Nordenskiöld, Erland (1877-1932)
Erland Nordenskiöld (1877–1932), born in Sweden, was a prominent Nordic anthropologist, internationally renowned as an expert on the indigenous cultures and societies of Latin America. Between 1899 and 1927 he undertook six expeditions to different parts of this region (Patagonia, Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, etc.), reorienting his interest from zoology to ethnography and archaeology following his encounter with the indigenous populations of the Pilcomayo River in 1902. He contributed significantly to the development of the discipline in his country as head of the Ethnographic Department at the Museum of Gothenburg as well as eventually obtaining a professorship in 1924 in ethnography at the University of Gothenburg, the first of its kind in Sweden.
Keywords: Diffusionism | Salvage ethnography | Ethnography | Museum curator | First half of the 20th century | Sweden | Amerindian studies | Precolombian Archaeology | Americanism | Material culture | Cultural diffusion | Ethnology Museum | Mapping
Secondary sources