During the presentation of the XXXI International Cervantino Colloquium, the participating historians congratulated the archaeologist Eduardo Matos Moctezuma, recently announced as the winner of the Princess of Asturias Award for Social Sciences, while raising their voices about the abandonment of Mexican archeology and the contempt for the researcher emeritus of INAH by the Presidency of the Republic and the Ministry of Culture.
Dr. Jean Meyer made explicit his rejection of the disdain to which his colleague and friend has been subjected and explained that from his point of view, ignoring the award responds to how critical Matos Moctezuma has been of this government, and to the good relationship that exists between him and the country where the award comes from. And he gave some examples:
“Matos Moctezuma and his student Leonardo López Luján are representing archeology at the Mexican Academy of History, which is part of the Real de Madrid. At some point, in a mistaken conception of nationalism, it was proposed to remove that mention (by the government), and by opposing (Matos), our friend thereby earned the hostility of the Presidency. He also protested against the purely political and ideological manipulation of changing the date of the founding of Tenochtitlan”.
It is worth remembering that in September 2020, the federal government announced a series of events intended to commemorate 2021 as a key year in national history. The 500 years of the fall of Tenochtitlan and the first two centuries of the consummation of the Independence of Mexico. But surprisingly, the government introduced a third historical event in the commemorations: the 7 centuries of the founding of Mexico-Tenochtitlan.
The announcement caused a stir and fueled a debate that jumped from the academy to politics, also contradicting the textbooks, all without historical support, for which voices such as Matos Moctezuma condemned the fact as “an absurdity to use history politically.” .
The doctor Jean Mayer He added that he was also not forgiven for criticizing the strict application of Republican austerity to archaeology. Then came the defense of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) and the National School of Archeology and History (ENAH). “Our friend dared to say that he, being the director of the INAH would have resigned after the budget cuts, today there is barely a third (of the budget) than four years ago. Now by receiving the award, he has created yet another grievance.”
For his part, Dr. Christian Duverger assured that it is a great joy to know that Matos Moctezuma will receive the Princess of Asturias Award, “it is one of the most important awards in the literary and scientific world. That means that the role of Mexico abroad is seen in a very positive way”, but he assured that sometimes that feeling is lessened. “Sometimes Mexico does not realize the importance of this country at the international level.”
He said that this award also means support for archaeology. “My friend Eduardo for more than 50 years dedicated himself to archeology and today there is a kind of doubt about the importance of archeology.” He also denounced: “As the archaeologist of Monte Albán I had ten seasons of research, but everything was suspended due to the difficulty of obtaining support for this type of research.”
He added that “the fact that a great institution such as the Princess of Asturias Award appoints you is also supportive of what archeology represents, the search for the past, its knowledge and historical depth. It is important that large scientific institutions support this dimension”, she added.
Lastly, Dr. Emilie Carreon Blaineprofessor at UNAM and speaker at the Colloquium, assured that this award points to the need to further support the National School of Anthropology and History (ENAH), “there is a lot of romanticism about what the activity of archeology is, going out into the dust, dressed in white and digging. But the work of archeology is to process all this material and that takes a long time, that is why more support is needed, so that they are not ignored and even demonized, as they are considered centers of boiling and disagreement “
The archaeologist and anthropologist Eduardo Matos Montezuma was awarded the aforementioned award in recognition of “the extraordinary intellectual rigor to rebuild the civilizations of Mexico and Mesoamerica, and to ensure that said heritage is incorporated objectively and free of any myth,” said the jury.
With a background in the field of anthropology and, in particular, archaeology, he was the founder and director of the Templo Mayor Project and its site museum; also, director of the National Museum of Anthropology. Despite being part of the Presidency’s Science Advisory Council, a member of the Mexican Culture Seminar, the Mexican Society of Geography and Statistics, the Mexican Association of Writers and the Mexican Academy of History, nor the Ministry of Culture , nor the Presidency of the Republic have made mention of the award.
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