Max Uhle: biography of this German archaeologist

A review of the life of Max Uhle, German archaeologist who investigated South American territory.

Archaeology is the science that deals with the study of ancient civilizations through different methods and objects, such as works of art, utensils, monuments, diverse documents...

Like any other science, archaeology is full of relevant figures that stood out for some contributions or others; this is the case of Max Uhle, a German archaeologist who worked extensively in the lands of South America, especially in Peru.especially in Peru, and who is considered the father of Peruvian scientific archaeology.

For many, Max Uhle is considered the father of Peruvian scientific archaeology. Uhle was especially known for studying the pre-Columbian cultures of Peru. On the other hand, one of the cultures that Uhle studied in depth was that of Tiahuanaco, at the end of the 19th century.

Thus, Max Uhle's work had a special impact in South American countries such as Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Bolivia. These works covered the period from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century.

On the other hand, Max Uhle became known for initiating scientific archaeology in Peru (and for this reason, he is considered the founder or father of this field). Uhle also revalued the importance of the pre-Inca past, and spread his knowledge about it, since until then this type of civilizations were considered of little importance in the field of archaeology.

In this article we will see a brief biography of Max Uhle through his biography and his most relevant contributions to this field of knowledge.

Biography of Max Uhle

Max Uhle (1856-1944), full name Friedrich Maximilian Uhle Lorenz, was a prominent German archaeologist born in Saxony (Kingdom of Saxony, Germany) on March 25, 1856. He was the son of Friedrich Ernst Uhle and Anna Kunigunde Lorenz. Uhle, after finishing his compulsory school education, entered the University of Leipzig (Germany) in 1875.

He did his military service and then entered the University of Gottingen, where he stayed for a year, before returning to the University of Leipzig. There he studied philosophy and obtained his doctorate in 1880. His thesis dealt with the subject of ancient Chinese grammar.

After completing his thesis, Max Uhle began working at the Museum of Ethnology in Saxony, where he assisted the director of the museum.where he assisted its director. He worked there for seven years, from 1881 to 1888. Subsequently, he did the same work, this time at the Museum of Ethnology in Berlin. At that time, the museum was being transformed into a center for Americanist studies.

As relevant data of his work career, we also add that Uhle was, during the VII International Congress of Americanists held in Berlin in 1888, as assistant secretary of the same.

Finally, he died in Upper Silesia (Poland) on May 11, 1944, at the age of 88.

Archaeology

In the field of his career in archaeology, the excavations carried out in Pachacámac, located in the valley of Llanquihue.located in the valley of Lurin (south of Lima). There he used for the first time in America the stratigraphic method, which we will comment later.

Once the excavations were finished, Max Uhle traveled to Philadelphia to analyze the results. As a result of these excavations, Max Uhle published the work Pachacámac (1903). This work was highly valued at the time, and is still used today as a text for the study of South American archaeology.

Three years after this publication, in 1906, Uhle was appointed director of the archaeological section of the Historical Museum of Lima. Six years later, in 1912, he moved to Chile, where he was appointed Director of the Museum of Ethnology. he was appointed Director of the Museum of Ethnology and Anthropology of Santiago..

Once installed in Chile, Uhle focused on excavations in the north of Chile, specifically in Arica, Pisagua, Calama and Tacna. Years later, in 1917, Max Uhle scientifically described the Chinchorro mummies; this was important because he was the first to do this work.

It is worth mentioning that the Chinchorro culture was made up of a group of fishermen who inhabited the coast of the Atacama Desert between 7020 and 1500 BC. This time, the results of his findings and research were published in his works: The aborigines of Arica (1917) y Archaeology of Arica and Tacna (1919).

Relevant contributions

We find different contributions made by Max Uhle to the field of archaeology, which can be classified in these categories.

Stratigraphic method

Max Uhle also stood out as an archaeologist for being the first to apply, in 1896, a method proper to archaeology, namely stratigraphy.specifically, stratigraphy, which is the study of the superposition of layers or strata of the earth.

Uhle applied the stratigraphic method to the excavations of Pachacámac, an archaeological site located in the district of Lurín (Peru), near the Pacific Ocean.

At a technical level, the stratigraphic method, specifically, allows us to evaluate the age of the remains in relation to others, based on their position in the strata analyzed.

Evolution of Peruvian culture

In addition to being the first to use such a method, Max Uhle perfected the stratigraphic perfected the stratigraphic method of dating, which allowed him towhich allowed him to set up a sequence that would describe the evolution of Peruvian cultures. This evolution was divided into five stages:

• The primitive fishermen (Ancín, Supe, Pachacamac and Arica).
• The coastal cultures of Central American origin (Proto-Chimú, Proto-Nazca and Proto-Lima).
• The beginning of the megalithic period in Peru or Tiahuanaco.
• The epigonal styles originated in Tiahuanaco.
• The Inca period, with two sub-periods: legendary and historical.

2. Iconography of Tiahuanaco

Another contribution of Uhle to archaeology was an observation he made that originated the theory of the Tiahuanacota empire; this observation consisted of noting that the iconography of Tiahuanaco (archaeological city) had spread from the area of Lake Titicaca to a part of the current Peruvian territory..

3. Moche Culture

Another of Max Uhle's contributions to the field of archaeology was that of discovering the Moche culture, which he ended up discovering the Moche culture, which he eventually named Proto-Chimú.. The Moche culture is an original archaeological culture of ancient Peru, which developed in the valley of the Moche River between the second and fifth centuries.

4. Immigrationist theory

On a theoretical level, Uhle developed the immigrationist theory of the origin of the Andean culture. This theory established that the Andean culture had arisen thanks to the contributions of Mesoamerica (i.e., Mexico and Central America).

5. Peruvian cultures

We have seen some of Uhle's contributions in the field of Peruvian cultures, but let's dig a little deeper. For Uhle, the oldest Peruvian populations were made up of primitive fishermen (first stage of evolution of these cultures, already mentioned). (first stage of the evolution of these cultures, already mentioned). The leap in level from these cultures to the high cultures (called (Proto-Nazca and Proto-Chimú) took place thanks to the influence of the Central American cultures.

Bibliographical references:

• Basadre Grohmann, J. (2005). Historia de la República del Perú (1822 - 1933), Volume 16. Edited by Empresa Editora El Comercio S. A. Lim.
• Denise Pozzi-Escot B. (2010). El Perú Antiguo III (500-1400). The Middle Horizon and the Regional States. Colección Historia del Perú, published by Empresa Editora El Comercio S.A. Lima.
• Kauffmann Doig, F. (2002). Historia y arte del Perú antiguo. Volume 3. Lima, Ediciones PEISA.
• Ruiza, M., Fernández, T. and Tamaro, E. (2004). Biography of Max Uhle. In Biografías y Vidas. The online biographical encyclopedia. Barcelona (Spain).