CONTRIBUTIONS OF KARL HERMANN BERENDT
TO CENTRAL AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGY
Elizabeth F. Wolfe
Department of Anthropology
University of California
Berkeley, California
Introduction
From the mid 1850's to his death in 1878, Karl Hermann
Berendt persevered in his field studies of Central American
Indian languages, literature, ethnology, folklore, and ar-
chaeology while carrying out cartographic and meteorologic
surveys and collecting specimens of natural history for
museums. He succeeded in discovering, copying and obtaining
more early native manuscripts from Central America than any
other single individual. Often retracing his steps, his un-
tiring explorations covered the vast and unhealthy expanses
of Coastal Veracruz and Tabasco, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec,
the Maya Lowlands and Highlands of Guatemala, Belize and the
off-shore Caribbean islands, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.
Since only a small fragment of his findings have ever appeared
in print, the name of Karl Hermann Berendt is today almost un-
known among most anthropologists.
The purpose of this study is to reconstruct his life and
labors and then evaluate the extent and the enduring quality
of his contributions to the anthropology of Central America.
In order to appreciate the circumstances under which Berendt
became fully involved in his explorations, it is worthwhile
to comment on the prevailing scientific opportunities of his
time.
In the late 19th Century, predominantly amateur under-
takings in explorations gave way to programs financially
supported by scientific institutions. This situation offered
opportunities to those scholastically minded individuals who
otherwise did not possess the means to participate in long
years of field research. In return for this patronage, the
institutions were eager to receive new scientific information
and specimens for their museum collections. These scientific
2
programs were still very eclectic, usually combining geographic,
natural history and ethnographic investigations. It is hardly
surprising therefore that the opportunity attracted no spec-
ialists, but rather those of a more conventional academic
background--medicine, philosophy, law--who nevertheless nur-
tured a great interest in their explorations of new lands
and peoples. More often than not, during the field exper-
iences these explorers realized their true vocation, and at
the expense of their original profession, became outstanding
specialists in their new field of enquiry. One such indivi-
dual was Karl Hermann Berendt.
Biographical Notes
Berendt was born in Danzig, Prussia in 1817. His grand-
father and father were physicians, but also were great natur-
alists. The latter attribute was exemplified by the fact
that together they succeeded in accumulating the world's
largest collection of amber containing organic remains, which
today, under the name of the Berendt Collection, is the prop-
erty of the Berlin Museum. The young Karl Hermann followed
the family traditions. He studied at Konigsberg, Heidelberg,
Freiburg and Breslau Universities and obtained his diploma in
medicine in 1842. In the following year, he was appointed as
private docent at the University of Breslau. During the first
years of his medical practice, he also visited the Universi-
ties of Halle and Prague, gaining experience while serving as
a volunteer assistant in hospitals and mental asylums.
During the 1848-49 Revolution, Berendt became involved
in the constitutionalist political movement and became a dep-
uty member of the Vor-Parliament in Frankfurt am Main. About
this time he married, and hoped to settle down to private
practice. However, he was hindered in his expectations by his
political past. His university connections were severed and
even his private practice was so strongly jeopardized that
he resolved to emigrate to America.
In 1851, he arrived in New York with his wife and two
young children. Their stay was very short and soon the family
proceeded to Nicaragua. He practised medicine in Masaya,
where he became interested in native cultures. Due to civil
unrest, however, they left Nicaragua in 1853 and settled in
Orizaba, Mexico. There again, he practised medicine but also
began to make excursions to the Gulf Coast. As these excur-
sions became more and more lengthy, he moved with his family
to the port town of Veracruz in 1855. The climatic changes,
social disturbances and health hazards proved difficult for
his family. Subsequently, his wife and family returned to
3
Germany. Berendt, although already infected with yellow
fever, stayed behind to work on his project of mapping the
coast of Veracruz and studying Mexican prehistory. He often
exchanged ideas with his countryman, Hermann Strebel, who was
similarly inclined in his interest in the Indian cultures.
Through Strebel, Berendt came into contact with the Smith-
sonian Institute and committed himself to collecting spec-
imens for the natural history museum.
Berendt's most decisive experience was his first trip to
Yucatan in 1858, when he retraced the footsteps of John Lloyd
Stephens and Frederick Catherwood in his visits to the Mayan
ruins. In Merida, he was forunate enough to copy important
native manuscripts in the Mayan language. At about this time,
Berendt fully abandoned his medical practice in favor of his
anthropological investigations.
The continuing political unrest in Veracruz posed a threat
to his life and his collections (his house was demolished by
bombs), and he felt compelled to move again. He hoped to
settle in Laguna de Terminos in 1862, but the war followed
him there also, thus he soon left for the more peaceful town
of San Juan Bautista de Tabasco. To assure the safety of
his manuscripts, he sent a shipment to New York, another to
Germany (the latter was unfortunately lost in transit).
Meanwhile, he began forwarding specimen collections to Profes-
sors Spencer F. Baird and Joseph Henry of the Smithsonian
Institution.
In 1863, Berendt himself travelled to the United States
planning to study manuscripts at the John Carter Brown Library
in Providence, Rhode Island.  He was particularly interested
in a 16th Century Maya (Yucatec) dictionary, originally from
the convent of Motul.  He copied this long text and enlarged
it with his own entries based on the previous studies in
Merida.  In New York, he met and conferred with the Abbe
Brasseur de Bourbourg, the discoverer of the dictionary. In
Boston, he discussed his observations on Central American
natural history with Luis Agassiz.
In 1865, the Smithsonian Institution entrusted Berendt
with the exploration of the Peten. He was given two hunters
and equipment. He arrived in Belize in December, 1865.
Through the negligence of his assistants, the money and
equipment were soon stolen, yet he persevered with the under-
taking. In Belize, he found and copied several manuscripts
in native languages. Having made the acquaintance of the
Rev. Alexander Henderson, a student of the coastal languages,
Berendt could again increase his linguistic knowledge with
the vocabularies from Carib, Misquito and Maya dialects. He
also participated in a meteorological survey, collected rep-
tile specimens, and did cartographic work wherever he went.
4
While mapping the course of the Belize River and its tribu-
taries, he eventually reached the headwaters on the wide
plain bordered by the lake Chaltuna' (Lake Peten).   In Flores,
Pet6n, he studied and recorded the dialect of the Itza". Ex-
tensive ethnographic studies were made on the Pete'n and La-
candon Indians. Here Berendt adopted a little East Lacandon
boy, Jose Sabino Uc, for whom he cared from that time on.
He planned to terminate his survey of the Lowlands by October,
1866, but political conditions prevented him from keeping his
original itinerary. Travelling across the uncharted wilderness
without provisions, Berendt managed, with his manuscripts
intact, to arrive in Tabasco in April, 1867. He soon pro-
ceeded to the United States to report to the Smithsonian
Institution.
Berendt also visited the Peabody Museum in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, where he was urged to return to Yucatan in
search of more Mayan manuscripts, which the Museum wished to
purchase. Later in the year Berendt returned to Merida and
was fortunate to copy more valuable Mayan documents. He also
studied the Indian populations, the natural history of Yucatan,
cultivation of crops and the antiquities.   In 1868, we find
him again on the Tabasco Coast progressing with his carto-
graphic survey.   Later, he visited Palenque, Chiapa de Corzo,
San Cristobal, Ocosingo, Comitan in pursuit of more native
documents, antiquities and his linguistic studies.    During
this period, he completed the district map of the Usumacinta
River Basin. Later, he settled in Tuxtla for a short time,
making frequent excursions within the vicinity. He was so
absorbed in his researches that he totally lost touch with the
outside world. His friends interpreted his disappearance as
his demise, and Padre Carrillo y Ancona (later Bishop of
Yucatan) had written his obituary. The reality was probably
not too far from his friend's assumption, for Berendt was
seriously ill with repeated attacks of yellow fever, which
took the lives of six of his helpers. From Tuxtla, however,
he went back to San Juan Tabasco and continued his explor-
ations on the Gulf Coast in 1869-70.
Berendt returned to Yucatan in late 1870. In Merida,
he once more met the AbbeS Brasseur.  This visit was Berendt's
time of realization of his vocation, for he now made his
studies of Maya languages the focal point in his broad
ranging interests. Despite ill health and nostalgia for his
native land and family, he resolved to remain in Yucatan.
There he completed the Perez dictionary of the Maya language.
In 1871, Berendt travelled again to the United States,
stopping in New Orleans, Providence and New York. His ac-
quaintance with Daniel Brinton began then. He sold his
large manuscript collection to him; these valuable manuscripts
then remained in Brinton's sole possession until his death
5
in 1889. Brinton bequeathed the collection to the University
of Pennsylvania Museum Library, where the documents remained
catalogued under the name of Berendt Linguistic Collection.
Berendt spent much time in Providence studying, copying and
writing. In 1873, through his cousin, Alexander von Frant-
zius, he was named a corresponding member of the Berliner
Gesellschaft fur Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte.
With this, he established his ties with the world of German
Anthropology. During his stay in the United States, his
health continued to suffer greatly.
Berendt once more returned to Nicaragua in 1874, visit-
ing the already known and beloved cities of Masaya, Leon
and Granada. Most of his researches in Lower Central America
belong to this period, when he also visited Costa Rica,
Panama and Honduras.
In 1875, he was called to Guatemala. While preparing
for the move he came upon a trunk full of Western Nicaraguan
antiquities which were believed lost. The find included
items from the Island of Ometepe. Through von Frantzius
these were sold to the Berlin Museum. In Coban, Guatemala,
where Berendt enjoyed the hospitality of the American Consul,
Francis Sarg, he decided to make his permanent home. Indeed,
in the following year he purchased a small coffee plantation
in the vicinity. His hopes for more permanency were further
strengthened, when Prof. Bastian of the Berlin Museum ex-
pressed interest in setting up archaeological excavations in
Guatemala. Berendt met him in New York, where plans for
the future were discussed. A Berlin funded program was init-
iated to excavate the ruins of Santa Lucia Cozumalhuapa on
the Pacific Coast of Guatemala, with Berendt in charge. In
the company of Bastian, Berendt visited Washington, D.C. and
Philadelphia. In the latter city, Berendt examined the man-
uscripts of the Philosophical Society Library. Returning
to New York, Berendt had the privilege of giving an address
at a festive meeting of the Geographical Society of New York
to honor Dom Pedro, Emperor of Brazil.
He journied back to Guatemala in 1877 to commence the
survey preceding the excavations of the Santa Lucia Cozumal-
huapa site.  Having traced several monuments, he took many
measurements and made drawings of the stone carvings. His
reports met with the approval of Bastian. Completing the
first phase of the excavation, Berendt returned to Coban.
The hot, humid climate of the Pacific Coast further under-
mined his already weak constitution. He was, however, at
this time also commissioned by the Sociedad Economica de
Guatemala to write a book on the Indian tribes of Guatemala.
He accepted this with great enthusiasm and began work im-
mediately. His ill health, however, necessitated the assis-
6
tance of Prof. Erwin Rockstroh of the Instituto Nacional de
Guatemala. He attempted to return to his archaeological com-
mitment in the Spring of 1878, but the fever prevented him
from reaching the site. He was taken back to his home in
Coban, where his illness reached the critical stage and he
died. His valuable books and manuscripts, filling five
boxes, were forwarded to the Smithsonian Institution.
Research in Central America
Since the middle of the 19th Century, there has existed
a growing public interest in the prehispanic cultures of
Central America, thanks to the excellent narratives of
Stephens, Ephraim George Squier and others. However, the
anthropology of these regions at the time of Berendt's re-
searches was still virtually unknown. The Central American
officials' attitudes toward their prehispanic cultural heri-
tage and its preservation differed sharply from the Mexicans'.
Although the Aztec empire was soon destroyed after the first
Spanish contact, through the more enlightened policies of
Viceroy Mendoza and others, many Mexican cultural traditions
were recorded before they could fall into oblivion. No such
"Golden Age of the Chronicles" ever dawned on the rest of
colonial Central America, despite the fact that its area
nurtured the most developed aboriginal literary tradition in
the entire Americas. Nevertheless, the Indian literary tra-
ditions persevered in colonial Yucatan, Chiapas and Guate-
mala. These were perpetuated by the native nobility, who
having acquired the skills of European writing, left multi-
tudes of documents in their native languages, recording within
them their cultural origins, mythology, prehistory and other
traditions. Some of these manuscripts were jealously guarded
by the elders of the towns through the centuries, while others
found their way to mission or civil archives. These manu-
scripts are invaluable tools for the reconstruction efforts of
linguists and ethnohistorians.
It is important to note that from the earliest days of
his explorations, Berendt fully recognized the immense re-
search potential in these documents and concentrated his
energies in locating the earliest and "purest" aboriginal
writings. He himself made great advances in the learning of
many Indian languages and always sought to combine his lin-
guistic researches with ethnographic data.
It seems best to divide Berendt's researches according
to the cultural-geographical divisions of Central America.
He visited practically every corner of these lands, often
7
returning to the same area more than once.
(a) The Maya Lowlands
Berendt made at least four visits to Yucatan. He in-
tensively studied the Maya2 (i.e., Yucatec) dialects by ac-
tually living in the villages that were relatively isolated
from European influences. In Merida, he discovered a very
important native manuscript collection which had been as-
sembled by the late Juan Pio Perez (1798-1859), which repre-
sented the accumulation of the lifelong researches of this
first truly modern Yucatec scholar.3 Bishop Carrillo y
Ancona honored the Perez tradition regarding the importance
of Mayan studies by naming the collection "Codex Perez."4
The manuscript collection contained the copy of the Books
of Chilam Balam, which were discovered and first recorded
by Perez. Berendt copied all important documents of the
Codex Perez and this material later formed a vital part of
the Berendt Linguistic Collection. By faithfully copying
the texts, Berendt not only made them known outside of Yuc-
atan but inadvertently salvaged many, as the Codex Perez was
subsequently dispersed and part of its content lost.
During his adult life, Perez diligently worked on a
dictionary of the Maya language. His work was based on the
Padre Beltran vocabulary and grammar (1740), several smaller
ecclesiastic works written in Maya, and on the dictionaries
of Ticul (1690) and the Grand Convent of San Francisco (nd).5
Since the death of Perez prevented the completion of the
dictionary, the work had to wait the arrival of a competent
scholar. In 1870, Berendt finished the task, not only adding
the remaining entries, but also editing and enlarging the
entire work. That he was able to do so was the result of
his penetrating studies of the Maya language, in particular
his work with the 16th Century Motul dictionary of the John
Carter Brown Library in Providence, Rhode Island.6
Berendt combined linguistic studies with ethnographic
research;7 he also published a monograph on the cultivation
of henequen (Berendt 1871b).
He visited the Crown Colony of British Honduras and the
southern Maya Lowlands (Petgn) under the auspices of the
Smithsonian expedition. Detailed reports of his activities
were given subsequently to the expedition (Berendt 1867).
In Belize, through the courtesy of the Rev. Henderson,8 a
missionary and linguist, he obtained vocabularies of Carib,
Misquito and Maya dialects spoken on the Caribbean Coast
and offshore islands. He recorded the Maya dialects of a
8
newly arrived group, who originated from Balacar Yucatan. In
Peten, similarly, he recorded languages spoken by the Itza,
Lacandon and other Maya groups.9 Valuable ethnohistoric in-
formation is contained in his report to the Smithsonian
about these groups, and his researches of the Peten folklore10
were incorporated by Brinton (Brinton 1890).
Berendt's cartographic efforts of the Lowlands, combined
with similar efforts by others resulted in the "best, largest,
fullest map of Yucatan" (Means 1917:198).
(b) The Isthmus of Tehuantepec
Berendt made his home on the Gulf Coast for many years,
exploring this humid marshy environment. He also extended
his interest across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, studying
the diverse ethnic groups of this large area.
His linguistic studies embraced perhaps all major groups
on the Isthmus. The studies of the Huastec language led to
the composition of a Spanish/Huastec dictionary.11 His work
on the Chontals of Tabasco confirmed that the language be-
longs to the Maya family and is very similar to the Tzendal
dialect. Berendt felt that the Chontal was probably spoken
once in the entire Usumacinta Basin (Brinton 1891:148-49).
He collected vocabularies, and documents, and carried out
comparative studies among the Zoque12 and Mixe13 languages.
He also succeeded in obtaining a short vocabulary of the
Populuca spoken in Oluta, Tepistepec, San Juan Volador and
vicinity (near Puebla). Comparisons showed that the idiom
belongs to the Mixe family (Brinton 1891:151). His major
triumph was the discovery of some 16th and 17th Century man-
uscripts in the Zoque language. Of the Chinantec, Berendt
concluded, after a considerably long study, that:
spoken in the midst of a diversity of
languages connected more or less among
themselves, it is itself unconnected
with them and rich in peculiar features,
both as to its roots and its grammatical
structure. It is probably that we have
in it one of the original languages
spoken before the advent of the Nahuas
on Mexican soil, perhaps the mythical
Olmecan...(Brinton 1891:144).
Berendt also studied the Chiapanec (Chapanec) ethnic
groups, whose language shows a close relationship with the
9
Chorotega of Western Nicaragua and the Nicoyan Peninsula.
Amongst them, he succeeded in collecting various examples
of religious literature (Zas pasiones) derived from chants
of the early cofradias in Tehuantepec (Brinton 1883:42).
He also obtained information regarding their history, gram-
mar, and calendar.14 He compiled a comparative vocabulary
of the Chana-ebal (four languages) dialect and discussed
the geographic distribution of this interesting mixed
idiom.15  His studies on the Tzontal and Tzetzil (Mayan)
dialects spoken in Highland Chiapas are incorporated in
several miscellaneous collections of notes.16 His report
to the Smithsonian (Berendt 1867) covers some of his re-
searches conducted on the Putun (Chol) Mayan language.
In addition to his ethnolinguistic efforts, Berendt
made considerable achievements in cartography by accurately
charting the course and tributaries of the Usmacinta River,
recording the settlements' location, and by the detailed
survey of the Coastal areas of Tabasco and Veracruz.
While surveying the Tabasco coast in 1869, Berendt
discovered and correctly identified the ruins of the ancient
city of Centla, a populous, civilized capital described by
Juan Grijalva in 1518. The account of this is now incorpor-
ated in one of Brinton's articles (Brinton 1896a).
(c) Lower Central America
Berendt began his first anthropological enquiries in
Nicaragua, where he stayed from 1851 to 1853 and to where he
once more returned in 1874. His activities from the first
period are very poorly documented. Many of his unpublished
works indicate the very fruitful researches of his second
stay. During this period, he also extended his investi-
gations to Honduras and to Costa Rica and Panama.
His particular interest in the origin, role and extent
of the Chorotega culture in Mesoamerica remained a persistent
theme during his entire research career. His ideas on this
matter were expressed in his address given at the meeting of
the Geographical Society of New York in 1876 (Berendt 1878a),
where he discussed the question of geographical distribution
of the ancient Central American civilizations. It is not
surprising that he invested a considerable amount of time
and energy to discover surviving traces of the Chorotegan
population, despite the commonly held view that their lan-
guage was already extinct. Eventually, Berendt success-
fully located ancient Mangue-speaking Indians in the vicin-
ity of Masaya and Lago de Apoyo. He also found a small rem-
nant of Chorotegan Mangue population on the Island of Ometepe,
10
which was believed to have been occupied by the intrusive
Nicarao at the time of the Spanish Conquest. His vocabu-
laries greatly helped the study of the idiom, since very
small samples survived otherwise.17 Among Berendt's most
noted discoveries was the collection of texts pertaining to
the surviving aboriginal theatrical traditions of Western
Nicaragua. His records on and penetrating analysis of the
origin and cultural setting of these native plays are con-
tained in his neatly written and bound manuscript notes,18
which unfortunately were never printed. This collection
includes the text of Gueguence, a comedy ballad spoken and
sung in the mixed language of Spanish and Nahua and text of
Logas (poems) of Mangue origin.   Gueguence, a unique repre-
sentative of its genre, was subsequently translated by
Brinton, who also incorporated Berendt's researches in lin-
guistics, ethnography and ethnohistory in his 1883 volume.19
Berendt did comparative work with the Xicaque, Lenca
and Carib of Honduras and Ulua, Chontal and Misquito of
Northeastern Nicaragua.20 He also investigated the lan-
guage of the Guatuso (Huatuso) of the Rio Frfo area south
of Lake Nicaragua. These Indians were considered a "wild
tribe," who collected native rubber in the wilderness and
had minimal contact with the Mestizo population. A group of
Guatuso children were captured at the time of Berendt's stay
in San Carlos; from them, Berendt obtained the vocabulary
and grammar of their language.21 In Costa Rica, he compared
seven languages22 and he also compared the Costa Rican lan-
guages with those spoken in the Darien, namely the Cholo,
Cueva, Cuna, Tule, Sabanero, Bayano, San Blas, Boruca and
Viceisa.23 He spoke about his linguistic researches in
Lower Central America before the American Ethnological Soc-
iety in Philadelphia in 1873.
(d) Highland Guatemala
The investigations of the Highland Maya area were under-
taken during Berendt's last years. His activities were
divided between his ethnolinguistic studies of the native
Guatemalan population for the Government of Guatemala and his
archaeological excavations for the Berlin Museum. Unfor-
tunately, his untimely death prevented the completion of both.
Even before Berendt settled in Guatemala, he became fam-
iliar with some of the native languages from the Highlands.
While in the Peten, he had contact with Indians of Coban
Verapar, from whom he obtained knowledge about the Kekchi
language (Berendt 1867). In one of his earlier manuscripts,
he dealt with the Pokoman idiom,24 while the Berendt Linguis-
tic Collection contains material on vocabularies comparing
11
Maya (Yucatec) with Cakehiquel, Quiche, Zutujil, Mani,
Pokonchi dialects.25 While living in Verapaz, he continued
to collect linguistic material from the Chorti, Kekchi, Ixil
and Cakchiquel Indians.
By far the most complete body of linguistic material was
compiled by Berendt in preparation for his linguistic summary
on the Guatemalan Indians.26 This material was in the pos-
session of Prof. Rockstroh after Berendt's death, who planned
to complete the task undertaken earlier by Berendt.27 However,
the principal beneficiary of Berendt's researches was Otto
Stoll.28 Stoll (1884) essentially followed Berendt's clas-
sifications for the Maya languages, with his own inclusions
of the Aguacatan and Uspantan, the only two Mayan dialects
that Berendt did not study.
His archaeological researches only accomplished the pre-
liminary phase of the surface survey and recording at the
site of Santa Lucia Cozumalhuapa.
Berendt naturally followed with interest the welfare of
the native documents in all Central American countries. He
was especially distressed by the Guatemalan officials' in-
difference towards the preservation of these valuable docu-
ments. He made a survey of the manuscripts, which were
found scattered through a number of archives and public and
private libraries. Among the treasures he found the original
writing of Bernal Diaz del Castillo, the historical works of
Francisco Antonio Fuentes y Guzman, Francisco Jimenez, and
the bishop Pedro Cortes y Larraz, as well as the anonymous
Historia de Za Provincia San Vincent Ferrer de Chiapa y
GuatemaZa, (comprising the Isagoge apoZogetico), and scripts
by Indian authors, including the MemoriaZ de Tecpan AtitZan.
He made a plea to ensure the safety of these manuscripts in
his report to the Smithsonian Institution (Berendt 1877).
Conclusion
Assessment of the work of such prolific scholarship by
Berendt is hardly possible without lengthy research. Ber-
endt made the task more difficult by publishing little of
this immense amount of work. Brinton, in his memoir to
Berendt, reiterated his opinion that, "...of the consider-
able number of larger works he began, he never finished one..."
(Brinton 1884:207), yet a brief glance at Berendt's activi-
ties should reveal that he was not the restless researcher
who found his satisfaction only in perpetual mobility. He
worked by definite plans, which he actually implemented
and completed:  "...Having occupied myself in former travels
12
and during the years of residence in Tabasco, with research
relative to the geographical and ethnological features of
this almost unknown part of America, I resolved to complete
my observations by a visit to the belt extending to the
Pacific Ocean..." wrote Berendt in 1867. Not only did he
carry out this incredible plan but he extended his investi-
gations subsequently to the Isthmus of Panama. Despite his
ill health, he persevered where others would have given up.
Several important reasons contributed to his short
list of publications. His own high standard of requirements
was probably the foremost. Because of this he often re-
traced his steps to deepen his understanding of his topic.
His search for the truth usually began with direct, in situ
observations, wherever this was possible. He was a true
fieldworker and for the sake of his field research, he sac-
rificed the very conditions conducive to writing: comforts
of a permanent home, pleasant climate, clean and healthy
surroundings. His manuscript material is of the highest qual-
ity, written in beautiful handwriting and with clear mind,
which for a century constituted the gold mine of information
available to students in Central American anthropology. It
is better that his achievements should not be evaluated in
terms of publication, but in actual contributions made.
Without doubt, Berendt's most important work concerns
the Maya linguistic family. His linguistic classification of
the Maya languages--as first published by Stoll (1884)--re-
mains practically unchanged to date. His copy of the Motul
dictionary, with amendments, additions and comparisons with
other vocabularies, is a monumental work in itself. His
Lengua Maya Miscellanea and his scrapbooks (MSS. nd)29 of
the Berendt Linguistic Collection contain a large mass of
important material on the Maya language. Alfred Tozzer has
remarked, "he was undoubtably the greatest scholar of the Maya
language, although his list of publications is a short one...,"
and "...up to the time when Mr. Gates began photographic
reproductions, every student of Maya linguistics was abso-
lutely dependent on the Berendt material" (1921:147).
The merits of Berendt's recognition regarding the value
of early manuscripts in native languages are comparable to
his contributions to Maya linguistics. His collection of
manuscripts is not only unsurpassed in quantity, but superior
in quality to most others and is "particularly designed for
the scientific study of tongues. It is especially rich in
dictionaries and grammars and in works written by natives"
(Brinton 1884:209). His appreciation for future scholarship
is exemplified by his concern and conscious efforts regarding
the preservation and salvaging of this valuable material.
Among the most important native writings were his copies of
the books of Chilam Balam, El Gueguence and Logas of the
13
Mangue speaking peoples, 16th and 17th Century Zoque docu-
ments, and Chipanec religious poems.
Despite his very special affinity to the Maya linguistic
family, Berendt was truly a Central American scholar. In
his manuscript collection, entries regarding the languages
between the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and Panama exceed 175,
not counting the Mayan material. He covered areas with his
researches which since have been hardly touched by anthro-
pologists. His contribution in providing us with vocabularies
and grammars of Indian tongues now extinct is, obviously, in-
valuable.
That Berendt was able to achieve so much in a relatively
brief time and under such adverse conditions was due to his
burning interest which "...was joined by a most sound judge-
ment, which kept him clear of those hobbies and fancies
which have done so much to destroy the usefulness of many
eminent workers in his special branches" (Brinton 1884:205).
To his enthusiasm and clear mind we should add his genial
disposition, which helped him to communicate with his Wes-
tern and Latin American colleagues and Indian informants
alike.
NOTES
Acknowledgments. This article was prepared in 1980 for the
History of Anthropology seminar in the Department of Anthro-
pology, U.C. Berkeley, under the guidance of Professor John
H. Rowe. I wish to express my gratitude for his encouragement
and help during my research. Later in 1980 I visited the
National Anthropological Archives of the Smithsonian Institute,
Bureau of American Ethnology, Washington to review the Ber-
endt related material there. I am very grateful to the
courtesies extended to me by the staff, but especially the
interest and assistance given to me by Drs. William Sturtevant
and Robert Laughlin of B.A.E.
1 No comprehensive biography of Berendt was found. I assembled
this curriculum vitae from the following sources: Das Ausland
1874:120; 181-185; Annual Report of the Secretary, Smithson-
ian Institute 1864:50; 1865:62; 129; 209; 1866:27; 1867:48-49;
420-426; 1873:363-364; 1880:69-70; Brinton 1884:205-210;
Strebel 1891:337-341; Tozzer 1921:146-147; Houwald 1974:5;
Zimmermann n.d.:70 and from the content of Berendt's published
and unpublished writings.
2
Berendt used the designation Maya only in reference to the
Indians of Yucatan, arguing that this was the original name
14
of the land and people of Yucatan (Brinton 1882:10).
3 The scholarship of Juan Pio Perez is well documented by
Berendt (Berendt 1871a).
4 Another MS collection was also called Codex Perez. From
this Perez extracted material which he presented to Lloyd
Stephens. The English translation of this text was subse-
quently included in Stephens travelogue (Brinton 1882:91).
5 The Diccionario de San Francisco bears no date, but it was
estimated to be some 50 years older than the Ticul dictionary
(Brinton 1882:76).
6 "The Diccionario del Convento de Motul is by far the most
valuable...and it has not been known to Yucatec scholars.    The
copy of it was picked up by the Abbe Brasseur, and sold by
him to Mr. John Carter Brown, of Providence, R.I.    In 1864 this
was carefully copied by dr. Berendt, who also made extensive
additions to it from other sources indicating such by the use
of ink of different colors.   This copy is in three large
quarto volumes in all containing over 2500 pages, in which I
have found indispensible assistance in solving some of the
puzzles presented by the text..."' (Brinton 1882:77).
7
Much of it is found in MS form: Miscellanea Maya: Ethno-
logia: Caracter de los indios, Calendarios, Jeroglificos,
Antiquedades, in BLC-PU (Part of Berendt Linguistic Collection,
U. of Pennsylvania Museum); (Tozzer 1921:221).
8 Alexander Henderson, Baptist Missionary: Grammar of
Misquito Language 1864, GospeZ by Luke and Gospel according
to Matthew in Caribbean of Honduras (MS n.d.).
Lengua Maya, Dialecto del Peten (MS 1866) BLC-PU; Vocabu-
lario deZ diaZecto deZ Peten (MS n.d.) Note: this MS was
translated by Means (Means 1917); The Itza Dialect (MS n.d.)
BLC-PU.
10 Ein feen Marchen der Maya Peten (MS 1866) BLC-PU.
11 Diccionario Espanol-Huasteco formado de las listas en
Za noticia y doctrina de Tapia Zenteno (MS n.d.) BLC-PU.
12
VocabuZario de la Zengua Zoque de Tupijulapa (MS 1862)
BLC-PU; Apuntes y estudios sobre la Zengua Zoque (MS 1869-70)
BLC-PU.
13 Apuntes sobre la lengua Mixe (MS 1870) BLC-PU; Los
orationes de doctrina cristiana...en la lengua Mixe (MS 1871)
BLC-PU.
15
14 Apuntes y estudios sobre Za Zengua Chapaneca (MS 1869-70)
BLC-PU.
15 Apuntes sobre Za Zengua Chana-ebaZ (MS 1870) BLC-PU.
16 VocabuZario comparativo de Zas Zenguas pertenecientas
a Za famiZia Maya-Quiche (MS n.d.) and the Berendt Linguistic
Collection.
17 Comparative vocabularies of Mangue and Chapanec collected
by Berendt are listed by Brinton (Brinton 1883:13-15).
18 PaZabras y modismos de Za Zengua castiZZana segun se
habZa en Nicaragua (MS 1874).
19 In discussing the native literary traditions in Central
America, especially that of the Chorotega-Mangues, Brinton
writes:  "...The logas seem to be peculiar to the Mangues.
A small theatre is extemporized, music is provided, and the
actor comes forward arrayed in some old garb, and recites
a sort of poem, with gestures and dancing movements. The
text of one of these was obtained in Namotiva by dr. Berendt,
and is in my possession. It is entitled, Loga del nino
Dios, and contains about 200 lines. The language is in
corrupt Spanish with a number of Mangue words interspersed..."
(Brinton 1883:XXV).
20 VocabuZario de las Zenguas de Honduras y de parte
septentrionaZ de Nicaragua (MS 1873-74).
21 VocabuZario de Za Zengua de Zos Huatusos con apuntes
(MS 1874) BLC-PU.
22 VocabuZarios comparativos de Zas Zenguas de Costa Rica
(MS n.d.) BLC-PU.
23 Comparative vocabulary of the Darien and Costa Rica
(MS 1873) BLC-PU.
24 VocabuZario de Za Zengua Pokoman, compiZado de Gage y
Scherzer (MS 1867) BLC-PU.
25 MisceZZanea Maya--Folio scrap book BLC-PU.
.26 Vocabulario comparativo de Zas lenguas pertenicientas a
la famiZia Maya-Quiche' (MS n.d.) BLC-PU.
2 Rockstroh apparently never published the material either,
of which only 16 pages were completed for publication. This
short text was printed entitled: Los indigenos de Za
America CentraZ y sus idiomas, resenTa etnografica, compilado
de los escitos y apuntes del Doctor C. Hermann Berendt.
16
Edicion de la Sociedad Economica, Guatemala, 1878. Note:
a copy of this publication was added to the Berendt Linguis-
tic Collection.
28 "...Diese wichtige Zusammenstellung umfasst uber 600
Vocabelen in den verschiedenen Sprachen der Maya Familie,
Das Manuscript ist gegewartig in Besitz von Prof. Rockstroh,
eines Freundes des verstorbenen Dr. Berendt und ich verdanke
es der Freundigkeit Herrn Rockstroh dass es moglich war,
dieses wichtige Manuscript wenigsten so weit es die Maya
Sprache betrifft in extenso zu copieron..." Author's trans-
lation: This important collection contains over 600 vocabu-
laries in different dialects of the Maya family of languages.
The manuscript is at present in the possession of Prof.
Rockstroh, a friend of the deceased Dr. Berendt and I thank
Mr. Rockstroh for the courtesy of making it possible for me
to copy the entire text, at least that which concerns the
Maya language.
29
a Brinton 1900:31-32.
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