This vibrant biography follows the complex, captivating figure of Zelia Nuttall, a self-taught scholar of ancient Mesoamerica and a pioneer of modern anthropologyGrindle paints an indelible portrait of a woman both charming and challenging, whose boldness could slip easily into imperiousness, and whose zeal could lead her astray. * New Yorker * Zelia Nuttall was the first anthropologist to accurately decipher the Aztec calendar stone. In this first published biography of the pioneering social scientist, Merilee Grindle examines the then-new field of anthropology, which employed few women. She explores how Nuttalls dogged research contributed to our understanding of the history and culture of ancient Mexico. * Christian Science Monitor * Even now Nuttall lacks widespread recognition, but Grindles passionate book, including extensive research in Mexico, will ensure that she is never forgotten. -- Andrew Robinson * British Museum Magazine * Grindle unearths the story of the pioneering anthropologist Zelia Nuttall, whose study of Aztec culture and cosmology transformed our understanding of pre-Columbian Mexico. She was the first to accurately decode the Aztec stone calendar, and also rediscovered countless pre-Columbian texts previously thought to have been lostall the while juggling single motherhood with her career. * The Millions * This biography of Nuttalldoes justice to a remarkable but forgotten scholar. -- Andrew Robinson * Nature * Recounts the trailblazing story of archaeology Zelia NuttallThis book does an exemplary job of conveying this distinctive story of a single mother who accomplished many wondrous things in a world and era that were decidedly against her. -- Brian Renvall * Library Journal * What a woman! And what a fabulous life to unearth. Zelia Nuttall was incredibly smart, determined, a divorced single mother in a mans world, a great scholar, and an original thinkeryet today shes completely forgotten. Merilee Grindle has dug deep into the archives and uncovered her fascinating story. -- Andrea Wulf, author of The Invention of Nature Zelia Nuttall comes alive in all her fascinating contradictions in Merilee Grindles capable hands. Nuttall came of age in the nineteenth century and thought nothing of removing Mexicos antiquities, or supporting Porfirio Díaz. But she was also a world-traveling single mother who studied Nahuatl with a native speaker, convinced Franz Boas to take Mexican students, ferreted out a previously unknown pre-Columbian codex, made a leap forward in our understanding of the Mesoamerican calendar, and chose to spend her declining years in her beloved Mexico, her mothers native country. Grindles biography challenges our modern smugness and reminds us that our roots as scholars are more complex than we often acknowledge. -- Camilla Townsend, author of Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs Zelia Nuttall was a major figure in the rediscovery of ancient Mexico, yet today she is barely remembered. Merilee Grindle has marshaled an impressive amount of evidence to tell Nuttalls story afresh and restore her to her rightful place in the annals of anthropology. -- Toby Wilkinson, author of A World Beneath the Sands: The Golden Age of Egyptology As a teenager on a seemingly endless grand tour of Europe, Zelia Nuttall described her globe-trotting Californian family as wanderers in the highway of nations. In Merilee Grindles deft telling, we see Nuttall grow into a brilliant and focused interpreter of the secrets of ancient nations, a founder of the modern science of anthropology, a bold female traveler on times highway whose life story illuminates our twenty-first-century struggle to apprehend the ravages of civilization. -- Megan Marshall, Pulitzer Prizewinning author of Margaret Fuller: A New American Life and Elizabeth Bishop: A Miracle for Breakfast Zelia Nuttall was a pioneering anthropologist whose many contributions ranged from decoding a giant Aztec calendar to burnishing the reputation of the sixteenth-century English navigator Sir Francis Drake. In this beautifully crafted biography, Grindle situates Nuttalls work in Mexico in the lead-up to the 1910 revolution. Her research helped Mexicans understand their pre-Columbian national heritage, in its sophisticated engineering, gardening, artistry, and cosmology, as being as glorious as that of Mediterranean societies in the classical era. -- Richard Feinberg * Foreign Affairs * [ A] fascinating biography of Mexican-American anthropologist Zelia Nuttall[ whose work] helped shape the field of archaeology and the scientific study of the history of humankind in the AmericasDefying her cultural constrictions, she exerted a significant impact on the values and methodologies of institutions. -- Seonaid Valiant * ReVista * Grindle combines a rousing tale of archaeological discovery with an incisive description of how institutional marginalization occurs, tracing how Nuttalls legacy was ignored by subsequent generations of anthropologists. This enjoyable account restores to prominence an influential figure in her field. * Publishers Weekly * Grindle does not allow discursions into Nuttalls scholarly interests to slow down the strong narrative pace of her book. Specialised knowledge of a particular profession provides captivating details as our protagonist navigates the events and personalities of world history. -- Matthew Restall * History Today *
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