Tracing Louis H. Ayme's Explorations in Oaxaca, México ... - Famsi

treasured objects, outright fakery, tomb robbing and looting of sites are all much older
traditions than those governed by recent codifications of archaeological ethics.
Nonetheless, museums around the world house thousands of older collections and in
the last several years more attention is being paid to ways in which these materials may
be productively studied. A variety of approaches is being employed and includes
scientific testing possible because of new technology, integration with more current field
research, and the use of a variety of interdisciplinary approaches and interpretations.
(Boone, Christensen, Danien, Jeter, Pinkston and Danien, Sellen)
The Ayme collections clearly fall within this problem area noted above, especially since
some of the more impressive pieces, such as the Zapotec urns, are exactly the kind of
object that has been copied in both the recent and more distant past. For that reason,
my research design looks first to Ayme’s actual excavations when trying to assess his
reliability, next to his surface collecting and finally to those objects which he purchased.
He described, mapped and sketched certain aspects of his first excavations at
Nazareno Xoxocotlan, near Monte Albán, and his information, which I have reviewed
with archaeologists from the Proyecto Especial Monte Albán 1992-1994, seems correct
for the time period and location, as does his surface collecting there and at Monte Albán
itself.
Ayme’s work at Santa Maria Coatlan is perhaps even more interesting than that at
Nazareno, although unfortunately his records here were not as complete, consisting of
an informative letter and a catalogue of objects, but lacking any map or drawings.
However, unlike Nazareno, which has become an Agricultural Research Center, Santa
Maria is relatively unchanged and even though the Coatlanes have a long cultural
tradition, very little archaeology has been performed in the area. The excavations Ayme
conducted here therefore present an opportunity to pursue three separate goals, all of
which are interrelated and all of which are examples of some of the opportunities that
may be advanced by studying older collections. These goals are:
1. Testing Ayme’s reliability. Early collectors often recorded poorly and with
considerable dissimulation. Santa Maria is the second venue where it is possible
to judge Ayme’s accuracy as an excavator and recorder of his discoveries and so
if, as at Nazareno, he is being at least fairly factual, it also affects the way his
surface collecting and purchasing may be considered. Combining his careful
catalogues of the objects he sent to the Smithsonian with an increased respect
for his reliability makes the collections more useful for research and study.
2. Researching not only the objects Ayme recovered from Santa Maria but also the
ethnographic continuity of cave use in the village. His work here was performed
in natural spaces that were and are important to the people of Santa Maria. They
still leave offerings at the entrance to one and remember traditions related to
others. His records therefore provide an interesting opportunity for study in and of
themselves as well as in terms of the continuity of cave use in Oaxaca and
further research should be pursued with both aspects in mind.
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