An Argentinean Metarchaeology: Lessons Learned from an Anthropological/Archaeological Collection

SCHEINSOHN, VIVIAN; P. MIRANDA; FERNÁNDEZ,MARÍA JOSÉ; AGNOLÍN, AGUSTÍN; CARPIO, MARIELA

Honolulu

Congreso; 78th Annual Meeting Society for American Archaeology; 2013

Society for American Archaeology

Since 2010 we are conditioning and inventorying an anthropological collection located at the Argentinean Museum of Natural History (MACN) located in Buenos Aires city. This was the first museum of Argentina, created in 1812. At the beginning the museum covered anthropology and archaeology research but in 1947 its Anthropology section, along with its materials, was transferred to the Ethnographic Museum at the University of Buenos Aires. However, for some unknown reason, part of these materials remained at the MACN, ignored by most anthropologists and archaeologist ever since. This collection includes catalogued material, mostly from the expeditions of Florentino and Carlos Ameghino, and uncatalogued material, both with great potential given the new perspectives and techniques available today. In this paper we will analyze the challenges and limitations this collection posit to archaeological and anthropological research.