Peruvian pre-Hispanic antiquities in the creation of a Chilean “prehistory:” the case of the Sáenz collection

Abstract

In 1895, Nicolás Sáenz proposed to the Chilean government to purchase a collection of “Inca” objects brought from Lima. This acquisition was approved in 1897. Despite the difficulties caused by the War of the Pacific, the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural (Chile) continued to acquire Peruvian antiquities, following a tradition of comparative studies of material culture. Within the framework of social evolutionism, these antiquities were a measure of civilization, a reference from which to evaluate the material culture of the pre-Hispanic peoples of Chile. This article analyzes the acquisition of the Sáenz collection as the culmination of a process of transition towards an archeology that focused on the new post-war territorial acquisitions in the Pacific.