My dissertation seeks to answer precisely how, why, and to what extent German science influenced Mexican nation-building before, during, and after the Revolution of 1910. To do that, I use the lives of German anthropologists Eduard Seler and his wife, Caecilie Seler-Sachs, a couple who dominated the burgeoning field of anthropology that focused on New World civilizations. Mexican elites worked with the Selers to reshape notions of nation and race, identity and define archaeological relics and legitimize their rule across the revolution's rupture.