Rafael
Larco Hoyle
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Rafael Larco Hoyle (18 May 1901 in Chicama Valley, Peru – 23 October 1966, Lima), raised at Chiclin, his family's estate, was sent to school in Maryland, United States, at the age of twelve. He later entered Cornell University to study agricultural engineering and by 1923 returned to Peru to work on the family's sugar cane plantation. After spending most of his youth abroad, Larco Hoyle arrived to Peru with the eyes of an outsider.
With this foreigner's curiosity
he explored the country and discovered an ancient cultural patrimony in the
north coast. Larco Hoyle recognized the need to house these objects in a safe
place. It was at that point, Larco Hoyle dreamt of a museum, one like the one
he had seen in the United States.
In 1925,
Larco Hoyle's father, Rafael Larco Herrera acquired a collection of vases and
other archaeological pieces from Alfredo Hoyle, his brother-in-law. There were
approximately 600 ceramic pieces in all. The arrival of these objects ignited a
collector's enthusiasm in Larco Hoyle. Soon after, Larco Herrera left his son
in charge of the collection and those pieces completed the first collection of
what would become the Rafael Larco Herrera Museum.
During
that same year, Larco Hoyle received some advice from his uncle, Victor Larco
Herrera, a founder of the first museum in Lima. He urged Larco Hoyle to form a
new museum in Lima, one that could guard all the archaeological relics that
were continually being extracted by clandestine excavators.
Larco
Hoyle agreed with his uncle. He yearned to erect a living monument in honor of
his father whom he admired so much for his patriotism and love for Peru. He got
to work creating a museum that would carry on his father's legacy. Larco Hoyle
purchased two large collections: 8000 pieces from Roa and 6000 pieces from
Carranza. He also purchased several small collections in Chicama Valley,
Trujillo, Virú, and Chimbote. Within a year, the collection had grown
significantly and display cases were installed in a small house on the Chiclín
estate. On July 28, 1926, Independence Day, the Rafael Larco Herrera Museum
opened its doors to the public.
With the
museum up and running and a collection of approximately 30,000 pieces, Larco
Hoyle began classifying the collection. Peruvian archaeology was in its infancy
and Larco Hoyle realized many typologies were yet to be recognized. He set out
to correct that and approached archaeological research academically. During the
1930s, he discovered many distinct Peruvian cultures such as Viru, Salinar,
Cupisnique, and Lambayeque. The focus of his research became the Mochica
culture. In 1946, Larco Hoyle, director of the Larco Museum, developed the
first Peruvian chronology of ancient cultures, one that has remained current.
Archaeological
contributions
Discovery
of the archeological site of Cupisnique (1933).
Discovery
of the Virú culture in the cemeteries of Pampa de los Cocos and Pampa de Moche
(1933).
Discovery
of Queneto and its ceramics (1934).
Discovery
of the pre- Cupisnique ceramics (1939).
Discovery
of the Cupisnique culture (1939).
Discovery
of the cemeteries containing ceramics called Cupisnique de Santa Ana and the
culture of the same name (1939).
Discovery
of the cemeteries containing ceramics called Cupisnique de Santa Ana and the
culture of the same name (1939).
Discovery
of tombs with hybrid ceramics Mochica - Virú (1940).
Discovery
of the Salinar culture (1941).
Opening
of the first tomb in the valley of Virú and find of the hybrid cemeteries
called by him Virú - Cupisnique.
Discovery
of the hybrid vases Salinar - Cupisnique in the valley of Virú.
Discovery
of lithic tools used by the hunters in the Pre- Ceramics Age (pampas of Paiján
and Cupisnique).
Find of
the vases of the Virú culture in the valleys of Chicama, Santa Catalina, Santa,
Pacasmayo, Lambayeque and Piura.
Discovery
of the Virú vases, with positive ornamentation and called by him Virú of
Chicama.
Discovery
of the Pacopampa ruins from the Evolutionary Age and of tools of the culture
that existed there.
Discovery
of the pre - Mochica phase, called Complex Mochica or Initial Mochica.
Find of
tombs with orange vases and its relation with Virú vases, previous to Mochica.
Find of
the superimposed tombs and stratifications that allowed him to sort the five
Mochica periods.
Discovery
of Barbacoa of Cupisnique, Salinar, Virú and Mochica superimposed tombs that
resulted in the determination, for the first time, of the chronological order
of the pre - Mochica cultures.
Discovery
of the fact that the Huari culture, called Tiahuanaco, spread all over the
Peruvian territory and that its center was not Tiahuanaco but Huari in
Ayacucho.
Discovery
and declaration of the existence of the Lambayeque culture which is sorted into
two periods : Lambayeque I and II, and the Huari - Lambayeque culture,
distinguishing the Chimú culture from the Lambayeque culture.
Explanation
of why it was not found the Middle Chimú, largely searched by the American
archeologists proving that the Chimú culture is the result of the fusion of
Mochica, Lambayeque and Huari cultural elements.
Classification,
for the first time, of what nowadays is called Chimú - Inca ceramics,
distinguishing it from the Chimú ceramics.
Discovery
of ceramics of Incaic shapes with Spanish glaze.
Discovery
of the fact that the culture called Recuay or Callejón de Huaylas had its
center in the valley of Santa and not in the mountains, as it was thought.
Finds,
for the first time, of Santa ceramics in the valleys of Chao and Virú.
Discovery
of the fact that the center of the italic ceramics - that some considered Chimú
- was the Lambayeque department. He named and described it.
Determination
of the sequence of the adobes in the constructions, beginning with the
Cupisnique conic sections, the Salinar spherical skullcaps and Mochica and
Chimú types of rectangular sections.
Discovery
of the fact that the Chimú settlers used and worked with bricks.
Statement
of the deity evolution, from the feline to the God - Man, with large canines
and wrinkled face that is represented in the Peak Age.
Discovery
of the Mochica writing after its spread all over the Peruvian territory.
Statement
that the Maya and Mochica writings have the same origins.
Discovery
of the Pre - Ceramics Age in Paracas.
Division
of the study on the evolution of the Peruvian cultures into seven ages : Pre
-Ceramics, Initial Age of the Ceramics, Evolutionary, Peak, Fusional, Imperial
and Conquest.
Classification
of the Huari ceramics into Huari A, Huari B and Huari C which represents the
total decline of this culture.
Demonstration,
for the first time, of the charts of the different coast valleys and of the
main mountain centers classifying them by ages and periods and including within
them the cultures settled in those places.
Discovery
of the fact that the Mochicas used lead and iron.
Discovery
of the fact that the Vicus silvered the copper and gilded it on its outside
part.
Discovery
of the fact that the Chimú silvered the copper.
Statement
that the origins of Mochica I are placed in Vicus.
Sorting,
for the first time, of the Mochica and other cultures funerary ceramics by
subject and series.
Discovery
of the fact that the circumcision was practiced by the ancient Mochicas.
Verification
of the existence of the syphilis in the ancient Peru.
Statement,
for the first time, that there was not a Chavín empire but a decorative style
used by other cultures of the Evolutionary or Formative Age.
Find of
white over red Salinar vases in Piura, Chiclayo, Pacasmayo, Valley of Chicama,
Santa Catalina, Virú, Chao, Santa and Nazca.
Statement
of the complete chronology pertaining to the cultures in the north of Peru
which is included in his book CRONOLOGÍA ARQUEOLÓGICA DEL NORTE (ARCHEOLOGICAL
CHRONOLOGY OF THE NORTH), published in 1948. The cultural sequence has been
verified by foreign groups of archeologists.
Statement,
for the first time, that the incised ceramics called Chavín cannot be
considered a horizon because in that way the vases with negative ornamentation
and the cream over red vases would have to be considered horizons as well
Bibliography
Los Mochicas, Vol. I: Capítulo I: Origen y evolución
de los agregados sociales de la Costa del Perú. Capítulo. II: Geografía. Lima
(Perú), 1938.
Los Mochicas, Vol. II: Capítulos III, IV, V, y VI: La
raza, la lengua, la escritura y el gobierno. Lima (Perú), 1940.
Los Cupisniques: Trabajo presentado à la XXVII reunión
del Congreso Internacional de Americanistas de Lima. Casa editora "La
Crónica" y "Variedades" S.A. Lima (Perú), 1941.
La Escritura Mochica Sobre Pallares: Extracto de la
Revista Geográfica Americana. Buenos Aires (Argentina), 1942.
La Escritura Sobre Pallares: Extracto de la Revista
Geográfica Americana. Buenos Aires (Argentina), 1943.
Cultura Salinar: Síntesis monográfica. Buenos Aires
(Argentina), 1944.
La Escritura Peruana Sobre Pallares: Ed. de las
Relaciones de la Sociedad Argentina de Antropología. Buenos Aires (Argentina),
1944.
La Escritura Peruana Pre-Incana: Sobretiro de "El
México Antiguo". Revista Internacional de Arqueología, Etnología,
Folklore, Pre-Historia, Historia Antigua y Lingüística. México D.F., 1944.
La Cultura Virú: Monografía. Buenos Aires (Argentina),
1945.
Los Mochicas: (Pre-Chimú, de Uhle, y Early Chimú, de
Kroeber). Síntesis monográfica. Buenos Aires (Argentina), 1945.
A Culture
Sequence for the North Coast of Peru: En Handbook South American Indians. Washington D.C., 1946.
Los Cupisniques: Síntesis monográfica. Buenos Aires
(Argentina), 1945.
Cronología Arqueológica del Norte del Perú. Buenos
Aires (Argentina), 1948.
La Cultura Santa, 1962.
La Divinidad Felínica-Lambayeque, 1962.
Las Épocas Peruanas, 1963.
La Cultura Vicús, 1965.
Museo Rafael Larco Herrera, 1965.
Checan: Ediciones Nagel. Ginebra (Suiza), 1965.
With affection,
Ruben
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