Julio C. Tello

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos
Harvard University
Known fordiscovering early Peruvian cultures, such as Paracas and Chavín
SpouseOlive Chessman
AwardsOrder of the Sun of Peru

Julio César Tello Rojas (April 11, 1880 – June 3, 1947) was a Peruvian

indigenous
archaeologist in South America.

He made the major discoveries of the prehistoric

Chavín de Huantar as the focus for his work in the Andean highlands, which he believed was significant for the development of ancient cultures in the region.[2]

Biography

Tello was born a "mountain Indian" in an

Quechua, the most widely spoken indigenous language in the nation.[2] He gained 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.[1]

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.[3] His abilities were recognized early and senior men acted as mentors.[citation needed
]

He was awarded a scholarship by

archeology in Germany. 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.[3]

Tello traveled widely during his career, and regularly invited other scholars to Peru, developing an international network of colleagues.[3] 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.[2] For some time his findings and theories were not widely known outside Peru, because he did not publish in recognized academic journals.[citation needed]

He collaborated with his student Rebeca Carrión Cachot, who also succeeded him as director of the National Museum of Anthropology and Archeology.[4][5]

Apart from his seminal work on the discovery of the

Norte Chico, is the first civilization in the Americas, arising nearly 5,000 years ago.[citation needed
]

Marriage and family

In 1912 in England for a Congress of

London University
. They married that year and returned to Peru, where they had several children together. Their eldest daughter died in December 1938.

Career

Tello during an archaeological expedition

In 1919 Tello was working with a team at the

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. He was following a trail begun in 1915, when he had purchased ancient textiles in Pisco.[3] On 25 October 1927, Tello and his team uncovered the first of hundreds of ceremonial mummified bundle burials.

Tello 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.[3] 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 was covered by large textiles, works of woven cotton that had been embroidered in wool to create elaborate designs. The arid climate had helped preserve the textiles. He discovered these textiles, which have been described as "spectacular".[6] Tello and his team 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.[3]

Unlike some of his colleagues, Tello long believed that the

Samuel Lothrop, Wendell Bennett and others established the Institute for Andean Research (IAR), to organize and recognize contributions in the field.[3]

In 1938 President

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 national marine 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.

Bibliography

  • Tauro del Pino, Alberto: Enciclopedia Ilustrada del Perú. Tomo 16. TAB/UYU. Lima, PEISA, 2001.
    ISBN 9972-40-165-0
  • Grandes Forjadores del Perú. Lima, Lexus Editores, 2000.
    ISBN 9972-625-50-8
  • Burger, Richard, The Life and Writings of Julio C. Tello.America's First Indigenous Archaeologist. University of Iowa Press, 2010.

Legacy and honors

  • Considered the "father of Peruvian archeology".[3]
  • 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 culture.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Julio César Tello.

References

  1. ^ a b "Julio Cesar Tello". EMuseum, Minnesota State University, Mankato. Archived from the original on 2006-08-31.
  2. ^ a b c Richard L. Burger, Abstract of "The Life and Writings of Julio C. Tello" Archived 2016-09-19 at the Wayback Machine, University of Iowa Press, accessed 27 September 2010
  3. ^
    ISBN 9781587298332
    .
  4. ISSN 1605-3052
    . Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  5. ISBN 978-1-315-42272-5
    .
  6. ISBN 0-7478-0014-6
    .
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