Ignacio Bernal (February 13, 1910 in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

- January 24, 1992 in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

) was an eminent

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms an ...

and

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

. Bernal excavated much of

Monte Albán Monte Albán is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site in the Santa Cruz Xoxocotlán Municipality in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca (17.043° N, 96.767°W). The site is located on a low mountainous range rising above the plain in th ...

, originally starting as a student of Alfonso Caso, and later led major archeological projects at

Teotihuacan Teotihuacan ( Spanish: ''Teotihuacán'') (; ) is an ancient Mesoamerican city located in a sub-valley of the Valley of Mexico, which is located in the State of Mexico, northeast of modern-day Mexico City. Teotihuacan is known today as ...

. In 1965 he excavated

Dainzú Dainzú is a Zapotec archaeological site located in the eastern side of the Valles Centrales de Oaxaca, about 20 km south-east of the city of Oaxaca, Oaxaca State, Mexico. It is an ancient village near to and contemporary with Monte Alb ...

.Dainzú at INAH (in Spanish)
/ref> He was the director of Mexico's National Museum of Anthropology 1962-68 and again 1970–77. In 1965, he was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

. Bernal was awarded the Premio Nacional in 1969. He was a founding member of the Third World Academy of Sciences in 1983.

Biography

Bernal was the son of Rafael and Rafaela (Garcia Pimentel) Bernal. He married Sofia Verea on October 14, 1944 and had four children: Ignacio, Rafaela, Carlos, and Concepcion. He received his M.A. from the Escuela Nacional de Antropologia, Mexico in 1946 and his Ph.D. from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico in 1949. His younger brother was the novelist

Rafael Bernal Rafael Bernal (28 June 1915 – 17 September 1972) was a Mexican diplomat and novelist, best known for his crime novels, particularly ''The Mongolian Conspiracy''. Bernal wrote a book titled ''México en Filipinas: estudio de una transcultur ...

Books

Bernal's many publications include: *''Ancient Mexico in Colour'' (1979) * ''A History of Mexican Archaeology: the Vanished Civilizations of Middle America'' (1980). London, Thames and Hudson. *''Mexico Before Cortez: Art, History, Legend'' (1963) * ''The Mexican National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico'' (1968) * ''The Olmec World''. Berkeley, University of California Press. (1969) and * Paddock, J., & Bernal, I. (1966). ''Ancient Oaxaca; Discoveries in Mexican Archeology and History''. Stanford, Calif, Stanford University Press.

Awards

* H.H.D., University of Americas * L.H.D. (Doctor of Humane Letters), University of California, Berkeley * LL.D. (Doctor of Laws), St. Mary's University * National Science Award, Mexico

References

External links

Bio details, Colegio Nacional

1910 births 1992 deaths 20th-century Mesoamericanists Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Members of El Colegio Nacional (Mexico) Mesoamerican archaeologists Mexican anthropologists Mexican Mesoamericanists Mixtec scholars Teotihuacan scholars Zapotec scholars Mexican archaeologists TWAS fellows 20th-century archaeologists 20th-century anthropologists Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy Mexican expatriates in France {{mesoamerica-stub