Robert Eliot Smith Papers, 1929-1983

Robert Eliot Smith Papers, 1929-1983

Collection number: NSD-7

Special Collections

Library and Information Access

San Diego State University

5500 Campanile Drive

San Diego, CA 92182-8050

Administrative Information

Extent
27 linear ft.

Copyright
The copyright interests in the materials found in this collection have not been transferred to San Diego State University. Special Collections and University Archives can only grant permission to publish materials for which it is the copyright holder. For further information, please consult the section on copyright in the rules for using collections, or contact the United States Copyright Office at (202) 707-3000 or http://www.copyright.gov.

Publication Rights
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections.

Preferred Citation
Identification of item, folder title, box number, Robert Eliot Smith Papers, Special Collections and University Archives,
Malcolm A. Love Library, San Diego State University.

Processing Information
Processed by Bill Payne, 1994

Encoded by
Jossie Chavez

History

Robert Smith was a preeminent Mesoamericanist, well known for his work with ceramics. He entered the field of archaeology at the Maya site of Uaxactun, Guatemala in 1929, and ended his career as an honory research associate at Harvard University's Peabody Museum.

The collection includes Smith's notes and working drafts used for the preparation of his publications, a record of his professional activities as the Carnegie Institution of Washington's Guatemala City representative, photographs of Mesoamerican pottery, and correspondence between Smith and other Mesoamericanists of his time. The collection provides important biographical and collaborative information about Smith, as well as the history of Mesoamerican archaeology.

Biography

Robert Eliot Smith was born in Arcahan, France, on May 24, 1899. He received his primary and secondary education while living in Switzerland and Massauchusetts, and graduated from Harvard University in 1922 with a degree in history and romance languages.

Smith became involved in archaeology in 1929 when he accompanied his brother Ledyard, who was doing fieldwork at Uaxtactun, Guatemala. Smith returned to Harvard and began taking graduate courses in archaeology. He accepted a position with the Carnegie Institution of Washington and spent the next twenty years as the Carnegie's Guatemala City representative.

Smith was a member of the Carnegie Institution from 1932-1960, associate archaeologist for the Instituto Nacional de Antropoligia e Historia de Mexico from 1960-1962, and helped establish the National Museum of Antropologia in Guatemala City. Smith ended his career as a research associate of Middle American ceramics at Harvard University's Peabody Museum from 1965-1968, and as an honorary research associate of that institution until his death in 1983.

Series Description

The series description is a listing of each of the sections in the collection. It contains a brief paragraph of each series describing the general contents in the series. It is intended to help clarify for the researcher what they will find in the various sections of the inventory.

The majority of documents in the collection are not dated, thus (ca.) is used for approximate date.

Correspondence: Includes letters, filed alphabetically, to and from many Mesoamerican archaeologists of the first two-thirds of the twentieth century. Also includes circulated and informational correspondence about and between these archaeologists.

Notes and Drafts: Includes notes and drafts that Smith compiled for research and publication. The majority are written in pencil and some are not discernable as to the exact site or subject, and a number are very detailed or extensive in ceramic data and nomenclature. Folders are separated into four sections by site: Pyramid of the Sun: 1-54; Mayapan: 55-57; Uaxactun: 58-64; and miscellaneous notes and drafts: 65-94

Professional Activities: Includes material relating to Smith's work with the Carnegie Institute of Washington, Institute Nacional de Antropologia, conferences, and societies.

Smith's Publications: Includes Smith's monographs and published articles.

Publications by Smith's Contemporaries: Alphabetical listing of published articles and monographs in the collection written by Smith's contemporaries. Also included are one folder of Spanish language monographs of various authors and subjects; six folders of miscellaneous scholarly published monographs covering a number of topics, and two folders of newspaper clippings and articles written about various archaeological subjects.

Miscellany: Includes items that were not identifiable for other sections in the collection, such as Central American maps, and guide booklets to ruins.

Photographs: Includes many photographs, some negatives and slides of Mesoamerican pottery, figurines, and sherds. Each folder is identified by site in alphabetical order, and many of the photographs have written descriptions on the back. One folder, labeled miscellaneous photos, contains a number of unidentified photographs.

Note and Bibliographic Cards: Includes approximately three hundred 3x5, 5x7, and 5x11 index cards describing ceramics. Some have extensive information on particular ceramic pieces. There are also four boxes of bibliographic information cards on a number of Mesoamerican ceramic publications.

Oversize: Includes graphic display material, and a site settlement map of Litio de Coba, Quintana Roo.

List of Contents

Box 3

Folder number

1	Notes on Pyramid of the Sun figurines, pre-classic and classic, molded and mold made, some photos of pottery and figurines.
2	Notes on vessels, attributes of shapes, parts, necks, rims, lips.
3	Notes on types of designs.
4	Notes on vessel shapes, appendages, supports, handles.
5	Drafts on ceramic complex modes/assemblages: Tezoyuca, early Tzacualli, late Tzacualli, Miccaotli, early Tlamimilolpa, Patlaehique, Xolalpan.
6	Drafts for Part III: "Ceramic Distribution for the Pyramid of the Sun" (VIII "Comparative discussion of Ceramic Modal Markers by venience")
7	Draft of "Pyramid of the Sun" slip colors: charts of Tzacualli, Miccaolti, Tlamimilolpa.
8	Draft tables of "Pyramid of the Sun" ceramics,tables 10a through 20a-h: charts covering aspects of attributes.
9	Notes and some draft material for "Pyramid of the Sun" polished ware from lowest terrace.
10	Draft on "Pyramid of the Sun" polished ware from cut I on north side of pyramid.
11	Draft and notes for "Pyramid of the Sun" on polished ware from highest terrace.
12	Draft and notes for "Pyramid of the Sun" on polished ware: brown-black groups; brown groups red groups.
13	Notes on wares, types, and varieties.
14	Notes on pottery found below "Pyramid of the Sun".
15	Notes on pottery found below "Pyramid of the Sun".
16	Notes on early Tzacualli (some charts)
17	Notes on early Tlamimilolpa (some charts)
18	Literary background and notes on ceramics writers who have contributed information on the pottery of "Pyramid of the Sun".
19	"Pyramid of the Sun" attribute charts
20	"Pyramid of the Sun" wares detailed attribute charts
21	"Pyramid of the Sun" figurines draft
22	"Pyramid of the Sun" late Tlamimilolpa
23	"Pyramid of the Sun" drafts pt. V "Methods of Decoration" and pt. VI "Types of Design"
24	"Pyramid of the Sun" drafts pt. VI, "Types of Design"
25	"Pyramid of the Sun" late Tzacualli

Box 4

Folder number

26	"Pyramid of the Sun" decorative techniques
27	"Pyramid of the Sun" ceramic complexes
28	"Pyramid of the Sun" captions 1-63
29	Pyramid of the Sun miscellaneous information: chronological stages of pyramid, finanical support, number of terraces, seriation
30	Notes and charts on wares
31	Notes on Miccaotli complex
32	Notes on early Tlamimilolpa complex, some figurine drawings
33	Notes on late Tlamimilolpa complex
34	Notes on late Tzacualli complex
35	Notes on early Tzacualli complex
36	Notes on Patlaehique complex
37	Notes on Tezoyuca complex
38	Notes on general complexes
39	Notes on Pyramid of the Sun, highest terrace
40	Notes on Pyramid of the Sun,lowest terrace
41	Notes on Pyramid of the Sun, north terrace
42	Notes on Palace of the Moon dump and Teotihuacan ceramics
43	Notes and tables for "Pyramid of the Sun"
44	Notes on preface and part I of "Pyramid of the Sun"
45	Site drawing: "Pyramid of the Sun", 1962
46	"Pyramid of the Sun" Table of Contents draft
47	"Pyramid of the Sun" Illustration Captions draft
48	"Pyramid of the Sun" Tables and Charts draft
49	"Pyramid of the Sun" References draft
50	"Pyramid of the Sun" text incomplete, draft
51	"Pyramid of the Sun" Chapter VIII, Modes draft
52	"Pyramid of the Sun" Charts drafts
53	Draft of Smith's Resumeu de lectura de Armilla sobre Ceramica de Teotihuacan
54	"Pyramid of the Sun" corrections, deletions, and additions
55	Typed draft on "Mayapan" figurines, pt. V, pp. 738-827 (hand corrected)
56	Mayapan sherd technology observations: includes redware, identification of sherds sent by Anna O. Shepard to Smith and her sample of Mayapan sherds; also includes some sherd indentification from other sites and misc. notes
57	Unbound "Mayapan" book illustrations with copies
58	Notes on Uaxactun tempers (clay)
59-61	Notes on Uaxactun figurines with a card of descriptions and either a photo or drawing on the back of each
62, 63	Miscellaneous notes on Uaxactun figurines
64	Uaxactun figurine photos with descriptions
65	Attributes of Veracruz ceramics; brief correspondence between Smith and Robert MacNeish as to what Smith might know about the Veracruz ceramics MacNeish had excavated
66	Table of contents to a publication
67	Speech scrolls notes and 5 Maya glyph illustrations

Box 5

Folder number

68	Notes from a seminar given in Mexico, 1961
69	Notes, charts, and photocopies of Figurine painting examples
70	List of artifacts by site in the storeroom of the Institute of Anthropology and History of the Yucatan, 1958
71	Notes on Maya architecture structures and periods
72	Notes on Maya and the valley of Mexico artifacts, some drawings
73	Notes on figurine painting on pottery, and part of a translation of "Popol Vuh"
74	Bibliography of Maya religion publications
75	Miscellaneous notes on Maya archaeology
76	Notes on figurines
77	Notes on figurines, about a dozen charts and a few 3x5 cards
78	Notes on burials and burial customs
79	Miscellaneous ceramic notes; 2 notebooks with various subjects and entries
80	Hand written chronological charts of formative sequences in Middle America; published chart of "Theoretic Conceptions of Ceramic Analysis"
81	Miscellaneous notes on Mesoamerican pottery
82	Hand written draft of Richard Adam's "Fifth Season Report on the Ceramics of Altar de Sacrificios," 1963, and draft of thesis by same author (however both are written in Smith's hand)
83	Notebook of attributes and small drawings of the Marquez Collection of Fine Orange, Plumbate, and Polychrome pottery
84	Hippo and Ellie story: 3 page story by Smith about his, his brother and wife, and Stephen Boreghyi's survey trip to the Alta Verapaz region
85	Notes on the story of Latin America, 1980
86	Notes and report on ceramic description and classification, 1934
87	Notes and description on "Terminologia y Metodologia de Ceramica" (mostly in Spanish, some in German, no indication of publisher)
88	Notebook: with ceramic attribute notes
89	Miscellaneous writings and notes by Smith
90	Draft of Smith's "A Reappraisal of the Type Variety Concept"
91	8-page draft: "Non-Wheel made pottery of Chinautla, Guatemala"
92	Notebook: Miscellaneous notes
93	Notes on roof combs in the Maya area structures
94	Notebook: notes on book binding

Back to Series Outline

Series III : Professional Activities

Box 6

Folder number

1	Smith's anthropological list of books, cost, and when sold to Edwin M. Shook for $17,000.00, some correspondence, 1970
2	Publications purchased by Smith, with receipts, ca.1940-70
3	Receipts used in estimating costs of library books and periodicals, appears to be in conjunction with CIW or INAH, ca.1940-
4	Carnegie Institution of Washington (CIW) retirement plan: Smith's correspondence, benefit booklets, offical papers, ca.1951-72
5	CIW/Mexican Government contract for archaeological study, Spanish and English translations, 1950
6	CIW itemized disbursments for Smith's "Mayapan" project
7	Correspondence regarding Smith helping with instruction of ceramic classes sponsored by the Instituto de Antropologia e Historia de Mexico, and in conjunction with the Organization of American States (OAS) fellowship program, 1960
8	Harvard Peabody Museum miscellaneous: includes some of Smith's/Peabody's correspondence regarding the Uaxactun publication; Museum Association membership, history, events, changes, additions to museum, publications and guides, ca.1906-71
9	CIW miscellaneous: CIW booklet, memorandums, newsletters, publications, ca.1932-81
10	Instituto Nacional de Antropolog'a e Historia (INAH) Mexico miscellaneoue: includes correspondence, expenses, CIW publications, INAH Lista de Precios (1962 booklet), ca.1961-71
11	INAH Guatemala City miscellaneous: includes museum booklet, correspondence between Smith and others, notes, regulations of the National Museum in regards to archaeological work done by non-residents, some photos and negatives of the inside of the museum, ca.1945-65
12	National Science Foundation (NSF): includes correspondence asking Smith to review a proposal; two proposals; NSF grant list for fiscal years 1970-74, ca.1965-79
13	Pre-Columbian Fund: professional archaeologists proposed a fund to speed up and stimulate the publication of Maya archaeological works, ca.1945
14	Institution of Middle American Research: includes letter Smith wrote to 50 archaeologists explaining that the CIW was not going to continue supporting their archaeological department and asking for advice and suggestions for a new means of financing, 1956
15	"Mexico City College Faculty Directory," n.d.; paper by Jaime L. King "Las Ceramicas del Perioda Postcalsico Temprano en el Area Maya," for class taught by Smith; summer anthropology course schedule, ca.1958
16	Program: American Archaeological Association 58th annual meeting, 1959; newsletter, 1971
17	Smith/Wenner-Gren Foundation grant for Smith's "Mayapan" project, 1971
18	List of candidates for Society for American Archaeology officers, 25th annual meeting, 1967-71
19	Conference on Underwater Archaeology registrants list; Underwater Archaeology article in "Friends" magazine, 1963
20	By-laws for the Archaeological Society of New Mexico annual meeting, 1968
21	Handbook of Middle American Indians, article #19 distribution list, n.d.
22	Pamphlets and correspondence on Museology between Smith and Felicity Thomas of the Planeacion e Instalacion del Museo Nacional de Antropologia regarding museum care of anthropological artifacts
23	Information on dating techniques: radiochemical techniques, neutron activation analyses, some monographs on dating techniques, ca.1935-57
24	Photocopied reports and notes from Maya Lowlands Ceramics Conference, Guatemala City, 1965
25	Style sheet for "Current Anthropology," correspondence, regarding a non-specific Smith publication, 1965
26	Katunob newsletter: correspondence, subscription and publication information, 1961
27	American Philosophical Society information about the Society, correspondence, ca.1970
28	Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico correspondence, 1966
29	BYU-New World Archaeological Foundation correspondence, ca.1962-69
30	Smithsonian Institution Center for Short-Lived Phenomena information, 1969
31	Toecentli newsletter correspondence, ca. 1962-82

Series IV : Smith's Publications

Box 7

Folder number

1	"Pottery of the Maya Lowlands" from Archaeology of Southern Mesoamerica, vol. 3
2	"Pottery of the Maya Lowlands" (Ceramica Maya de la Region de Tierra Baja) Draft translation in Spanish, included is handwritten and xerox copy with tables in English
3	"Pottery from Chipoc, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala;" There are 12 negatives associated with this publication located in the photo section
4	"Cenote Exploration at Mayapan and Telchaquillo," CIW report no. 12, 1954
5	"Exploration on the Outskirts of Mayapan," CIW report no. 18, 1954
6	"Pyramid of the Sun," draft photocopy, not complete
7	"Vocabulario Sobre Ceramica," 3 working copies of draft in Spanish, and of it from I.N.A.H., 1962
8	"A Check List of Prehistoric Maya Pottery Types and Varieties," notes and preliminary draft, some in Spanish
9	"The Place of Fine Orange Pottery in Mesoamerian Archaeology," reprint from American Antiquity, Vol. 24, no. 2, 1958 (with some correspondence and figurine drawings draft)
10	"Cenote X-Coton at Mayapan," CIW report no. 5, 1953
11	"Tohil Plumbate and Classic Maya Polychrome Vessels in the Marquez Collection," CIW report no. 129, 1957
12	"Pottery Specimens from Guatemala: I," CIW report no. 118, 1954
13	"Pottery Specimens from Guatemala: II," CIW report no. 124, 1955
14	"Pottery Vessels from Compeche," CIW report no. 125, 1955
15	"Ceramics and Ceramic Sequences of the Guatemalan Highlands" (might be "Pottery of the Guatemala Highlands"), by Robert L. Rands and R.E. Smith, appears to be complete typed draft, n.d.
16	Review by Smith of "Archaeological Investigations in El Salvador" by John M. Longyear, reprint from American Antiquity, vol. 12, no. 3, 1947
17	Review by Smith of "The Ruins of Zaculeu" by Richard B. Woodbury and Aubrey S. Trik in American Journal of Archaeology, no. 59
18	"Pottery Specimens from Guatemala: I" (original handwritten, and typed)
19	"Maya Lowland Pottery," complete draft by Smith and James C. Gifford
20	"The Importance of Both Analytic and Taxonomic Classification in the Type-Variety System," copy draft of Smith and Jeremy A. Sabloff's article.
21	Complete "Pyramid of the Sun" draft sent to Smith by unidentified editor for final corrections, pp. 1-121
22	Same as previous folder pp. 122-268
23	Same as previous folder pp. 269-399
24	Same as previous folder pp. 400-617
25	Same as previous folder pp. 618-737
26	"The Figurines of Uaxactun," appendixes (typed working draft)
27	"The Type-Variety Concept as a Basis for the Analysis of Maya Pottery," with Gordon Willey and James C. Gifford, reprint from American Antiquity, vol. 25, no. 3, 1960
28	"The Marquez Collection of X Fine Orange and Fine Orange Polychrome Vessels," CIW publication 131, 1957
29	"Los Artefactos y La Alfareria,"Antropolog'a e Historia de Guatemala, vol. II, no.2, 1950
30	"Ceramic Wares in the Maya Area: A Clarification of an Aspect of the Type-Variety System and Presentation of a Formal Model for Comparative Use," with Jeremy Sabloff, xerox copy Peabody Museum, 1968
31	"Supplement to 'Ceramic Sequence at Uaxactun, Guatemala,' Varieties, Types, and Wares," notes and typed working draft, n.d.
32	"Guatemala Textile Project," 5 typed pages, ca.1947

Series V : Publications by Smith's Contemporaries

Box 8-10

Spanish language monographs: early to early middle twentieth- century monographs issued in Central America under various subjects and by various authors and publishers.

Six files of miscellaneous publications: many scholarly monographs and articles by a variety of authors covering a number of topics (some in French and German)

Newspaper clippings: many archaeological subjects in various newspapers from the U.S. and Central America

Box 11

Folder number

1	Scrapbook: newspaper articles from Mesoamerican newspapers covering Carnegie Institution of Washington excavations, ca.1937-47
2, 3	Printed items covering varied subjects: includes such things as notes, newsletters, magazine articles, maps, booklets
4	Published list of pottery from Kaminaljuyu, in Spanish, no author or publication information
5	One half typed page on Halactun ware
6	pottery identification cards from Dos Lagunas
7	Three published site maps of the ruins of Komchen, n.d.
8	Drawings of graphed figurines
9, 10	Maps of Central America
11	Munsell soil color charts, ca.1948
12	Figurine and sherd photo charts
13, 14	Guide books to ruins and museums in Central America
15	Information on general Maya related topics: includes pamphlets, booklets, and notes
16	Dr. Horst Nachtigall correspondence and photos (does not appear to be with Smith), ca.1975

Series VII : Photographs Box 12

All are positive photographs unless noted; negatives refer to photograph transparences.

Box Number

13, 14	Various sized cards
15	Aalto, P.Ezell, P.H.
16	Fairbanks, C.-Littman, E.R.
17	Litvack, King J-Rowe, C.
18	Rowe, J.H.-Zweig, S.

Series IX : Oversize

29 15x20 matte boards with xeroxs of sherds pasted on with notes on each (might have been used as a format for the Pyramid of the Sun illustrations

Introducc'on al Patron de Asentamiento del Litio de Coba, Quintana Roo (site map settlement pattern study published by I.N.A.H., 1979)

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