Early Scholars’ Visits to Central America: Reports by Karl Sapper, Walter Lehmann, and Franz Termer


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Series: Occasional Papers 18
ISBN: 978-0-917956-95-9
Publication Date: Dec 2000
Price: Pb $9.95, Ebook $10.00
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Marilyn Beaudry-Corbett and Ellen T. Hardy

This volume presents translations of essays by three German scholars who were preeminent in the social and natural science study of Central America in the early part of the twentieth century. 

Early Scholars’ Visits to Central AmericaTheir research areas included ethnology, archaeology, geography, linguistics, and epigraphy. Their detailed observations of traditional cultures and archaeological remains provide important primary data. Because their writings have been available only in the original German-language journals, the work of these scholars is unfamiliar to many researchers. The chapters report on specific visits to parts of Central America but also include more synthetic coverage of topics such as the influence of Bartolomé de las Casas on Indian life in Guatemala and food and drink as well as religion of the Q’eqchi’ in Guatemala. The visited places include Pacific coastal and highland Guatemala, the Pech area of Honduras, and zones of Costa Rica inhabited by the Guatuso, Chirripo, and Talamanca Indians.Early Scholars’ Visits to Central America

Table of Contents
  • Ch. 01: Karl Sapper, Walter Lehmann, and Franz Termer and the Study of Central America by Marilyn Beaudry-Corbett and Richard M. Leventhal 
  • Ch. 02: Fray Bartolome de las Casas and the Verapaz (Northwest Guatemala) by Karl Sapper, Commentary by Brian D. Dillon and Matthew A. Boxt
  • Ch. 03: Food and Drink of the Q'eqchi' Indians by Karl Sapper, Commentary by Marilyn Beaudry-Corbett
  • Ch. 04: Religious Customs and Beliefs of the Q'eqchi' Indians by Karl Sapper, Commentary by Richard Wilk 
  • Ch. 05: The Payas of Honduras by Karl Sappe, Commentary I by Christopher Taylor Begley, Commentary 2 by Dennis Holt
  • Ch. 06: A Visit with the Guatusos of Costa Rica by Karl Sapper, Commentary by Payson D. Sheets
  • Ch. 07: A Visit with the Chirripó and Talamanca Indians by Karl Sapper, Commentary by Ellen T. Hardy
  • Ch. 08: Huacas of the Nicoya Peninsula by Karl Sapper, Commentary by Ellen T. Hardy
  • Ch. 09: Importance of Pipils in the Cultural Formation of Guatemala by Franz Termer, Commentary by William R. Fowler
  • Ch. I0: Travel Letter from Puerto Mexico by Walter Lehmann, Commentary by Frederick J. Bove