Jane MacLaren Walsh explained

Jane MacLaren Walsh
Fields:	Anthropology, Archaeology
Workplaces:	National Museum of Natural History
Alma Mater:	M.A. University of the Americas, Ph.D. Catholic University of America
Known For:	pre-Columbian artifact curating and investigations

Jane MacLaren Walsh is an anthropologist and researcher at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.^[1] She is known for her role in exposing faked pre-Columbian artifacts.

Early life and education

Walsh grew up in Mexico and studied at the University of the Americas for B.A. and M.A. degrees.^[2] She received her Ph.D. in Anthropology at Catholic University of America with the doctoral thesis "Myth and imagination in the American story : the Coronado expedition, 1540-1542."^[3]

Career

Walsh's research specialty is crystal skulls, an artifact type often purported to be of Precolumbian origin and frequently revealed as hoaxes by archaeologists. Her interest in these objects began with the anonymous delivery of one such object to the Smithsonian in 1992.^[4]

Notable cases she has investigated include crystal skulls alleged to have been of ancient Mesoamerican (mostly Aztec) origins, and a piece held by the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection purported to be an authentic pre-Columbian representation of Tlazolteotl, an Aztec and central Mexican goddess.^[5]

Selected works

• Book: none . Walsh, Jane MacLaren . 1997 . Crystal skulls and other problems: or, "don't look it in the eye" . Exhibiting Dilemmas: Issues of Representation at the Smithsonian . Amy Henderson . Adrienne L. Kaeppler . Adrienne L. Kaeppler . Washington, DC . . 1-56098-690-5 . 34598037 . registration .
• none . Walsh, Jane MacLaren . Spring 2005 . What is Real? A New Look at PreColumbian Mesoamerican Collections . AnthroNotes: Museum of Natural History Publication for Educators . PDF online publication . 26 . 1 . 1–7, 17–19. Washington, DC . Smithsonian Institution and the National Museum of Natural History Anthropology Outreach Office . 10.5479/10088/22411 . 1548-6680 . 8029636.
• none . Walsh, Jane MacLaren . 2008a . Legend of the Crystal Skulls . . online edition . 61 . 3 . 36–41 . New York . . 0003-8113 . 1481828 . the Tlazolteotl idol, like the crystal skulls, is a nineteenth-century fake. . 2009-08-12 . 2011-01-11 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110111144411/http://www.archaeology.org/0805/etc/indy.html . dead .
• none . Walsh, Jane MacLaren . 2008b. La Tlazolteotl de Dumbarton Oaks: un regard sous la surface . The Dumbarton Oaks Tlazolteotl: looking beneath the surface . English abstract . . Paris. . 94. 1 . 7–43 . 10.4000/jsa.8623 . 2009-07-20. fr.
• Book: none . Walsh, Jane MacLaren . Brett Topping . 2019 . The Man Who Invented Aztec Crystal Skulls: The Adventures of Eugène Boban . New York and Oxford . . 978-1-78920-095-9.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Walsh, Jane. 2020-06-25. profiles.si.edu.
2. Web site: 2008-05-22. The Real-Life Indiana Jones Is a Lesbian. 2020-06-25. www.advocate.com. en.
3. Book: Walsh, Jane MacLaren. Myth and Imagination in the American Story: The Coronado Expedition, 1540-1542. Catholic University of America. 1993.
4. See Walsh's retelling of the incident in an article published in Archaeology magazine (Walsh 2008a).
5. Walsh (2008a; 2008b)