Alfred V. Kidder

Alfred V. Kidder
Alfred V. Kidder at Pecos, 1916
Born	(1885-10-29)October 29, 1885 Marquette, Michigan
Died	June 11, 1963(1963-06-11)(aged 77) Cambridge, Massachusetts
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Harvard University(Ph.D)(1914)
Awards	Viking Fund Medal(1946)
Scientific career
Fields	archaeology

Alfred Vincent Kidder(October 29, 1885 – June 11, 1963) was an Americanarchaeologistconsidered the foremost of thesouthwestern United StatesandMesoamericaduring the first half of the 20th century.He saw a disciplined system of archaeological techniques as a means to extend the principles ofanthropologyinto the prehistoric past and so was the originator of the first comprehensive, systematic approach to North American archaeology.

Early life

Born inMarquette, Michigan,Kidder was the son of a mining engineer. He enteredHarvard Collegewith the intention of qualifying for medical school, but found himself uninspired by premedical courses. He applied for a summer job in archaeology with theUniversity of Utahin 1907. Kidder spent two successive summers in the mesa and canyon country of southwesternColorado,southeasternUtahand areas ofNew Mexico.Kidder andJesse L. Nusbaum(later Superintendent ofMesa Verde National Park), came to the Mesa Verde area with ethnologistJesse Walter Fewkesto conduct an archaeological survey and to photograph ruins. He obtained his bachelor's degree at Harvard in 1908 and a doctorate in anthropology in 1914.

Archaeological career

Kidder then embarked on a series of expeditions to the Southwest, many in northeasternArizona.These expeditions were sponsored by Harvard'sPeabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnologyand the associatedRobert S. Peabody Museum of ArchaeologyatPhillips AcademyinAndover, Massachusetts.

From 1915 to 1929, Kidder conducted site excavations at an abandoned pueblo nearPecos, New Mexico,now thePecos National Historical Park.He excavated levels of human occupation at the pueblo going back more than 2000 years, and gathered a detailed record of cultural artifacts, including a large collection ofpotteryfragments and human remains. From these items, he was able to establish a continuous record of pottery styles from 2000 years ago to the mid-to-late 19th century. Kidder then analyzed trends and changes in pottery styles in association with changes in the Pecos people's culture and established a basic chronology for the Southwest. WithSamuel J. Guernsey,he established the validity of a chronological approach to cultural periods.Kidder asserted that deductions about the development of human culture could be obtained through a systematic examination of stratigraphy and chronology in archaeological sites. This research laid the foundation for modern archaeological field methods, shifting the emphasis from a "gentlemanly adventure" adding items such as whole pots and cliff dwellings to museum coffers to the study of potsherds and other artifacts in relation to the cultural history. Pioneering archaeologists in other regions of the United States completed the transformation of professional methodology initiated by Kidder.

HisIntroduction to the Study of Southwestern Archaeology,published in 1924, was the first synthesis of North American prehistory based on professionally recovered empirical data. In spite of his efforts at documentation, Kidder's conclusions have sometimes been criticized for a lack of integration between his field reports and his later synthesis and interpretation of that data. However, Kidder clearly emphasized archaeology's need for a scientific "eye" in the development of fact collecting techniques and clear definitions.

In the late 1920s, Kidder started thePecos Conferencesfor archaeologists and ethnologists working in the American southwest. In 1927, a temporal system ofnomenclature,known as thePecos ClassificationSystem, was established for use in southwestern sites. Archaeologists have since used the sequence, with later variations, to assign approximate dates to dozens of sites throughout the Southwest and to determine cultural ties and differences among them. The same year he was elected a Fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences.He was elected to theAmerican Philosophical Societyin 1934.In 1936, Kidder was elected to the United StatesNational Academy of Sciencesin 1936.That same year, he formally used the Navajo term "Anasazi"to define a specific cultural group of people living in the southwest between approximately 200 BC and 1300 AD. This term had been casually used by excavators for many of the" ancient people "since the early explorations ofRichard Wetherill,and had been informally used in the work of the Pecos Conferences.

As an associate in charge of archaeological investigations (1927–1929) and as chairman of the division of historical research (1929–1950) at theCarnegie Institution,Kidder conducted a broad-scale multidisciplinary research program inKaminaljuyuin theGuatemalanhighlands which established the framework ofMayastratigraphy.In 1939 he became honorary curator of Southwestern American archaeology at the Peabody Museum, Harvard.

In 1951, Kidder, in discussions withThomas Stuart FergusonandGordon Willeyof Harvard University, was instrumental in establishing a foundation dealing with the status of archaeology inMexicoandCentral America.In regard to those discussions, Ferguson wrote that the three scholars agreed“...it was unfortunate that so little work was being carried on in so important an area and that something should be done to increase explorations and excavations....Despite the amazing discoveries made between 1930 and 1950, work on the Pre-Classic was virtually at a standstill in 1951. The result of the discussion was that we agreed to set up a new organization to be devoted to the Pre-Classic civilizations of Mexico and Central America—the earliest known high cultures of the New World.”The following year, theNew World Archaeological Foundation(NWAF) was incorporated in California, as a nonprofit, scientific, fact-finding body.

Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation

During Kidder's studies and excavations at Pecos Pueblo, particularly between 1915 and 1929, pottery and other artifacts were sent to the Robert S. Peabody Museum, Andover, Massachusetts, while excavated human remains were sent to the Peabody Museum at Harvard. In the early 20th century, no archaeologist consulted with Native American descendants concerning the excavation of their ancestors' homes and graves. Although Kidder was aware of the long-standing relationship between the abandoned Pecos Pueblo and the modernPueblo of Jemez,he did not consider that any local population had a claim on artifacts and remains.

By a 1936 Act of Congress, the Pueblo of Jemez became the legal and administrative representative of the Pueblo of Pecos, which had been privately owned during Kidder's excavation. As a consequence of TheNative American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act(NAGPRA), which requires federal and other museum facilities to inventory, establish cultural affiliations, and publish in theFederal Registerany and all Native American human remains and certain objects in their possession, the Pueblo of Jemez made a formal claim on behalf of the Pecos people. This repatriation was primarily due to the efforts ofWilliam J. Whatley,the Jemez Pueblo tribal archaeologist, who searched through museum records for these remains and artifacts for eight years. The human remains from Kidder's excavations were returned to the Jemez people in 1999 and ritually reburied at Pecos National Historic Park. Kidder is buried on a hillside not far away, close to Pecos Pueblo.

Family life

Although her name rarely occurred on publications, Kidder's wife Madeleine worked as an archaeologist alongside her husband.Kidder's grandson,T.R. Kidderis a noted archaeologist of the southeastern United States.

Publications

• Kidder, A. V.(2000) [1924].Introduction to the Study of Southwestern Archaeology(Online book).Yale University Press.ISBN978-0-300-08345-3.– regarded as the first comprehensive archaeological study of a New World area
• Kidder, A. V.& Amsden, Charles Avery (1931).5 The Pottery of Pecos.Papers of the Southwestern expedition. Vol. I The dull-paint wares. Yale University Press / Oxford University Press.
• Kidder, A. V.(1936).7 The Pottery of Pecos.Papers of the Southwestern expedition. Vol. II The glaze-paint, culinary, and other wares.Anna Osler ShepardThe technology of Pecos pottery.Yale University Press / Oxford University Press.
• Kidder, A. V.(1932).6 The Artifacts of Pecos.Papers of the Southwestern expedition. Yale University Press / Oxford University Press.
• Kidder, A. V.(1958).6 Pecos, New Mexico: archaeological notes.Papers of the Robert S. Peabody Foundation for Archaeology. Phillips Academy.
• Kidder, Alfred V.(1918).Reprints from the Journal of the Archaeological Institute of America and other papers.Vol.iExplorations in southwestern Utah in 1908iiNotes on the pottery of PecosiiiPottery of the Pajarito plateau and of some adjacent regions of New MexicoivPrehistoric cultures of the San Juan drainage.Archaeological Institute of America.
• Kidder, Alfred V.;Jennings, Jesse D.& Shook, Edwin M. (1946).Excavations at Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala.with technological notes byAnna Osler Shepard.Carnegie Institution of Washington.

References

• Flint, Richard; Shirley Cushing Flint (n.d.)."Alfred V. Kidder".New Mexico Digital History Project.New Mexico Office of the State Historian. Archived fromthe originalon 2011-07-18.Retrieved2007-11-21.
• Patterson, Thomas Carl (2001).A Social History of Anthropology in the United States.Oxford; New York: Berg.ISBN978-1-85973-489-6.OCLC48551832.
• Woodbury, Richard B. (1973).Alfred V. Kidder.New York:Columbia University Press.ISBN978-0-231-03485-2.OCLC447403.

External links

• Biography-Minnesota State University, Mankato
• National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir