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Category: Kislak Collection

Brown, red, and yellow tinted map illustration of the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, with a circular frame around them

From Ethnography to Feathers: Investigating Collections at the Library

Posted by: John Hessler

This is the first in series of guests posts by Giselle Aviles, the 2019 Archaeological Research Associate in the Geography and Map Division, where she is delving into the treasures of the Jay I. Kislak Collection of the History and Archaeology of the Early Americas. Captivated by the nuances in sociocultural texts, she is undertaking …

Brown, red, and yellow tinted map illustration of the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, with a circular frame around them

Investigating Collections: Science Meets Archaeology at the Library of Congress

Posted by: John Hessler

This post is about research conducted by the author, in conjunction with Dr. Tana Villafana, Research Chemist and Spectroscopist, from the Preservation Research and Testing Division, and with Rosemary Ryan, Archaeological Research Fellow, at the Library of Congress. The research is part of a larger project to characterize and study all of the Mesoamerican jade …

Brown, red, and yellow tinted map illustration of the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, with a circular frame around them

Marvels of Pre-Columbian America: Talking Textiles

Posted by: John Hessler

This is a guest post by Rosemary Ryan, an Archaeological Research Fellow at the Library of Congress. Rosemary is a student at Towson University specializing in Forensic Anthropology and Archaeology. Her research at the Library is in support of the Exploring the Early Americas exhibit and the Jay I. Kislak Collection, which comprises of more …

Brown, red, and yellow tinted map illustration of the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, with a circular frame around them

The Codex Quetzalecatzin comes to the Library of Congress

Posted by: John Hessler

Writing is a strange invention. One might suppose that its emergence could not fail to bring profound changes in the conditions of human existence…                                                                           –Claude Levi-Strauss, Tristes Tropiques Time and money are spent in collecting the remains …

Brown, red, and yellow tinted map illustration of the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, with a circular frame around them

Celebrating Waldseemuller’s Carta Marina at 500: A Conference at the Library of Congress

Posted by: John Hessler

Conference Celebrating the 500th Anniversary of Martin Waldseemüller’s 1516 Carta Marina. Keynote address by award winning author and historian of science Dava Sobel. A two-day conference hosted by the Geography and Map Division at the Library of Congress will celebrate the 500th anniversary of Martin Waldseemüller’s Carta Marina, one of the great masterpieces of Renaissance …

Brown, red, and yellow tinted map illustration of the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, with a circular frame around them

What Shade the Stone: Some Late Night Thoughts on Color and Curation in Archaeology

Posted by: John Hessler

The Jay I. Kislak Collection of the Archaeology and History of the Early Americas became part of the Geography and Map Division several years ago and contains Pre-Columbian archaeological objects, maps, like Waldseemüller’s famous 1516 Carta Marina, and manuscripts and rare books relating to the earliest history of America. The dates of the collection span …

Brown, red, and yellow tinted map illustration of the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, with a circular frame around them

Name Your Poison: Glyphic Designs on Maya Miniature Flasks in the Jay I. Kislak Collection

Posted by: John Hessler

Today’s guest post was written by Graham Atkinson, a Research Volunteer in the Geography and Map Division, who works with the Pre-Columbian objects in the Jay I. Kislak Collections. He received his doctorate in mathematics from Oxford University, and has spent most of his career applying mathematical and statistical techniques to health care. Graham also …