Julio C. Tello, 1880–1947

Abstract

Julio César Tello, outstanding Peruvian archaeologist, was born on April 11, 1880, under humble circumstances in the Indian village of Huarochirí, Department of Lima, in the high Andes. He died on June 3, 1947, in the city of Lima and was buried with the pomp and pageantry accorded to a Minister of State. Tello was of almost pure Indian blood, of which he was proud. His father, Julian Tello, evidently was a man of local importance as he became alcalde, but the family was poor and Julio Tello's first memory was of playing on an adobe floor. His mother was María Asunción Rojas de Tello, a descerident of the last Incacuracawho governed Huarochirí. During his childhood, Julio's father made periodic journeys to the coast where he visited relatives in the small fishing villages south of Lima. He often took his son with him on these trips.