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Paper short abstract:

This paper outlines the rise and decline of the so-called Gothenburg school in Sweden under the leadership of Erland Nordenskiöld. Focus will be on his fieldwork and the use he made of ethnographical and archaeological collections.

Paper long abstract:

On 20 August 1924 the second part of the 21st International Congress of Americanists was opened in Gothenburg, Sweden, coinciding with the city's 300 year's anniversary. Papers pertaining to North and Central America had already been presented in The Hague, while lectures and discussions concerning Inuit and South America were organized in Gothenburg by Erland Nordenskiöld (1877-1932). In spite of an unstable world economy, with parts of Europe still suffering from unemployment, epidemics, and starvation, the Congress became a success. Nordenskiöld gained international recognition and the concept of a Nordenskiöld or Gothenburg school, sometimes also labelled as a Nordic school of ethnography, was born. In this presentation I will outline the development of anthropology in Sweden following Nordenskiöld's and Eric von Rosen's "Chaco-Cordillera-Expedition" in 1901-02. With emphasis on the collection of material objects, Nordenskiöld made additional ethnographical and archaeological field trips to various parts of South America in 1904, 1907, 1913 and 1926. A clear shift in his fieldwork style can be noted as he moved from a large scale expedition to making field studies on his own or with a single collaborator. As important and interesting, however, is how Nordenskiöld used the material collections at home, not only pioneering new ways of making exhibits, but transforming the museum into a laboratory. The use of metallurgy, mathematics, botany and cartograpics in combination with careful studies of old and rare reports and travel litterature resulted in his monumental serie publication Comparative Ethnographical Studies in ten volumes.