The beginnings and present of research on ancient American cultures in Slovakia and the activities of the Centre for Mesoamerican Studies at the Comenius University in Bratislava.

Keywords: Mesoamerica, research history, archaeology, anthropology, Slovakia

Abstract

Slovakia is a country founded in 1993, but currently it is one of the main European research centers of Mesoamerican cultures, especially the Maya. At first glance, it seems as if the current explosion of research and scientific activities has no continuity, and furthermore, few people outside Slovakia understand it in all its complexity. The purpose of the article is to try for the first time to chronologically systematize the interest in Native American cultures in the territory of Slovakia from the 16th century until the present. To show the predecessors, but above all the very dynamic context of the 20th century, when all the prerequisites were prepared for what happened after 1989. Subsequently, the origin and academic establishment of Mesoamerican studies in the country are analyzed, finally leading to in an extensive archaeological investigation in Guatemala. In particular, the activities of the Center for Mesoamerican Studies are analyzed, which is currently the main institutional framework of the entire process, academic, congress, museum and educational activities, which constitute the basis of the unusual dynamics of research. The interdisciplinarity, the continuity of anthropological research, but especially the main achievements of archaeological research will bring the reader closer to the key facts of the history and present of this discipline in Slovakia.

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Published
2022-12-31
How to Cite
Kováč, M. (2022). The beginnings and present of research on ancient American cultures in Slovakia and the activities of the Centre for Mesoamerican Studies at the Comenius University in Bratislava. Estudios Latinoamericanos, 42, 5–21. https://doi.org/10.36447/Estudios2022.v42.art1
Section
Primera Asamblea Europea de Arqueología de las Américas