Guardian Angel on a Nation’s Path

Abstract

In this paper I analyze the trajectory of Brazilian physical anthropology from the late nineteenth century to the early decades of the twentieth century, framing it within the prevailing historical and sociopolitical context. The focus will be on the research and reflections of anthropologists at the Museu Nacional (National Museum) in Rio de Janeiro, one of Brazil’s most influential anthropological research centers, from 1870 to 1930. The main aim is to understand why these anthropologists distanced themselves from explanatory approaches that placed mestizos and other non-Europeans on inferior levels in the hierarchy of human races. I argue that the position taken by physical anthropology at the National Museum was the result of far-reaching intellectual and political dynamics operating well beyond academic borders. Anthropologists from the National Museum—and Edgard Roquette-Pinto in particular—shared the nationalist ideals defended by a portion of the early twentieth-century Brazilian intelligentsia. It is also argued that, contrary to some historical interpretations, the antideterministic position of physical anthropology at the National Museum was independent of the Boasian influence. Although there were superficial similarities between the Boasian ideas and those of a segment of the physical anthropology produced in Brazil, the most significant influences came from other, locally produced sources.

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