Max Uhle in Argentina: His Beginnings and His Contribution to the Archaeology of Tinogasta (Catamarca)

Abstract

His first trip to the Americas in 1892 brought Max Uhle (1856-1944) to Argentina and Bolivia. This mission of the then Royal Museum of Ethnology (Königliches Museum für Völkerkunde) in Berlin had the purpose of investigating the southern border of the Inca Empire. Uhle began his research in the southern part of northwestern Argentina, specifically in the department of Tinogasta in the province of Catamarca. From there Uhle explored the surroundings and collected archaeological artifacts now at the Ethnologisches Museum in Berlin. This material reflects his deep interest in pre-Columbian chronologies, which is also documented in reports to the director of the museum in Berlin, Adolf Bastian, and in his field notebooks, which are kept at the Ibero-American Institute in Berlin. This unpublished material contains extremely valuable data for the objectives of the Chaschuil-Abaucan Archaeological Project, which under the direction of the first author has been carrying out research in the department of Tinogasta since 1994. Uhle, in some cases, provides the first description of archaeological sites in the region. His personal writings also give an idea of other aspects of a journey in an atmosphere of competition with national archaeologists and divergent scientific positions.