlands of Peru from 900 BC to 200 BC. They extended their influence to other civilizations along the coast. The Chavín were located in the Mosna Valley where the Mosna and Huachecsa rivers merge...
was believed to be the oldest complex civilization in Peru.
Tello is best known for his discovery in 1927 of 429 mummy
Mummy
A mummy is a body, human or animal, whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme coldness , very low humidity, or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs, so that the recovered body will not decay further if kept in cool and dry...
bundles in the Cerro Colorado area of Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
on the Paracas Peninsula
Paracas Peninsula
The Paracas Peninsula is a desert peninsula within the boundaries of the Paracas National Reservation, a marine reserve which extends south along the coast. The only marine reserve in Peru, it is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site....
. He first visited the site on July 26, 1925, following a trail that had begun in 1915 when he had purchased ancient textiles in Pisco
Pisco
Pisco is a colorless or yellowish-to-amber colored grape brandy produced in winemaking regions of Chile and Peru. Pisco was developed by Spanish settlers in the 16th century as an alternative to orujo, a pomace brandy that was being imported from Spain...
. On 25 October 1927, Tello and his team uncovered the first of hundreds of ceremonial mummified bundle burials. He was the first in Peru to practice a scientific method of archeological excavation, to preserve stratigraphy
Stratigraphy
Stratigraphy, a branch of geology, studies rock layers and layering . It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks....
and elements to establish dating and context. In 1928 the team began to remove the mummies and textiles for safekeeping. His findings and interpretations have been the most significant source of information regarding the Paracas culture
Paracas culture
The Paracas culture was an important Andean society between approximately 800 BCE and 100 BCE, with an extensive knowledge of irrigation and water management. It developed in the Paracas Peninsula, located in what today is the Paracas District of the Pisco Province in the Ica Region...
, which dates to 750 BCE – 100 CE.
The necropolis contained ritual burials, in which corpses were placed in baskets in a sitting position. Each of the bodies were covered by large textiles, works of woven cotton that had been embroidered in wool to create elaborate designs. He discovered these remarkable textiles which have been described as "spectacular". Tello and his team had collected 394 textiles and gained funding from the Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
for their preservation. They put more than 180 on display by 1938 at the Instituto de Investigaciones Antropologicas, where he and his team were on staff.
Unlike some of his colleagues, Tello long believed that the Andean highlands had been important centers of ancient culture and made study of the area a focus of his work. His theory was proven by his work at sites such as Chavin de Huantar and Ayacucho
Ayacucho
Ayacucho is the capital city of Huamanga Province, Ayacucho Region, Peru.Ayacucho is famous for its 33 churches, which represent one for each year of Jesus's life. Ayacucho has large religious celebrations, especially during the Holy Week of Easter...
, a center of Wari culture, as well as later scholars. In 1936 he, together with prominent scholars Alfred Kroeber, Samuel Lothrop, Wendell Bennett and others established the Institute for Andean Research (IAR), to organize and recognize contributions in the field.
In 1938 the President, Óscar R. Benavides
Óscar R. Benavides
Óscar Raymundo Benavides Larrea , prominent Peruvian field marshal, diplomat and politician, and was the President of Peru from 1914 to 1915 and from 1933 to 1939.- Early life :...
, approved a reorganization of the national museums. Impressed with the Paracas textile collection, he authorized the new Museo de Antropolgia to house it. On January 3, 1939, Tello was named its first director. This is now the Museo Nacional de Arqueología Antropología e Historia del Perú.
The Julio C Tello Museum on the Paracas Peninsula is named in his honour. After the reserve was established in 1975, the museum was built to house artifacts and interpret the archeology and culture of the Paracas, as well as the rich natural life of the marine reserve.
Legacy and honors
- Considered the "father of Peruvian archeology".
- Richard L. Burger, The Life and Writings of Julio C. Tello, University of Iowa Press, 2009, makes his works and their significance available to a wider audience.
- Julio C. Tello Museum, named in his honor and established to hold his findings of the Paracas culture.
- Tello Obelisk, named in his honor, monument of the Chavín cultureChavín cultureThe Chavín were a civilization that developed in the northern Andean highlands of Peru from 900 BC to 200 BC. They extended their influence to other civilizations along the coast. The Chavín were located in the Mosna Valley where the Mosna and Huachecsa rivers merge...
.