Robert John Braidwood
Encyclopedia
Robert John Braidwood was an American
archaeologist
and anthropologist
, one of the founders of scientific archaeology, and a leader in the field of Near Eastern Prehistory
.
, the first child of Walter John Braidwood (c1876) and Rhea Nimo(1881), and was educated at the University of Michigan
, from where he graduated with an M.A.
in architecture
in 1933. Within a year he had joined the University of Chicago
Oriental Institute's expedition to the Amuq Plain with the archaeologist James Henry Breasted
. He worked with the expedition until 1938, during which time he married fellow Michigan graduate Linda Schreiber, who became his partner in the field and in his research.
Braidwood spent World War II
working for the Army Air Corps
, in charge of a meteorological mapping program. In 1943 he gained his Ph.D.
from the University of Chicago, who immediately employed him, and at whose Oriental Institute and Department of Anthropology he was a professor until he retired.
There is speculation that the fictional character Indiana Jones
was based on Braidwood, a fellow distinguished University of Chicago archaeologist known for his work in exotic locales.http://maroon.uchicago.edu/news/articles/2003/01/21/obituary_robert_and_.php Though Jones and Braidwood would have been contemporaries, there seems to be little evidence for this assertion. Braidwood's colleague James Henry Breasted
has also been cited as a possible model for "Indy."http://phoenix.uchicago.edu/HTMLVirtualTour/oriental.html
Robert John Braidwood died January 15, 2003 in Chicago.
, Turkey
) was one of the first scientific archaeological surveys, involving the rigorous dating of artifacts through careful mapping and record-keeping.
In 1947, Braidwood had learned about carbon dating from his Chicago colleague Willard Libby
, and he began to use the method in order to make his dating of artifacts more precise. Also in 1947 the Oriental Institute's Jarmo
Project in Iraq
was launched by Braidwood. It was an early example of an excavation aiming to retrieve evidence of the methods of early food production and to solve the ecological
problem of its origin and early consequences. The project brought together archaeologists, biologists
, and geologists
in a ground-breaking study which earned it a National Science Foundation
grant in 1954 — one of the first times such an award had been made to an anthropological project. When the political situation in Iraq deteriorated, however, Braidwood was forced to leave, and he went on to carry out similar projects in Iran
and Turkey.
Together with researchers from Istanbul University
, Braidwood worked at a site in southern Turkey called Çayönü
, and provided extensive and significance evidence for the theory that between 8,000 and 12,000 years ago there was a shift from a hunter-gatherer
to an agricultural society in southern Turkey.
In 1971 the Archaeological Institute of America
awarded him the Gold Medal Award
for distinguished archaeological achievement.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
archaeologist
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
and anthropologist
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
, one of the founders of scientific archaeology, and a leader in the field of Near Eastern Prehistory
Prehistory
Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...
.
Life
Braidwood was born July 29, 1907 in Detroit, MichiganMichigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, the first child of Walter John Braidwood (c1876) and Rhea Nimo(1881), and was educated at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
, from where he graduated with an M.A.
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
in 1933. Within a year he had joined the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
Oriental Institute's expedition to the Amuq Plain with the archaeologist James Henry Breasted
James Henry Breasted
James Henry Breasted was an American archaeologist and historian. After completing his PhD at the University of Berlin in 1894, he joined the faculty of the University of Chicago. In 1901 he became director of the Haskell Oriental Museum at the University of Chicago, where he continued to...
. He worked with the expedition until 1938, during which time he married fellow Michigan graduate Linda Schreiber, who became his partner in the field and in his research.
Braidwood spent World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
working for the Army Air Corps
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
, in charge of a meteorological mapping program. In 1943 he gained his Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
from the University of Chicago, who immediately employed him, and at whose Oriental Institute and Department of Anthropology he was a professor until he retired.
There is speculation that the fictional character Indiana Jones
Indiana Jones
Colonel Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., Ph.D. is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Indiana Jones franchise. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg created the character in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials...
was based on Braidwood, a fellow distinguished University of Chicago archaeologist known for his work in exotic locales.http://maroon.uchicago.edu/news/articles/2003/01/21/obituary_robert_and_.php Though Jones and Braidwood would have been contemporaries, there seems to be little evidence for this assertion. Braidwood's colleague James Henry Breasted
James Henry Breasted
James Henry Breasted was an American archaeologist and historian. After completing his PhD at the University of Berlin in 1894, he joined the faculty of the University of Chicago. In 1901 he became director of the Haskell Oriental Museum at the University of Chicago, where he continued to...
has also been cited as a possible model for "Indy."http://phoenix.uchicago.edu/HTMLVirtualTour/oriental.html
Robert John Braidwood died January 15, 2003 in Chicago.
Work
The expedition to the Amuq Plain (in the state of HatayHatay Province
Hatay Province is a province in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast. It is bordered by Syria to the south and east and the Turkish provinces of Adana and Osmaniye to the north. The province is part of Çukurova, a geographical, economical and cultural region that covers the provinces of...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
) was one of the first scientific archaeological surveys, involving the rigorous dating of artifacts through careful mapping and record-keeping.
In 1947, Braidwood had learned about carbon dating from his Chicago colleague Willard Libby
Willard Libby
Willard Frank Libby was an American physical chemist noted for his role in the 1949 development of radiocarbon dating, a process which revolutionized archaeology....
, and he began to use the method in order to make his dating of artifacts more precise. Also in 1947 the Oriental Institute's Jarmo
Jarmo
Jarmo is an archeological site located in northern Iraq on the foothills of Zagros Mountains east of Kirkuk city. It is known as the oldest agricultural community in the world, dating back to 7000 BCE. Jarmo is broadly contemporary with such other important Neolithic sites such as Jericho in the...
Project in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
was launched by Braidwood. It was an early example of an excavation aiming to retrieve evidence of the methods of early food production and to solve the ecological
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
problem of its origin and early consequences. The project brought together archaeologists, biologists
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
, and geologists
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
in a ground-breaking study which earned it a National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
grant in 1954 — one of the first times such an award had been made to an anthropological project. When the political situation in Iraq deteriorated, however, Braidwood was forced to leave, and he went on to carry out similar projects in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
and Turkey.
Together with researchers from Istanbul University
Istanbul University
Istanbul University is a Turkish university located in Istanbul. The main campus is adjacent to Beyazıt Square.- Synopsis :A madrasa, a religious school, was established sometime in the 15th century after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople. An institution of higher education named the...
, Braidwood worked at a site in southern Turkey called Çayönü
Çayönü
Çayönü is a Neolithic settlement in southern Turkey inhabited around 7200 to 6600 BC. It is located forty kilometres north-west of Diyarbakır, at the foot of the Taurus mountains...
, and provided extensive and significance evidence for the theory that between 8,000 and 12,000 years ago there was a shift from a hunter-gatherer
Hunter-gatherer
A hunter-gatherer or forage society is one in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals, in contrast to agricultural societies which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunting and gathering was the ancestral subsistence mode of Homo, and all modern humans were...
to an agricultural society in southern Turkey.
In 1971 the Archaeological Institute of America
Archaeological Institute of America
The Archaeological Institute of America is a North American nonprofit organization devoted to the promotion of public interest in archaeology, and the preservation of archaeological sites. It has offices on the campus of Boston University and in New York City.The institute was founded in 1879,...
awarded him the Gold Medal Award
Gold Medal of the Archaeological Institute of America
The Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Archaeological Achievement is awarded by the Archaeological Institute of America in "recognition of a scholar who has made distinguished contributions to archaeology through his or her fieldwork, publications, and/or teaching."It is the Institute's highest award...
for distinguished archaeological achievement.
Further reading
- Daniel, Glyn Edmund; Chippindale, Christopher. The Pastmasters: Eleven Modern Pioneers of Archaeology: V. Gordon Childe, Stuart Piggott, Charles Phillips, Christopher Hawkes, Seton Lloyd, Robert J. Braidwood, Gordon R. Willey, C.J. Becker, Sigfried J. De Laet, J. Desmond Clark, D.J. Mulvaney. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1989 (hardcover, ISBN 0500050511).
Sources and external links
- Stephen L. BrusatteStephen L. BrusatteStephen Louis Brusatte , is an American paleontologist.-Biography:He is the author of the 2002 book Stately Fossils: A Comprehensive Look at the State Fossils and Other Official Fossils and the 2008 book Dinosaurs...
, "Robert John Braidwood", in Encyclopedia of AnthropologyEncyclopedia of AnthropologyThe Encyclopedia of Anthropology is an encyclopedia of anthropology edited by H. James Birx of Canisius College and SUNY Geneseo.The encyclopedia, published in 2006 by SAGE Publications, is in five volumes, and contains over 1,200 articles by more than 300 contributors...
ed. H. James BirxH. James BirxH. James Birx is an American anthropologist.Birx received his M.A. in anthropology and his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, and is now professor of anthropology at Canisius College, as well as Distinguished research Scholar in the SUNY Geneseo's...
(2006, SAGE Publications; ISBN 0-7619-3029-9) - University of Chicago obituary
- Photograph of the Amuq Plain expedition, 1936