The guardian Modesto González and the historiography of Mexican archaeology

Abstract

The historiography of Mexican archaeology tends to focus on the findings and interpretations of well-known archaeologists; such has been the case for the archaeological site of El Tajín, Veracruz. Recent research in the history of archaeology has analyzed the sociohistorical contexts of the discipline, including the roles of workers. In this article, I employ theoretical tools developed by Michel-Rolph Trouillot to analyze the life and work of site guard Modesto González (c. 1890-1971), one of the first federal employees to work in El Tajín. Based on archival and ethnographic research conducted between 2016-2017, I elaborate a narrative about González’s life, his work as a guard at El Tajín, his contributions to Mexican anthropology, and his beliefs about the archaeological site. From there, I explore Modesto González’s silence in El Tajín’s historiography, as a means of reflecting on the silences present in the historiography of Mexican archaeology. I conclude with proposals to advance analyses of workers in the historiography of archaeology. Keywords: History of science; history of archaeology; Mexican archaeology; El Tajín; archaeological labor.