(Re)Discovering the Olmec: National Geographic Society-Smithsonian Institution archaeological expeditions to Veracruz/Tabasco, 1939-1946

In this thesis, I examine from a comparative perspective eight National Geographic Society-Smithsonian Institution archaeological expeditions to Veracruz/Tabasco, Mexico, which took place between 1939 and 1946. The participating archaeologists--research leader Matthew Stirling, and assistants Clarence Weiant, Philip Drucker, and Waldo Wedel--carried out important fieldwork which produced the first significant body of information about Formative period Olmec civilization. Although the four archaeologists had in common an allegiance to the paradigm of culture history, they differed in their backgrounds, education, experience and objectives. I look at how such factors are reflected in the way the expeditions were constituted and carried out, demonstrating that the production of archaeological information is a complex, and sometimes fragmented, process which is affected by multiple factors, including the personal traits of investigators, individual and organizational agendas, the use of different methodologies, and the political and economic context of the excavations.