Collection consist of films documenting archaeological field work in the Tennessee and Arizona, Zuni pueblo and the surrounding landscape in New Mexico, and Chichen Itza in Mexico. Films comprise part of MS 4851 Frank Harold Hanna Roberts, Jr., papers and photographs in the National Anthropological Archives.
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or Anthropology Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
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The collection is open for research. Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the Human Studies Film Archives may not be played.
Transferred from the National Anthropological Archives in 1986.
The National Anthropological Archives holds MS 4851 Frank Harold Hanna Roberts, Jr., papers and photographs.
Frank Harold Hanna Roberts, Jr. films, Human Studies Film Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Titles are supplied by the archivist for untitled films.
Footage documenting archaeological excavations in the Whitewater District of Eastern Arizona. The excavation sites in the films are located three miles south of Allantown, above the Whitewater Valley. Film records the work of both Navajo and Zuni Native Americans in the excavation of the site. The site is thought to have been occupied from Basketmaker III through Pueblo III as determined by pottery styles and structure design.
Footage includes excavation of human burial site and human skeletal remains.
HSFA 1986.12.3
Frank Roberts' Footage of Zuni, New Mexico, circa 1931
Footage taken of the Zuni Pueblo, western New Mexico, and the surrounding landscape. The film records the structure and layout of the pueblos in relation to the surrounding buttes and river valley. Also included is brief footage of the Zuni people. Occupation of the Zuni River Valley is thought to have begun in the AD 300s, however, construction of the large pueblo complexes did not begin until the 13th century. Historical evidence for these pueblos dates back to the 16th century with the records of Cabeza de Vaca.
HSFA 1986.12.5
Footage documenting Classic Maya ruins at Chichen Itza, Mexico. Chichen Itza was occupied by the Maya from the 7th through 15th centuries AD. Film includes footage of the Temple of the Jaguar, El Castillo, El Caracol (the observatory), the Temple of Warriors, Ball Court, Nunnery and its Annex, and the Temple of the Wall Panels. Also included is reconstruction work, on an unidentifiable structure in the Series of the Thousand Columns. There are several structures on which heiroglyphic writing as well as both Mayan and Toltec-influenced designs are visible.
HSFA 1986.12.4
Footage documenting the excavation of Native American house mounds on the Shiloh Battlefield in Tennessee. Over one hundred men were employed in these large-scale mound excavations which were supervised by Frank H.H. Roberts. The film shows excavation techniques in addition to the discovery of several structures and burials.
HSFA 1986.12.2