Mesoamerica maps

Today’s guest post was written by Katje Lattik, Archaeological Research Intern in the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress, who works with the Pre-Columbian objects in the Jay I. Kislak Collection of the Archaeology and History of the Early Americas.

Katje was a 2015 Library of Congress Junior Fellow with a strong interest in archaeology and Museum Studies, who is currently finishing up her degree in anthropology at Towson University in Maryland.

For those who might not know, the Jay I. Kislak Collection of the Archaeology and History of the Early Americas became part of the Geography and Map Division several years ago and is made up of Pre-Columbian archaeological objects, maps, like Waldseemüller’s famous 1516 Carta Marina, and manuscripts and rare books relating to the earliest history of America. The dates of the collection span a wide range from 1100 BC until the mid-18th century. Part of collection is on permanent rotating display in the Exploring the Early Americas Exhibit in the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library, with the remainder of the objects housed in the recently opened Kislak Study Collection in the vaults of the Geography and Map Division. There they may be studied by scholars by contacting the collection curator John Hessler (jhes@loc.gov).

This post is part of an occasional series that will feature new research and highlight objects from the collection.

After spending a summer photographing and writing on the Mesoamerican jade and greenstone objects in the Jay I. Kislak collection, I am lucky enough to be back in the Geography and Map Division this semester to continue and expand upon my previous work which documented the style and form of the Kislak jades, and compared them to other large collections, like those published by Tatiana Proskouriakov (1909-1985) documenting the jades found in the Cenote of Sacrifice at the classic Maya site of Chichen Itza. There are two main projects I intend to focus my attention on during my time here. The first project pushes beyond my previous work and involves creating 3d digital images of the jade pieces from the collection.

• Mesoamerican gods
• Mesoamerican temples
• Ancient America Maya