Ornamental Nationalism

In Ornamental Nationalism: Archaeology and Antiquities in Mexico, 1876-1911, Seonaid Valiant examines the Porfirian government’s reworking of indigenous, particularly Aztec, images to create national symbols. She focuses in particular on the career of Mexico's first national archaeologist, Inspector General Leopoldo Batres. He was a controversial figure who was accused of selling artifacts and damaging sites through professional incompetence by his enemies, but who also played a crucial role in establishing Mexican control over the nation's archaeological heritage.
Exploring debates between Batres and his rivals such as the anthropologists Zelia Nuttall and Marshall Saville, Valiant reveals how Porfirian politicians reinscribed the political meaning of artifacts while social scientists, both domestic and international, struggled to establish standards for Mexican archaeology that would undermine such endeavors.

Seonaid Valiant, Ph.D. (University of Chicago, History, 2014) is the Curator for Latin American Studies at Arizona State University. Her most recent publication is A Great Rascal: Leopoldo Batres and the Map of Teotihuacán (Mapline, 2017).

“The author deftly weaves together what appear to be disparate threads of inquiry into a very valuable intellectual history of Mesoamerican studies and Mexican politics. This book, written in an accessible style, is both informative and surprisingly entertaining.
Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above; professionals.”
Jeff Seibert, in: Choice, Vol. 55, No. 9 (May 2018).