The Life and Writings of Julio C. Tello: America's First Indigenous Archaeologist

3. The Intellectual Legacy of Julio C. Tello

tello’s intellectual legacy || 65 john murra (chapter 2, this volume) has observed that few prophets have found so much acclaim in their own lands as Julio Cesar Tello. While this statement smacks of hyperbole, it is, in truth, an understatement . Virtually no person in Peru who has attended school, even at an elementary level, is unaware of Tello or his contributions to the nation (fig. 3.1). Throughout Peru, hundreds, perhaps even thousands , of places are named for him, and these include streets, squatter settlements (pueblos jóvenes), day-care centers, technical institutes, site museums, agricultural cooperatives, and towns. In a recent updating of Guaman Poma’s 1614 Nueva Crónica del Perú, historian Pablo Macera profiled the fourteen crucial individuals of the Peruvian world (personajes del mundo Peruano) who shaped Peru during the twentieth century. Not surprisingly, Tello was featured among them, along with Abimael Guzmán, leader of the Sendero Luminoso revolutionary movement, and Sarita Colonia, a mystical figure worshipped by Peru’s poor for the miracles she is said to work (Macera and Forns 2000). What other archaeologist besides Julio C. Tello has ever achieved such prominence in his or her homeland? Not even historic figures such as Heinrich Schliemann, Arthur Evans, or Hiram Bingham III achieved comparable renown, despite their spectacular and well-publicized discoveries. In spite of his special place in Peruvian culture, Tello has never received the kind of international recognition accorded to many other influential archaeologists. One looks for Tello’s name in vain, for example, in Bruce Trigger’s A History of Archaeological The Intellectual Legacy of Julio C. Tello An Account of His Rise to Prominence in Peruvian Archaeology richard l. burger chapter three 65 66 || biographical essays 3.1. Tello standing in front of the New Temple of Chavín de Huantar in 1940. Courtesy of the Museo Nacional de Antropología, Arqueología e Historia. tello’s intellectual legacy || 67 Thought (1989), even though the author is explicitly committed to considering archaeological traditions outside the United States. Even during Tello’s lifetime, his influence on archaeological thought within the borders of Peru was quite different than outside of it, and this continues to be the case. I will explore the reasons for this pattern, and consider the enduring impact of Tello’s work and thought in modern archaeology, both within and beyond Peru. Tello as Symbol and Paradigm Tello’s archaeological contributions and his personal life were inseparable , and much of his impact stemmed from the way he embodied those traits in ancient Peru, which he sought to vindicate through his research. In this sense, he became both a symbol of Peru’s glorious past and a paradigm of the exemplary and enduring indigenous qualities that produced those achievements. The powerful melding of personal life and professional accomplishment achieved by Julio Tello, Mohandas Gandhi, Albert Einstein, or Bob Marley resulted in these individuals becoming the embodiment of something that transcends the specifics of a particular discovery, political victory, new concept, or musical composition. For most Peruvians, Tello’s principal achievement was demonstrating that ancient Peruvian civilization was the product of local or autochthonous development rather than the result of influence from Central America or Asia, as earlier scholars such as Max Uhle had sustained (Moore 1977). The latter position consciously or unconsciously devalued the artistic and technological accomplishments of Peru’s prehispanic cultures, reducing them to mere reflections or byproducts of foreign cultures. For Tello, the prehispanic ruins and associated objects were eloquent testimony to the genius of the indigenous Peruvian people. The magnificence of these constructions and artifacts was as relevant to understanding the potential for the future as it was for appreciating the glories of the past. Tello’s championing of the autochthonous position was linked to his critique of Peru’s modern problems, which he believed began with the Spanish Conquest and deepened with the continuing oppression of indigenous peoples during the ensuing four centuries . Thus, for Tello, the prehispanic past offered practical solutions as well as academic insights. As he wrote in “Collisions of Two Civilizations ” (chapter 6, this volume), “Our present Hispanic-Peruvian civilization cannot stand except on an indigenous pedestal. . . . The present 68 || biographical essays generation is obligated to revive the past and retrieve everything that can be glorified.” The fact that Tello was himself a native Quechua speaker, a self-identified “indio” from Huarochirí, gave his findings a salience...