Address:
Centre for Collection Development
Weender Landstraße 2
37073 Göttingen
Opening hours: no public exhibition
Websit: www.uni-goettingen.de/sammlung-raddatz
Contact:
Centre for Collection Development
Christine Nawa
+49 551 39-26696
nawa@kustodie.uni-goettingen.de
Collection history:
In 2016, the University of Göttingen received a collection of around 300 pre-Columbian artefacts from the estate of the agricultural scientist Erich Carl Raddatz (1924-2010). These are objects from the time before the 'discovery' of America by Christopher Columbus and were found on the territory of the present-day state of Colombia.
The collection mainly contains objects from two archaeological complexes in southern Colombia, known as Tumaco and Nariño. Their sphere of influence extended beyond the borders of present-day Colombia and can also be traced in present-day Ecuador, where the Tumaco culture is known as La Tolita.
The majority of the approximately 140 Tumaco/La Tolita objects in the Raddatz Collection were probably created between 350 BC and 350 AD and consist of figurines and figurine fragments typical of this culture.
With around 55 objects, the Nariño culture (ca. 800 to 1600 AD) is the second largest group in the collection. The ceramics in this group cover a wider range and include figurines, amphorae, bowls and musical instruments.
Smaller groups in the collection consist of artefacts from the Calima culture (approx. 100 to 1600 A.D.), including, in particular, double spout (alcarraza) vessels. Individual objects can be attributed to the Tairona (approx. 500 to 1600 AD) and the Quimbaya (500 BC to 100 AD). There are also urns in the Tamalameque and Mosquito styles as well as stone sculptures (presumably replicas) from San Augustín (approx. 500 to 1100 AD). Some objects in the collection cannot be clearly categorised by style. These also include various stone and shell necklaces and a few gold objects.
Total number of objects:
291
Status of digitisation:
The collection has been completely digitised in the Göttingen collection database and documented photographically.
