Expedition Records The University of Pennsylvania Museum Archives is home to the archaeological records of the Museum's 1940 expedition to Sitio Conte, Panama. A comprehensive archival website of the famous excavation allows you to view these artifacts as well as all the field notes, letters, and photographs.
History of the Expedition When burials in Sitio Conte's ancient cemeteries began to be exposed by the shift of the river's course, the Conte family, owners of the land, recognized the importance of the site and invited scientific excavation. The Peabody Museum of Harvard University carried out the first investigations in the 1930s. In the spring of 1940, archaeologist J. Alden Mason, then curator in Penn Museum's American Section, led a Museum team to carry out three months of excavations.
Pictured Left: A view of the north side of Trench 2 shows the excavations of several burials, including Burial 11 in Sitio Conte, Panama. In the foreground are excavators John Mason, Julia Corning, and John Corning. Photo: Penn Museum. (Image# 36795.)
Expedition Director J. Alden Mason (1885-1967)
Curator of Penn Museum’s American Section from 1926 to 1955, J. Alden Mason was the archaeologist who led the Museum’s Panama Expedition in Sitio Conte in 1940. Dr. Mason and his team excavated numerous ancient burials in Sitio Conte, including “Burial 11,” the multi-grave burial that yielded the array of gold and ceramic artifacts in the River of Gold exhibition.
Dr. Mason’s archaeological work spanned across the United States and Mexico, and included key sites in Puerto Rico, Colombia, Panama and Guatemala. His fieldwork included extensive research in linguistics, ethnography and folklore.
A Philadelphia native, Dr. Mason received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania in 1907, where he also began his graduate studies. He continued his education at the University of California at Berkeley where he received his Ph.D. in 1911. Six years later, Mason became assistant curator at the Field Museum in Chicago. Mason then moved to the American Museum of Natural History in New York, returning to the University of Pennsylvania in 1925. During his term as Penn Museum’s Curator of the American Section, Dr. Mason contributed more than a hundred articles to scientific journals. He was president of the Society for American Archaeology in 1944, and editor of the American Anthropologist for several years in the 1940’s. Even after his official retirement in 1955, Dr. Mason continued his archaeological work. At 73, he was still excavating, in Chiapas, Mexico, and was archaeological adviser to the New World Archaeological Foundation, a position he held until his death.
Pictured Above:
J. Alden Mason, an American whose researches in linguistics, ethonography, archaeology and folklore spanned the Americas. Photo: Penn Museum. (Image# 54-50156.)
Pictured Left: A view of the north side of Trench 2 shows the excavations of several burials, including Burial 11 in Sitio Conte, Panama. In the foreground are excavators John Mason, Julia Corning, and John Corning. Photo: Penn Museum. (Image# 36795.)
A Philadelphia native, Dr. Mason received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania in 1907, where he also began his graduate studies. He continued his education at the University of California at Berkeley where he received his Ph.D. in 1911. Six years later, Mason became assistant curator at the Field Museum in Chicago. Mason then moved to the American Museum of Natural History in New York, returning to the University of Pennsylvania in 1925. During his term as Penn Museum’s Curator of the American Section, Dr. Mason contributed more than a hundred articles to scientific journals. He was president of the Society for American Archaeology in 1944, and editor of the American Anthropologist for several years in the 1940’s. Even after his official retirement in 1955, Dr. Mason continued his archaeological work. At 73, he was still excavating, in Chiapas, Mexico, and was archaeological adviser to the New World Archaeological Foundation, a position he held until his death.