Karl Sapper: Geologist, Ethnologist, and Naturalist

Abstract

In the course of twelve years at the end of the nineteenth century, Karl Sapper (1866-1945) carried out the first extensive geological exploration of Central America and southern Mexico. Despite his fragile health and frequent attacks of malaria, he did this almost entirely on foot, covering hundreds of miles through the dense rain forest and over mountainous trails. At the same time, he recorded the languages and folklore of the indigenous tribes, and described ancient Mayan ruins he discovered in the Peten and Yucatan. For nearly half a century, his maps and reports remained the principal source of geological information for the entire region between Tuantepec and Panama, and his notes on the native languages are even now the only records we have for several Mayan dialects. On his return to Germany Sapper taught at the University of Strasburg until the city reverted to France after the First World War. He eventually took a position at the University of Wuerzburg, where he established the Institute for American Studies and fostered scientific research throughout Latin America.