Max Uhle und seine Ideen über den Ursprung der vorspanischen andinen Kulturen

Abstract

Because of his work in the ethnological museums of Dresden and Berlin, Max Uhle had been influenced by the evolutionist ideas of the museum-oriented ethnology of the late 19th century. During his archaeological work in the Andean zone, especially in the twenties and thirties during his stay in Ecuador, Uhle dissociated himself critically from "elemental ideas". Nevertheless, he discussed the theories of the "cultural circles" of Father W. Schmidt with serious reservations, too. Looking for an explanation of the development of the pre-Incaic cultures he evolved ideas of a southbound diffusion of the cultures of Central America, i.e. Mexican cultures, especially Maya. He thought he had found a lot of similarities between the archaeological findings of both regions, postulating the chronological priority of Maya culture. Uhle understood the Maya zone and what later on was called Mesoamerica as one of the three focal points of world civilization, beside the Mediterranean and the Chinese worlds.