Lecture | Faculty Lecture
Archaeology in the Dealer’s Archive
- Date
- Tuesday 7 April 2026
- Time
- Address
-
Van Steenis
Einsteinweg 2
2333 CC Leiden - Room
- Reuvens Hall (main hall Van Steenis)
Abstract
Many archaeologists rightly maintain a “bright line” between scientific excavation and the art market. However, what might we learn about archaeology from dealers’ archives? Focusing on the Stendahl Art Galleries in Panama and Costa Rica during the 1950s, this talk argues for the potential of transforming the dealer archive into a vital site of historical reconstruction.
By performing “archaeology in the archive,” we can identify places of origin for looted and excavated objects whose sources have been obscured; locate items lost to private and museum collections; and reconnect Indigenous assemblages that the market physically dispersed. In fact, the commercial record may supplement the archaeological record and fill epistemic gaps by recovering memory for Indigenous artworks that were severed from their contexts and communities. This research also exposes varying perceptions of these objects over time and as such contributes to critical historiographies of archaeology, art history, and museums.
About the speaker
Megan E. O'Neil, Associate Professor of Art History at Emory University, is a Fulbright Scholar and Guest Researcher in Leiden University’s Faculty of Archaeology. She received her B.A. in Archaeological Studies from Yale College, M.A. in Art History from the University of Texas at Austin, and Ph.D. in History of Art from Yale, and has worked as a professor and museum curator.
One area of research examines ancient Maya creation of and engagement with stone sculptures and other materials, explored in books and essays addressing topics such as manufacture, iconoclasm, touch and tactility, and materiality. Dr O'Neil also investigates histories of collecting, exhibiting, and engagement with Mesoamerican art. Her current book project addresses the pre-Hispanic art market from the late 1930s to 1960s, highlighting trends in the market in relation to the historiography of Mesoamerica, disciplines of art history and archaeology, and histories of museums.