Richard B. Woodbury | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 17, 1917 |
| Died | October 11, 2009 |
| Other names | Dick |
| Occupation(s) | American anthropologist, archaeologist, academic |
| Spouse | Nathalie Ferris Sampson Woodbury |
| Awards | Society for American Archaeology (SAA) Distinguished Service Award, 1988 |
| Academic background | |
| Thesis | Prehistoric Stone Implements of Northeastern Arizona (1949) |
| Influences | John Otis Brew |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | American Southwestern Archaeologist |
| Sub-discipline | Ancient Southwestern and South American Anthropological Specialist. |
| Institutions | Columbia University (1952–1958),University of Arizona (1958–1963),Smithsonian Institution Department of Anthropology (1963–1969),University of Massachusetts,Amherst (1969–1981) |
Richard Benjamin Woodbury (May 17,1917-October 11,2009) was a prominent American archaeologist,specializing in studies of prehistoric and pre-Columbian archaeology. [1]
Woodbury began his specialty in Southwestern archaeology during his undergraduate degree at Harvard,participating in the 1938 Peabody Awatovi expedition under the archaeologist J. O. Brew. [1] [2] His doctoral dissertation based on this project explores the stone tool technology used by ancient Hopi Native Americans. [3]
After serving in World War II in the Air Force,Woodbury participated in several notable archaeological excavations concerning pre-Columbian peoples,including at the Point of Pines sites in Arizona,the Adena mounds,and the Zaculeu dig. [4] [5] He also critiqued prior digs such as the Hendricks-Hodge Expedition at Hawikuh,along with his fellow archaeologists Nathalie F. S. Woodbury and Watson Smith. [6] His publications focus on the ancient Zuni,Hopi,Pueblo,Papago,and Maya native cultures and peoples. [7]
Woodbury worked as a Professor at Columbia and the University of Arizona from the 1950s to 1960s. At the University of Arizona,he taught in the Arid Lands Program and Anthropology Department. [8] During this time,Woodbury served as an editor for the Society for American Archaeology. [9]
Woodbury began a position of Curator of Archaeology and Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution in 1963. [10] [8] [11] In 1965,Woodbury was also serving on the executive board of the American Anthropological Association. [12] The Smithsonian reorganized a new Department of Anthropology with Woodbury as acting chair. [13]
After leaving the Smithsonian,Woodbury worked at UMass Amherst for the end of his professorial career,but continued to take positions for academic journals. Woodbury was the editor of American Anthropologist from 1975 to 1978. [14]
Nathalie F. S. Woodbury and Dick Woodbury were founding members of the Archaeological Conservancy in the early 1980s along with Mark Michel,Helene Beck,and Jay Last. [15] [8]
Dick and Nathalie were both awarded the 1988 SAA Distinguished Service Award. [14]
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