[article ID:283]

For colonial history of the region see http://pittweb4.prm.ox.ac.uk/relational/page.php?title=5

[article ID:284]

Argentina

Bolivia

Brazil

Chile

Colombia

Ecuador

Falkland Islands

French Guiana

Galapagos Islands Ecuador

Guyana

Paraguay

Peru

South Georgia

Surinam Suriname

Uruguay

Venezuela

Those in blue are parts of British Empire

[article ID:285]

6,932.

NB there is some double counting between sub-continental regions in the Americas, a total of 8 objects could also be from Middle America and 3 from South America, a small number of other entries suggest objects could also come from Asia etc

Overall 9 per cent of the collections come from the Americas as a whole, 3.8 per cent from South America.

[article ID:286]

South America

Archaeology: 3,133

Ethnography: 3,649

Archaeology / Ethnography: 150

Overall it can be seen that there is a much higher percentage of archaeological items from South America, slightly fewer ethnographic objects percentagely and far fewer objects which are not clearer archaeological or ethnographic from this region than globally

[article ID:287]

Argentina - 457

Bolivia - 167

Brazil - 316

Chile - 663

Colombia - 137

Ecuador - 921

Falkland Islands - 4

French Guiana - 1

Galapagos Islands Ecuador - 0 [this country will be omitted from stats from this point]

Guyana - 740

Paraguay - 462

Peru - 2,852  [this figure might be artificially elevated because there are three boxes   containing items from Peruvian mummies for which guesstimates of 100 each have been given, field collector Acland, prm source OUMNH]

South Georgia - 0 [this country will be omitted from stats from this point]

Surinam Suriname - 19

Uruguay - 13

Venezuela - 4

In descending order:

Peru - 2,852

Ecuador - 921

Guyana - 740

Chile - 663

Paraguay - 462

Argentina - 457

Brazil - 316

Bolivia - 167

Colombia - 137

Surinam Suriname - 19

Uruguay - 13

Falkland Islands - 4

Venezuela - 4

French Guiana - 1

Galapagos Islands Ecuador - 0 [this country will be omitted from stats from this point]

South Georgia - 0 [this country will be omitted from stats from this point]

Peru as a percentage of total South American collections:

Peruvian collections are a whopping 41 per cent of all South American objects up to 1945.

Patagonia as a 'country':

Quite a lot of objects have Patagonia as their provenance, however it of course is currently politically governed by both Argentina and Chile and both countries therefore have been entered for these objects. If you just search for each countries name and don t take account of double counting you get the following figures:

Argentina - 457

Chile - 663

Taking account of the double counting gives the following figures:

Definite Argentina: 241

Definite Chile: 447

Either Chile or Argentina: 216 [111 of these have Patagonia in Region field, 114 have Tierra del Fuego, of which 10 say both Patagonia and TdF*]

Patagonia = 291 [*]

Tierra del Fuego = 141 [*]

[article ID:288]

Decades: prior to 1880s, 1880s, 1890s, 1900s, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940 - 1945 inclusive] [this is especially important when the colonial history of a country changed between 1884 - 1945]

S America generally:

1880s - 1,600

1890s - 252

1900s - 745

1910s - 913

1920s - 2,064

1930s - 950

1940 - 1945 - 409

The peak in the 1920s may be due to collections such as that from LCG Clarke being accessioned in that decade, the peak in the 1880s is entirely due to the transfers from the Ashmolean [456 objects 28.5 per cent of 1880s accessions from South America] and the University Museum of Natural History [598 objects, 37.3 per cent] and the founding collection [571 objects 35.6 per cent]

The pattern of acquisition from South America is very similar to that global picture except the later peak happens a decade earlier in the 1920s and it tails off in the 1930s and 1940s rather than just in the 1940s

Argentina

1880s - 114

1890s - 98

1900s - 11

1910s - 25

1920s - 112

1930s - 94

1940 - 1945 - 3

There are dips in the 1900s and 1910s

Bolivia

1880s - 1

1890s - 43

1900s - 3

1910s - 8

1920s - 27

1930s - 84

1940 - 1945 - 1

The peak in the 1890s is due to a collection coming in from John Graham Kerr, the peak in the 1930s does not seem to have one source or collector

Brazil

1880s - 80

1890s - 9

1900s - 39

1910s - 13

1920s - 102

1930s - 31

1940 - 1945 - 42

The peak in the 1920s could be due to a collection from George Miller Dyot, the peak in the 1880s is due to objects transferred from the Ashmolean Museum and that were part of founding collection

Chile

1880s - 264

1890s - 57

1900s - 34

1910s - 38

1920s - 150

1930s - 116

1940 - 1945 - 5

The peak in the 1880s is due to objects transferred from the Ashmolean Museum and OUMNH and those that were part of founding collection

Colombia

1880s - 6

1890s - 0

1900s - 29

1910s - 26

1920s - 73

1930s - 3

1940 - 1945 - 0

The peak in the 1920s is due to the collection from Ronald Hawksby Thomas

Ecuador

1880s - 48

1890s - 0

1900s - 14

1910s - 18

1920s - 727

1930s - 93

1940 - 1945 - 20

A large collection from Louis Colville Gray Clarke and possibly also that from Ronald Hawksby Thomas are probably responsible for the large peak in the 1920s

Falkland Islands

1880s - 2

1890s - 0

1900s - 0

1910s - 2

1920s - 0

1930s - 0

1940 - 1945 - 0

All 4 Falkland Islands objects were obtained by Henry Nottidge Moseley on HMS Challenger

French Guiana

1880s - 0

1890s - 0

1900s - 1

1910s - 0

1920s - 0

1930s - 0

1940 - 1945 - 0

This object is not necessarily from French Guiana but could also be from Guyana or Surinam (it is just entered as Guiana)

Guyana

1880s - 204

1890s - 72

1900s - 135

1910s - 26

1920s - 23

1930s - 39

1940 - 1945 - 242

The peak in the 1940s is due to a large collection from Mrs James Williams collected by her husband, the 1900s peak is due to a collection from William Clark given through his wife and the peak in the 1880s is due to objects transferred from the Ashmolean Museum and that were part of founding collection

Paraguay

1880s - 2

1890s - 68

1900s - 204

1910s - 22

1920s - 148

1930s - 18

1940 - 1945 - 0

The peak in the 1900s is principally due to the collection of Andrew Pride, the one in the 1920s to the collection of Juan Hamerly

Peru

1880s - 977

1890s - 33

1900s - 251

1910s - 439

1920s - 717

1930s - 337

1940 - 1945 - 99

The peak in the 1880s is due to objects transferred from the Ashmolean Museum and that were part of founding collection, the peak in the 1910s largely to a collection from LCG Clarke, the 1920s peak has several large collections including one from HO Forbes and Ronald Hawksby Thomas, the drop in 1890s is unexplained!

Surinam Suriname

1880s - 1

1890s - 0

1900s - 15

1910s - 3

1920s - 0

1930s - 0

1940 - 1945 - 0

The majority of the 1900s peak is due to a collection which came to the museum via Stevens Auction Rooms

Uruguay

1880s - 0

1890s - 1

1900s - 3

1910s - 5

1920s - 1

1930s - 3

1940 - 1945 - 0

Venezuela

1880s - 0

1890s - 1

1900s - 0

1910s - 0

1920s - 3

1930s - 0

1940 - 1945 - 0

[article ID:289]

Argentina

Definitely archaeology - 233

Definitely ethnography - 214

Archaeology or ethnography - 10

Argentina's objects are pretty evenly split between archaeology and ethnography with a slight bias towards archaeology

Bolivia

Definitely archaeology - 37

Definitely ethnography - 123

Archaeology or ethnography - 7

Bolivia has a much greater bias towards ethnography than South America as a whole

Brazil

Definitely archaeology - 4

Definitely ethnography - 303

Archaeology or ethnography - 9

The vast majority (effectively all) of the Brazilian objects are ethnographic

Chile

Definitely archaeology - 360

Definitely ethnography - 275

Archaeology or ethnography - 28

Bolivia has a greater bias towards archaeology than South America as a whole

Colombia

Definitely archaeology - 36

Definitely ethnography - 99

Archaeology or ethnography - 2

Colombia has a much greater bias towards ethnography than South America as a whole

Ecuador

Definitely archaeology - 682

Definitely ethnography - 208

Archaeology or ethnography - 31

Ecuador has a much greater bias towards archaeology than South America as a whole

Falkland Islands

Definitely archaeology - 0

Definitely ethnography - 4

Archaeology or ethnography - 0

100 per cent of the Falklands Islands objects are ethnographic

French Guiana

Definitely archaeology - 0

Definitely ethnography - 1

Archaeology or ethnography - 0

100 per cent of the French Guianan objects are ethnographic!

Guyana

Definitely archaeology - 17

Definitely ethnography - 710

Archaeology or ethnography - 13

The vast majority (effectively all) of the Guyanan objects are ethnographic

Paraguay

Definitely archaeology - 2

Definitely ethnography - 460

Archaeology or ethnography - 0

The vast majority (effectively all) of the Paraguayan objects are ethnographic

Peru

Definitely archaeology - 1,962

Definitely ethnography - 842

Archaeology or ethnography - 48

Peru has a much greater bias towards archaeology than South America as a whole

Surinam Suriname

Definitely archaeology - 0

Definitely ethnography - 19

Archaeology or ethnography - 0

100 per cent of the Surinam objects are ethnographic

Uruguay

Definitely archaeology - 0

Definitely ethnography - 12

Archaeology or ethnography - 1

The vast majority (effectively all) of the Uruguayan objects are ethnographic

Venezuela

Definitely archaeology - 0

Definitely ethnography - 4

Archaeology or ethnography - 0

100 per cent of the Venezuelan objects are ethnographic

Colonial v non-colonial archaeology and ethnography:

Colonial archaeology = 17

Colonial Ethnography = 714

Colonial archaeology or Ethnography = 0

Non-Colonial archaeology - 3,316

Non-Colonial Ethnography = 2,560

Non-Colonial archaeology or Ethnography = 136

Colonial archaeological collections are one per cent of the total archaeological collections, colonial ethnography is 22 per cent of the overall ethnographic collections, and all uncertainly typed objects are from non-colonial areas.

[article ID:290]

Part of British Empire:

Falkland Islands- 4

Guyana - 740

South Georgia - 0

Total for colonial objects: 744

Not part of British Empire:

Argentina - 457

Bolivia - 167

Brazil - 316

Chile - 663

Colombia - 137

Ecuador - 921

French Guiana - 1

Galapagos Islands Ecuador - 0 [this country will be omitted from stats from this point]

Paraguay - 462

Peru - 2,852

Surinam Suriname - 19

Uruguay - 13

Venezuela - 4

Total for non-colonial holdings: 6,012

In other words only 11 per cent of the South American collections up to 1945 came from countries within the British Empire

Taking into account the division given in the section before (which showed that 1 per cent of all archaeological collections and 22 per cent of ethnographic collections were from parts of the British Empire in South America it is clear that ethnographic collections were much more important and common from the British Empire than archaeological ones. It is probably because Guyana etc were not considered to be very key areas with large and prestigious archaeological deposits.

[article ID:291]

S America in general by type:

Agriculture -   11

Animalia - 101

Animal Gear - 89

Bag -   110 

Barkcloth -   9 

Basketry -   236 

Body Art -   106 

Box -   21 

Carving - 0 

Ceremonial - 33 

Children - 64 

Clothing - 353 

Commemoration - 0

Cordage - 117 

Currency - 23 

Dance -   84 

Death -   1,604

Dwelling - 34  [omitting furniture dwelling]

Fan - 14 

Figure -   1,235

Fire -   50  [omitting firearm]

Fishing - 158 

Food -   231 

Furniture Dwelling -   32

Geology -   16 

Headhunting - 15

Hunting -   363 

Insignia -   4 

Lighting -   3 

Lock -   0 

Marriage - 1 

Mask -   4

Measurement -   15

Medicine - 12 

Metallurgy - 2 

Model -   146 

Music - 232 

Narcotic - 84 

Navigation -   114 

Ornament & bead - 1,086

Photograph -   53 

Physical Anthropology - 56

Picture -   52 

Plant - 146 

Pottery - 1,193

Punishment and  

Torture - 28

Religion -   2,128

Reproduction - 25 

Scientific Apparatus - 0

Signal - 5 

Specimen - 247 

Sport -   3 

Status - 47 

Technique - 34 

Textile -  1,151

Theatre - 0 

Time -   3 

Toilet - 128 

Tool - 557

Toy & Game - 146

Trade -   77 

Transport -   40 

Vessel - 639 

Weapon - 1,232

Writing - 92

S American types by descending order:

Religion -   2,128

Death -   1,604

Figure -   1,235

Weapon - 1,232

Pottery - 1,193

Textile -  1,151

Ornament & bead - 1,086

Vessel - 639

Tool - 557

Hunting -   363

Clothing - 353

Specimen - 247

Basketry -   236

Music - 232

Food -   231

Fishing - 158

Model -   146

Plant - 146

Toy & Game - 146

Toilet - 128

Cordage - 117

Navigation -   114

Bag -   110

Body Art -   106 

Animalia - 101

Writing - 92

Animal Gear - 89

Dance -   84

Narcotic - 84

Trade -   77

Children - 64

Physical Anthropology - 56

Photograph -   53

Picture -   52

Fire -   50

Status - 47

Transport -   40

Dwelling - 34

Technique - 34

Ceremonial - 33

Furniture Dwelling -   32

Punishment and  

Torture - 28

Reproduction - 25

Currency - 23

Box -   21

Geology -   16

Headhunting - 15

Measurement -15

Fan - 14

Medicine - 12

Agriculture -   11

Barkcloth -   9

Signal - 5

Insignia -   4

Mask -   4

Lighting -   3

Sport -   3

Time -   3

Metallurgy - 2

Marriage - 1

Carving - 0 

Commemoration - 0 

Lock -   0 

Scientific Apparatus - 0

Theatre - 0

In the above table weapons and tools have been counted without taking into account the double counting between these categories unlike the listing above the table.

Tools are much less common in the South American collections than they are globally [down from 1st to 8th position), other less common types of objects are weapons [from 2 to 3], Ornaments & beads [from 3 to 7], Vessel [from 7 to 9], clothing [8 to 11], specimens [9 to 12], Music [10 to 14], toys and games [12 to 19], Food [13 to 15], Box [15 to 45, probably the biggest drop], currency [17 to 44], narcotic [18 to 29] and Measurement [20 to

Types of objects that are more commonly represented in the South American collections than globally are Religious items [1 from 4], Death [2 from 14, a very large increase and [with the possible exception of Asia which I have not compiled yet] the highest ranking for death], Figure [4 from 6], Textile [6 from 11], Hunting [10 from 36, the biggest climb of any category in any continent so far], basketry [13 from 16],

Of the 557 actual tools only 121 are made of stone, this is probably the lowest proportion of stone tools against all objects of any continent at below 2 per cent of total collection. This low proportion must explain why the number of tools overall is so low - for some reason most tools collected round the world are stone tools (and therefore in most instances, archaeological). For some reason these were not collected in any number in South America and therefore proportionally tools are not so important as they are in other areas (compare and contrast to Australia which had an overwhelming number of stone tools).

Types of things by country:

Argentina - 457

Clothing - 5

Figures - 1

Music - 6

Ornaments and beads **

Pottery - 2

Religion - 3

Specimens - 7

Tools - 152

Vessels - 26

Weapons - 265

Death - 0

Hunting - 24

Textile - 7

Definite tools - 75

Definite weapons - 188

Tools or weapons - 77

NB none of the above figures take account of the double counting between Argentina and Chile discussed earlier

Bolivia - 167

Clothing - 7

Figures - 47

Music - 3

Ornaments and beads ** - 16

Pottery - 18

Religion - 49

Specimens - 2

Tools - 15

Vessels - 7

Weapons - 52

Death - 2

Hunting - 3

Textile - 6

Overall a quarter of the entire Bolivian collections up to 1945 are religious items, more than a quarter of the collections are weapons [43 actual weapons, 9 potential weapons which could also be tools]

Brazil - 316

Clothing - 15

Figures - 37

Music - 20

Ornaments and beads ** - 52

Pottery - 18

Religion - 5

Specimens - 9

Tools - 32

Vessels - 8

Weapons - 129

Death - 0

Hunting - 42

Textile - 2

Definite tools = 16

Definite weapons = 113

Tools or weapons = 16

Just over a third of the Brazilian objects are definite weapons

Chile - 663

Clothing - 14

Figures - 15

Music - 5

Ornaments and beads ** - 70

Pottery - 16

Religion - 167

Specimens - 28

Tools - 109

Vessels - 50

Weapons - 246

Death - 164

Hunting - 35

Textile - 39

Definite tools = 71

Definite weapons = 208

Tools or weapons = 38

NB none of the above figures take account of the double counting between Argentina and Chile discussed earlier

164 objects are categorised as both death and religious related items (unsurprisingly), also unsurprisingly 159 of these are grave goods, 24 per cent of the total Chilean collections up to 1945

Colombia - 137

Clothing - 6

Figures - 2

Music - 17

Ornaments and beads ** - 67

Pottery - 7

Religion - 3

Specimens - 1

Tools - 2

Vessels - 9

Weapons - 30

Death - 3

Hunting - 1

Textile - 2

49 per cent of the Colombian collections up to 1945 are ornaments and beads. Roughly a fifth of the collection are weapons (or objects that are either tools or weapons)

Ecuador - 921

Clothing - 10

Figures - 255

Music - 49

Ornaments and beads ** - 63

Pottery - 672

Religion - 120

Specimens - 9

Tools - 150

Vessels - 99

Weapons - 83

Death - 122

Hunting - 6

Textile - 395

Definite tools = 113

Definite weapons = 46

Tools or weapons = 37

Nearly a third of all Ecuadorean collections are spindle whorls (classified as both pottery and textile) [311]. For the first time in South America tools outweigh weapons (can it be any coincidence that there are much higher percentages of archaeological items from Ecuador [74 per cent] although there are still on 19 stone tools. Pottery items are a whopping 73 per cent of the total Ecuadorian collection, figures are 28 per cent

Falkland Islands - 4

Specimens - 2 [hair samples]

Weapons - 2 [bolas]

Hunting - 2 [bolas as above, obviously double counted]

French Guiana - 1

Weapons - 1 [bow]

Guyana - 740

Clothing - 67

Figures - 39

Music - 39

Ornaments and beads ** - 185

Pottery - 29

Religion - 6

Specimens - 17

Tools - 55

Vessels - 68

Weapons - 229

Death - 0

Hunting - 30

Textile - 26

Definite tools = 23

Definite weapons = 197

Tools or weapons = 32

25 per cent of the Guyanan collections are ornaments and beads

Paraguay - 462

Clothing - 116

Figures - 8

Music - 27

Ornaments and beads ** - 127

Pottery - 14

Religion - 6

Specimens - 36

Tools - 33

Vessels - 30

Weapons - 103

Death - 0

Hunting - 14

Textile - 37

There are 99 definite weapons [21 per cent], ornaments and beads are 27 per cent of the overall Paraguayan collections

Peru - 2,852

Clothing - 124

Figures - 437

Music - 66

Ornaments and beads ** - 506

Pottery - 436

Religion - 1,468

Specimens - 141

Tools - 294

Vessels - 360

Weapons - 420

Death - 1,433

Hunting - 222

Textile - 677

1,407 objects are grave goods [49 per cent of the total Peruvian collection up to 1945, grave goods are classified as both death and religion related]. Textile related items account for 24 per cent of the collection, and pottery, figures and weapons are all about a sixth (there is of course a good deal of double-counting between these classifications].

Surinam Suriname - 19

Clothing - 0

Figures - 1

Music - 1

Ornaments and beads ** - 0

Pottery - 1

Religion - 0

Specimens - 0

Tools - 0

Vessels - 1

Weapons - 15

Death - 0

Hunting - 13

Textile - 0

All the hunting items are also weapons. Weapons are 79 per cent of the total Surinam collection

Uruguay - 13

Tools - 1

Weapons - 2

Tools and weapons - 1

Hunting - 1

The hunting object is also a weapon, most of the Uruguayan objects are animal gear related or currency

Venezuela - 4

Tools - 1 [bone grater]

Weapons - 3

Hunting - 3

There is obviously double counting between the hunting and weapons categories because of a hunting bow and arrow

[article ID:292]

South America in general:

Field collectors:

William Alison Dyke Acland - 472*

Louis Colville Gray Clarke - 952

Ronald Hawksby Thomas - 738

PRM sources:

Ashmolean - 456

Pitt Rivers - 518

OUMNH - 622   [*this figure might be artificially elevated because there are three boxes   containing items from Peruvian mummies for which guesstimates of 100 each have been given, field collector Acland]

Louis Colville Gray Clarke - 956

Ronald Hawksby Thomas - 732

Argentina - 457

Field collectors;

South American Missionary Society = 43 [9 per cent]

Walter Baldwin Spencer - 56 [12 per cent]

JG Kerr - 43 [9 per cent]

Rev and Mrs PE Class - 82 [18 per cent]

PRM sources;

Pitt Rivers - 97 [21 per cent]

Rev and Mrs PE Class - 82 [18 per cent]

Bolivia - 167

JG Kerr gave 43 items [26 per cent], the remainder of the Bolivian collections were collected and donated by a variety of sources. Fawcett collected [and donated via his wife] 19 items [6 per cent]

Brazil - 316

GM Dyott collected and donated 45 objects [14 per cent], JE Home collected 44 objects [which came in via the Ashmolean] [14 per cent], Henry Balfour was the PRM source for 24 objects [7.5 per cent], the Ashmolean transferred 57 of the Brazilian objects [18 per cent]

Chile - 663

See Argentina above [for the items that are only provenanced as Patagonia many of the collectors and donors will be identical as the entries are double counted between the two countries, eg WB Spencer]

98 were collected by Captain Hollrook[?Holbrock] and donated by Amy Laversuch [15 per cent]

74 were collected by William Warner Parry [11 per cent]

85 were transferred from OUMNH [13 per cent]

123 were donated by Pitt Rivers [18.5 per cent]

Colombia - 137

71 collected and donated by RH Thomas [52 per cent]

25 objects were donated by BM Ethnographic Department [18 per cent]

21 via Messrs Watson Bros [dealers] [15 per cent]

Ecuador - 921

255 from RH Thomas [261 collected and 255 donated] [28 per cent]

505 collected and donated by LCG Clarke [55 per cent]

63 from Alan James Ruthven-Murray [collected and donated][7 per cent]

Falkland Islands - 4

All Falkland Islands objects were collected by HN Moseley and either given direct or else via his wife

French Guiana - 1

This single item which probably doesn t even come from French Guiana was donated by Henry Balfour

Guyana - 740

Everard Im Thurn collected 89 and donated 66 objects [12 and 9 per cent respectively]

Ashmolean transferred 110 objects [15 per cent]

Pitt Rivers donated 77 objects [10 per cent]

William Clark collected 43 objects and donated via wife [6 per cent]

James Williams collected and Mrs James Williams donated 239 objects [32 per cent]

Paraguay - 462

Andrew Pride collected and donated 173 objects [37 per cent]

JG Kerr collected and donated 64 objects [14 per cent]

Juan Hamerly collected and donated 126 objects [27 per cent]

Peru - 2,852 

246 objects transferred from Ashmolean [8 per cent]

610 objects transferred from OUMNH [21 per cent]

415 collected and donated by RH Thomas [14.5 per cent]

430 collected and donated by LCG Clarke [15 per cent]

213 collected and donated by HO Forbes [7 per cent]

472 collected by Acland [nb includes 300 objects that are only guesstimates] [16.5 per cent]

Surinam Suriname - 19

3 items were obtained from Beatrice Braithwaite Batty, 13 were obtained from Stevens Auction Rooms the others from Henry Balfour and the Bishop of Guiana

Uruguay - 13

2 items came from Henry Martin Gibbs, 5 from HE Berthon [both were also field collectors] the remainder either transferred from OUMNH or else were obtained by dealers or sale rooms

Venezuela - 4

Apart from one item from Webster [dealer] the others came from Mrs Digby and were collected by her husband Admiral Digby

ESRC 'Relational Museum'

October 2003