Pre-Columbian history....

[BlueCollar]

Specifically South American cultures...

Any DU'ers out there who can help me out?

[XemaSab]

1. Start out with this:

http://www.mormon.org/free-book-of-mormon?gclid=CO3_44v-xKQCFQwDbAodgnTfEQ

:hide:

[Radical Activist]

4. lol

[BlueCollar]

6. LOL

You do realize you've insulted all of the real pre-columbians right?

[XemaSab]

7. Hence the humor

:P

[SharonAnn]

2. There were many pre-columbian cultures. Which ones were you interested in?

A few:
Aztec
Toltec
Mayan
Incan

and there were many, many more.

[BlueCollar]

5. Specifically West Coast of South America

Peruvian cultures.

I've come across a small treasure trove of textiles and pottery I think.

Looks like Chancay, Nasca...

Just from surfing the "net"

[Fumesucker]

3. The Mayan calendar ends on Dec 21, 2012..

Well, not really.. :)

[MichaelHarris]

8. I can help

What is the specific question?

[BlueCollar]

9. Specifically

I'm interested in finding out how to identify textiles and pottery. I've surfed the net but most of what I find is related to sales of pottery and textiles. I'm more interested in finding out about origin and preservation techniques.

M

[MichaelHarris]

10. most importantly

do you know the source? Many of the objects you are describing may be illegally obtained. I'm not making any sort of accusation but Peru and the surrounding areas have a huge illegal trade problem. There is also the issue of fakes.

With that said, what is the condition? Everything needs to be handled with gloves, especially the textiles. Have you seen that bags you can seal by forcing the air out with a vacuum? That would be fine for the textiles. As far as the pottery, is it shards of complete pots? Handle with gloves as the oil from your hands will stain them. Sunlight is the enemy.

I've seen textbooks on Peruvian patterns and pottery, I'll get some titles for you.

[BlueCollar]

11. will send a pm...n/t

[NuttyFluffers]

13. A lot of the better resources are in Spanish (Castallano)...

people assume you can find "everything in Google, Amazon, and Wikipedia!" it's just not true. language is a very real barrier. but let me point you in some better directions.

Wiki (not all that useful, but pay attention to the external links, particularly to museums and authors):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museo_Nacional_de_Antropolog%C3%ADa

Museo Nacional Arqueologia, Antropologia e Historia del Peru (literally wall-to-wall knowledge):
http://museonacional.perucultural.org.pe/

Museo Larco (Museo de Arte Precolombino) (never been, but could be of great help):
http://www.museolarco.org/iindex.html

Museo Oro del Peru (perhaps the only museum i have ever seen OVERBURDENED with artifacts -- fantastic military arms section, too):
http://www.museoroperu.com.pe/

if you have any more questions, need timelines, recommended books, i can help here and there. Peru is a cradle of civilization (one of the prime 7), so it's overflowing with complex cultures, just like India, Mesopotamia, etc...

[OffWithTheirHeads]

12. An excellent book I recently read on Mexico City

That went into detail on some of this subject was "La Capital" by Jonathan Kendell.

Very well written, easy to read and quite enlightening. Probably available at your used bookstore. If not, PM me and I might be able to retrieve it from our free community lending library at my condo Assc. and send it to you.