Profile of Alberto Ruz Lhuillier as a Young Man

Elaine Day Schele

doi:10.5334/bha.22202

Abstract

The attitudes and beliefs that archaeologists bring to their profession can have important impacts upon the manner in which they approach their work; therefore, studying an archaeologist’s life can shed light on archaeological history. An investigation of the early life of the Mexican archaeologist Alberto Ruz Lhuillier provides fascinating evidence of just how life experiences can have an impact on attitudes and theoretical approaches. Ruz was the archaeologist who, in 1952, discovered the magnificent tomb of the Classic Maya King of Palenque, Mexico, K’inich Janaab’ Pakal I. Research into Ruz’s early life sheds light on why he had negative opinions about the United States (US), and highlights the experiences that caused them, and explains how they changed. When Ruz moved to Cuba in the 1930s, and learned about the impact of American interference in Cuban affairs, he became deeply involved in the socialist revolution to oust Cuba’s US puppet dictators and to free his country from ‘yanqui’ imperialism. In addition, these early student life experiences exposed him to other students who espoused the theories and ideas of Karl Marx. Later Ruz would use some of these theories to explain the development and fall of ancient Maya civilization. <strong>Publisher's Note</strong> In paragraph two, this article mistakenly states that Alberto Ruz Lhuillier discovered the chamber and tomb of K'inich Janaab' Pakal I in 1954. The text should instead read that he discovered it in 1952.

Highlights

The archaeological historian, Douglas Givens, in his article The Role of Biography in Writing the History of Archaeology (Givens, 1992) makes a very good case for the importance of studying the lives of archaeologists in order to understand how they approach the fields of archaeology and anthropology
It is widely known that Ruz was a Mexican archaeologist of French/Cuban decent, who, in 1954, discovered the magnificent chamber and tomb of K’inich Janaab’ Pakal I, the Classic Maya King of Palenque, Mexico
Breaking the Maya Code (Coe, 1999: 208). Coe believes that this attitude motivated Ruz to lead a Mexican boycott of the First Palenque Roundtable meeting in 1973, which was organized by North American scholars who were making advances in deciphering ancient Maya hieroglyphs

Summary

Elaine Day Schele*

The attitudes and beliefs that archaeologists bring to their profession can have important impacts upon the manner in which they approach their work; studying an archaeologist’s life can shed light on archaeological history. When Ruz moved to Cuba in the 1930s, and learned about the impact of American interference in Cuban affairs, he became deeply involved in the socialist revolution to oust Cuba’s US puppet dictators and to free his country from ‘yanqui’ imperialism. These early student life experiences exposed him to other students who espoused the theories and ideas of Karl Marx. This article mistakenly states that Alberto Ruz Lhuillier discovered the chamber and tomb of K’inich Janaab’ Pakal I in 1954. The text should instead read that he discovered it in 1952

Introduction

Alberto Ruz and Life with the Guiteras Family

Deported to France

The End for Antonio Guiteras

Conclusion