The National Institute of Anthropology and Latin American Thought
( es, Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano; INAPL) is an Argentine government agency dedicated to preserving national
cultural
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tylor ...
and
archeological
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes ...
heritage. It is a part of
Argentina's ministry of culture.
The institute has been involved in multiple projects. Among these are the preservation of
rock art sites including
Cueva de las Manos
Cueva de las Manos ( Spanish for Cave of the Hands or Cave of Hands) is a cave and complex of rock art sites in the province of Santa Cruz, Argentina, south of the town of Perito Moreno. It is named for the hundreds of paintings of hands st ...
and the study of
HMS Swift (1763), a British ship that sank off the coast of
Puerto Deseado in 1770. It also runs the National Museum of Man in Argentina.
Organization
The INAPL is a government agency of
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...
, and is part of
Argentina's ministry of culture.
Mission and function
The INAPL is dedicated to preserving national cultural and
archeological
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes ...
heritage.
As such, the primary focus of the institute is the documentation, preservation, and recovery of
cultural heritage, be it physical or non-physical.
The institute carries out research in the areas of archaeology,
anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...
, and
folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, r ...
.
In keeping with their mission, they also give recommendations and alternative proposals on regional economic and socio-cultural development.
One of the programs of the INAPL is to preserve
rock art sites and save them from deterioration and destruction.
This program has been in place since 1995.
Of these sites,
Cueva de las Manos
Cueva de las Manos ( Spanish for Cave of the Hands or Cave of Hands) is a cave and complex of rock art sites in the province of Santa Cruz, Argentina, south of the town of Perito Moreno. It is named for the hundreds of paintings of hands st ...
has been given top priority.
History
The INAPL was created on December 20, 1943.
It was created at the behest of Juan Alfonso Carrizo, who would become the institute's first director.
The institute has had several names over the course of its existence; the first of these was The National Institute of Tradition assigned at its founding in 1943.
In the words of Briones and Guber, the institute was later renamed for political reasons to "the National Institute of Philology and Folklore in 1955, the National Institute of Folkloric Research in 1960, the National Institute of Anthropology in 1964, and
inallythe National Institute of Anthropology and Latin American Thought in 1992."
Current and former projects
Among the institute's current and former projects is the study of
HMS Swift (1763), a British ship that sank off of the coast of
Puerto Deseado in 1770.
The discovery and investigation of the ship was one of the first taken on by the INAPL's newly created
underwater archaeology
Underwater archaeology is archaeology practiced underwater. As with all other branches of archaeology, it evolved from its roots in pre-history and in the classical era to include sites from the historical and industrial eras. Its acceptance has ...
program in Argentina, which was formed in 1995.
The INAPL, along with the
National Scientific and Technical Research Council
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, c ...
(CONICET), is also a major sponsor of the DocAnt film festival, the oldest currently-running anthropological film festival in Latin America. The INAPL runs the National Museum of Man in Argentina.
Notable members
* Sandra Analía Guillermo—recipient of the John L. Cotter Award in
Historical Archaeology
Historical archaeology is a form of archaeology dealing with places, things, and issues from the past or present when written records and oral traditions can inform and contextualize cultural material. These records can both complement and conflict ...
See also
* The
National Scientific and Technical Research Council
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, c ...
(CONICET)—an Argentine organization that works closely with the INAPL
References
External links
*
Open access publications of the INAPL
Scientific organisations based in Argentina
Government agencies of Argentina
Research councils
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