Thomas Barthel
Encyclopedia
Thomas Sylvester Barthel (January 4, 1923 Berlin
– April 3, 1997 Tübingen
) was a German ethnologist and epigrapher who is best known for cataloguing the undeciphered rongorongo
script of Easter Island
.
Barthel grew up in Berlin and graduated from secondary school in 1940. During the Second World War, he worked as a cryptographer for the Wehrmacht
. After the war he studied folklore, geography, and prehistory in Berlin, Hamburg, and Leipzig. He received his doctorate in Hamburg in 1952 with a thesis on Mayan writing. From 1953-1956 he was a Fellow of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
, in 1957 a lecturer in Hamburg, and from 4 July 1957 to 1 February 1958 he was a guest researcher with the Institute for Easter Island Studies at the University of Chile.
In order to document rongorongo, Barthel visited most of the museums which housed the tablets, of which he made pencil rubbing
s. With this data he compiled the first corpus of the script, which he published as Grundlagen zur Entzifferung der Osterinselschrift in 1958. He was the first scholar to correctly identify anything in the texts: He showed that two lines in the Mamari tablet encode calendrical information.
In 1959 Barthel became Associate Professor of Ethnology at the University of Tübingen, and from 1964-1988 he was Professor of Ethnology. His primary research was in the folklore of the Americas. He bequeathed his rongorongo data to the CEIPP
(Centre d'Études de l'Îles de Pâques et de la Polynésie), which is engaged in verifying and expanding on his work.
Barthel was also active in the mid-twentieth century attempts to decipher the Maya script
, the 'hieroglyphic' writing system of the pre-Columbian
Maya civilization
in Mesoamerica
. He was one of the first to analyse emblem glyphs in detail and in terms of their political and hierarchical associations. His proposed identification of four major or prime emblem glyphs was later expanded upon by Joyce Marcus
, and the Barthel-Marcus quadripartite partitioning of Classic era Maya sites into four regional capitals and an associated hierarchy of four levels of site importance, became an influential concept in Mayanist research.
Along with J. Eric S. Thompson
, Barthel was a strong critic of the "phonetic approach" to Maya decipherment, and held the view that the Maya script lacked phoneticism and did not constitute a "true" writing system. In particular, Barthel stood solidly against the phonetic decipherment methodology put forward in the early 1950s by the Russian epigrapher Yuri Knorozov, who like Barthel had also worked on both the Maya and rongorongo scripts. At a 1956 meeting of the International Congress of Americanists
in Copenhagen
attended by Knorozov, Barthel's criticism of the phonetic approach contributed to the continuing dismissal of Knorozov's ideas —ideas that would later be proved essentially correct when the phonetic approach championed by Knorozov provided the breakthrough in Maya decipherment from the 1970s onwards. Barthel and Knorozov would remain at-odds for the remainder of their respective careers.
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
– April 3, 1997 Tübingen
Tübingen
Tübingen is a traditional university town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, on a ridge between the Neckar and Ammer rivers.-Geography:...
) was a German ethnologist and epigrapher who is best known for cataloguing the undeciphered rongorongo
Rongorongo
Rongorongo is a system of glyphs discovered in the 19th century on Easter Island that appears to be writing or proto-writing. It cannot be read despite numerous attempts at decipherment. Although some calendrical and what might prove to be genealogical information has been identified, not even...
script of Easter Island
Easter Island
Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian triangle. A special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888, Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people...
.
Barthel grew up in Berlin and graduated from secondary school in 1940. During the Second World War, he worked as a cryptographer for the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
. After the war he studied folklore, geography, and prehistory in Berlin, Hamburg, and Leipzig. He received his doctorate in Hamburg in 1952 with a thesis on Mayan writing. From 1953-1956 he was a Fellow of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft is an important German research funding organization and the largest such organization in Europe.-Function:...
, in 1957 a lecturer in Hamburg, and from 4 July 1957 to 1 February 1958 he was a guest researcher with the Institute for Easter Island Studies at the University of Chile.
In order to document rongorongo, Barthel visited most of the museums which housed the tablets, of which he made pencil rubbing
Rubbing
Rubbing is a reproduction of the texture of a surface with something to deposit marks, most often created with Charcoal, Wax, Crayons, Chalk, or various forms of Blotted and Rolled Ink...
s. With this data he compiled the first corpus of the script, which he published as Grundlagen zur Entzifferung der Osterinselschrift in 1958. He was the first scholar to correctly identify anything in the texts: He showed that two lines in the Mamari tablet encode calendrical information.
In 1959 Barthel became Associate Professor of Ethnology at the University of Tübingen, and from 1964-1988 he was Professor of Ethnology. His primary research was in the folklore of the Americas. He bequeathed his rongorongo data to the CEIPP
CEIPP
The C.E.I.P.P., or the Centre d'Etudes sur l'île de Pâques et la Polynésie is a geographic and anthropological group created by André Valenta and Michel-Alain Jumeau.The CEIPP is notable for its members' publications on Easter Island, which include:*Nouveau Regard sur l'île de Pâques, a...
(Centre d'Études de l'Îles de Pâques et de la Polynésie), which is engaged in verifying and expanding on his work.
Barthel was also active in the mid-twentieth century attempts to decipher the Maya script
Maya script
The Maya script, also known as Maya glyphs or Maya hieroglyphs, is the writing system of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica, presently the only Mesoamerican writing system that has been substantially deciphered...
, the 'hieroglyphic' writing system of the pre-Columbian
Pre-Columbian
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...
Maya civilization
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
in Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...
. He was one of the first to analyse emblem glyphs in detail and in terms of their political and hierarchical associations. His proposed identification of four major or prime emblem glyphs was later expanded upon by Joyce Marcus
Joyce Marcus
Joyce Marcus is a well-known American archaeologist, who has published extensively in the field of Latin American archaeological research. Her particular focus has been on the pre-Columbian cultures and civilizations of Mesoamerica, where much of her fieldwork has been concentrated on the Maya...
, and the Barthel-Marcus quadripartite partitioning of Classic era Maya sites into four regional capitals and an associated hierarchy of four levels of site importance, became an influential concept in Mayanist research.
Along with J. Eric S. Thompson
J. Eric S. Thompson
Sir John Eric Sidney Thompson was an English Mesoamerican archeologist and epigrapher. His contributions to the understanding of Maya hieroglyphs lead him to be one of the foremost mid-20th century anthropological scholars. He was generally known as J. Eric S...
, Barthel was a strong critic of the "phonetic approach" to Maya decipherment, and held the view that the Maya script lacked phoneticism and did not constitute a "true" writing system. In particular, Barthel stood solidly against the phonetic decipherment methodology put forward in the early 1950s by the Russian epigrapher Yuri Knorozov, who like Barthel had also worked on both the Maya and rongorongo scripts. At a 1956 meeting of the International Congress of Americanists
International Congress of Americanists
The International Congress of Americanists is an international academic conference for research in multidisciplinary studies of the American Continent. Established August 25, 1875 in Nancy, France, the scholars' forum has met regularly since its inception, presently in three year increments. Its...
in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
attended by Knorozov, Barthel's criticism of the phonetic approach contributed to the continuing dismissal of Knorozov's ideas —ideas that would later be proved essentially correct when the phonetic approach championed by Knorozov provided the breakthrough in Maya decipherment from the 1970s onwards. Barthel and Knorozov would remain at-odds for the remainder of their respective careers.
Published works
- 1958a. Grundlagen zur Entzifferung der Osterinselschrift. Hamburg : Cram, de Gruyter.
- 1958b. "The 'Talking Boards' of Easter Island." Scientific American, 198:61-68
- 1971. Pre-contact Writing in Oceania. In: Current Trends in Linguistics 8:1165-1186. Den Haag, Paris: Mouton.
- 1978. The Eighth Land: The Polynesian Discovery & Settlement of Easter Island. Honolulu: the University Press of Hawaii.
- 1990. "Wege durch die Nacht (Rongorongo-Studien auf dem Santiagostab)", in Esen-Baur, Heide-Margaret (ed.), State and Perspectives of Scientific Research in Easter Island Culture. Courier Forschungsinstitute Senckeberg 125. Frankfurt am Mein: Senckenbergische Naturforschende Gesellschaft, 73-112. ISBN 3-510-61140-3