Edward herbert thompson biography of nancy

He made a series of plaster casts of Maya sculptures and architecture, particularly from Uxmal and Labná, which were exhibited at the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois, in 1893.

He officially retired from the State Department in 1909.

Thompson is most famous for dredging the Cenote Sagrado (Sacred Cenote) (a natural sink hole, or well, some sixty feet deep) from 1904 to 1910, where he recovered artifacts of gold, copper, and carved jade, as well as the first-ever examples of what were believed to be pre-Columbian Maya cloth and wooden weapons.

(The Caste War took place between 1847 and 1901 and involved a series of Yucatán revolt against rule by those of European descent.) For 30 years he explored the site, on behalf of the Field Columbian Museum, the American Antiquarian Society, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University and others.

Although he spoke only English upon his arrival, he quickly learned Spanish and also became fluent in the Yucatec Maya language. The length of his sojourn among the Mayans, his technique in learning language and of immersing himself in Mayan culture resemble the field work techniques of anthropologists although few spend as long a period as he did engaged in their research.

Due to the development of photography, visual records of Thompson's pioneering work have survived. In 1988, Chichén Itzá became a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site.^[10] Without Thompson's role, this "patrimony of humanity" may well have remained permanently lost. Thompson, however, had returned to West Falmouth in poor health and died in 1935, so the property reverted to his heirs.

They married in 1883. He traveled far and wide while in the region. He was the youngest consul ever to venture into Mexico with his immediate family near the end of the nineteenth century. Their oldest daughter, Alice Louise Thompson, was born January 2, 1885, in West Falmouth.

Career and later life

In 1879, Popular Science Monthly published an article "Atlantis: Not a Myth" by Thompson in which he argued that the ancient Mayan monuments, which he had never seen except in books, were proof of the lost continent of Atlantis—an opinion which his later researches would change.

For 30 years he explored the site, on behalf of the Field Columbian Museum, the American Antiquarian Society, the Peabody Museum at Harvard University and others. Because he decided to intermingle with the local indigenous populace, Thompson was afforded advantages over less hospitable archaeologists in the region who kept their distance from the people.

Thompson did early extensive examinations at Labná, picking that site because little work had previously been done there and because its distance from any modern settlement had left it relatively undisturbed in modern times. In 1879, Popular Science Monthly published "Atlantis Not a Myth", an article by Thompson in which he argued that the ancient Mayan monuments, which he had never seen except in books, were proof of the lost continent of Atlantis--an opinion which his later researches would change.

The hacienda he rebuilt on the plantation he purchased (which included the site of Chichén-Itzá) now serves as the Hacienda Chichen Hotel.

In 1913, the Carnegie Institution financed a restoration project archaeologist at Chichén Itzá.