Alfred V. Kidder
Encyclopedia
Alfred Vincent Kidder was an American archaeologist considered the foremost of the southwestern United States
and Mesoamerica during the first half of the 20th century. He saw a disciplined system of archaeological techniques as a means to extend the principles of anthropology
into the prehistoric past and so was the originator of the first comprehensive, systematic approach to North American archaeology.
, Kidder was the son of a mining engineer
. He entered Harvard College
with the intention of qualifying for medical school, but found himself uninspired by premedical courses. He applied for a summer job in archaeology with the University of Utah
in 1907. Kidder spent two successive summers in the mesa and canyon country of southwestern Colorado
, southeastern Utah
and areas of New Mexico
. Kidder and Jesse L. Nusbaum (later Superintendent of Mesa Verde National Park
), came to the Mesa Verde area with ethnologist Jesse Walter Fewkes
to 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.
. These expeditions were sponsored by Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology
and the associated Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology
at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts
.
From 1915 to 1929, Kidder conducted site excavations at an abandoned pueblo near Pecos, New Mexico
, now the Pecos 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 of pottery
fragments 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. With Samuel 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.
His Introduction 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 the Pecos Conferences
for archaeologists and ethnologists working in the American southwest. In 1927, a temporal system of nomenclature, known as the Pecos Classification
System, 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 the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
. In 1936, Kidder 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 of Richard Wetherill
, and had been informally used in the work of the Pecos Conferences.
As an associate in charge of archaeological investigations (1927–29) and as chairman of the division of historical research (1929–50) at the Carnegie Institution, Kidder conducted a broad-scale multidisciplinary research program in Kaminaljuyu in the Guatemala
n highlands which established the framework of Maya
stratigraphy. In 1939 he became honorary curator of Southwestern American archaeology at the Peabody Museum, Harvard.
In 1951, Kidder, in discussions with Thomas Stuart Ferguson and Gordon Willey
of Harvard University, was instrumental in establishing a foundation dealing with the status of archaeology in Mexico
and Central 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, the New World Archaeological Foundation
(NWAF) was incorporated in the state of California
, as a nonprofit, scientific, fact-finding body.
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 The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
(NAGPRA), which requires federal and other museum facilities to inventory, establish cultural affiliations, and publish in the Federal Register
any 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 of William 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. In a sense, they rejoined Kidder, as he is buried on a hillside not far away, close to Pecos Pueblo.
is a noted archaeologist of the southeastern United States.
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...
and Mesoamerica during the first half of the 20th century. He saw a disciplined system of archaeological techniques as a means to extend the principles of anthropology
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...
into the prehistoric past and so was the originator of the first comprehensive, systematic approach to North American archaeology.
Early life
Born in Marquette, MichiganMarquette, Michigan
Marquette is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Marquette County. The population was 21,355 at the 2010 census, making it the most populated city of the Upper Peninsula. Marquette is a major port on Lake Superior, primarily for shipping iron ore and is the home of Northern...
, Kidder was the son of a mining engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
. He entered Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
with the intention of qualifying for medical school, but found himself uninspired by premedical courses. He applied for a summer job in archaeology with the University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
in 1907. Kidder spent two successive summers in the mesa and canyon country of southwestern Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, southeastern Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
and areas of New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
. Kidder and Jesse L. Nusbaum (later Superintendent of Mesa Verde National Park
Mesa Verde National Park
Mesa Verde National Park is a U.S. National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. It was created in 1906 to protect some of the best-preserved cliff dwellings in the world...
), came to the Mesa Verde area with ethnologist Jesse Walter Fewkes
J. Walter Fewkes
Jesse Walter Fewkes was an American anthropologist, archaeologist, writer and naturalist. He was born in Newton, Massachusetts, and initially trained as a zoologist at Harvard University...
to 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 northeastern ArizonaArizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. These expeditions were sponsored by Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology
The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology is a museum affiliated with Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.Founded in 1866, the Peabody Museum is one of the oldest and largest museums focusing on anthropological material, and is particularly strong in New World ethnography and...
and the associated Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology
Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology
The Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology is a Native American archaeological collection in the United States. Founded in 1901 through a bequest from Robert Singleton Peabody, an 1857 Phillips Academy alum, the museum initially held the archaeological materials collected by Peabody from Native...
at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts
Andover, Massachusetts
Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was incorporated in 1646 and as of the 2010 census, the population was 33,201...
.
From 1915 to 1929, Kidder conducted site excavations at an abandoned pueblo near Pecos, New Mexico
Pecos, New Mexico
Pecos is a village in San Miguel County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,441 at the 2000 census, growing much faster than in other parts of San Miguel County, partly because Pecos is within commuting distance of Santa Fe. The village is built along the Pecos River which flows from...
, now the Pecos National Historical Park
Pecos National Historical Park
Pecos National Historical Park is a National Historical Park in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is located about east of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The site was originally designated Pecos National Monument on June 28, 1965. In 1990 new lands were added to the park and the official designation was...
. 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 of pottery
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
fragments 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. With Samuel 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.
His Introduction 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 the Pecos Conferences
Pecos conference
The Pecos Conference is an annual conference of archaeologists which is held in the southwestern United States or northern Mexico.Each August, archaeologists gather under open skies somewhere in the southwestern United States or northern Mexico...
for archaeologists and ethnologists working in the American southwest. In 1927, a temporal system of nomenclature, known as the Pecos Classification
Pecos Classification
The Pecos Classification is a division of all known Ancient Pueblo Peoples culture into chronological phases, based on changes in architecture, art, pottery, and cultural remains. The original classification dates back to consensus reached at a 1927 archæological conference held in Pecos, New...
System, 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 the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
. In 1936, Kidder formally used the Navajo term “Anasazi
Ancient Pueblo Peoples
Ancient Pueblo People or Ancestral Pueblo peoples were an ancient Native American culture centered on the present-day Four Corners area of the United States, comprising southern Utah, northern Arizona, northwest New Mexico, and southern Colorado...
” 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 of Richard Wetherill
Richard Wetherill
Richard Wetherill , a member of a prominent Colorado ranching family, was an amateur explorer in the discovery, research and excavation of sites associated with the Ancient Pueblo People...
, and had been informally used in the work of the Pecos Conferences.
As an associate in charge of archaeological investigations (1927–29) and as chairman of the division of historical research (1929–50) at the Carnegie Institution, Kidder conducted a broad-scale multidisciplinary research program in Kaminaljuyu in the Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
n highlands which established the framework of Maya
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
stratigraphy. In 1939 he became honorary curator of Southwestern American archaeology at the Peabody Museum, Harvard.
In 1951, Kidder, in discussions with Thomas Stuart Ferguson and Gordon Willey
Gordon Willey
Gordon Randolph Willey was an American archaeologist famous for his fieldwork in South and Central America as well as the southeastern United States...
of Harvard University, was instrumental in establishing a foundation dealing with the status of archaeology in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
. 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, the New World Archaeological Foundation
New World Archaeological Foundation
The New World Archaeological Foundation is an archaeological organization run by Brigham Young University.The NWAF was organized in 1952 for the purpose of supporting archaeological research into pre-Columbian cultures of Mesoamerica. It was founded by Thomas Stuart Ferguson, Alfred V. Kidder and...
(NWAF) was incorporated in the state of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, 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 modern Pueblo 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 The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act , Pub. L. 101-601, 25 U.S.C. 3001 et seq., 104 Stat. 3048, is a United States federal law passed on 16 November 1990 requiring federal agencies and institutions that receive federal funding to return Native American "cultural items" to...
(NAGPRA), which requires federal and other museum facilities to inventory, establish cultural affiliations, and publish in the Federal Register
Federal Register
The Federal Register , abbreviated FR, or sometimes Fed. Reg.) is the official journal of the federal government of the United States that contains most routine publications and public notices of government agencies...
any 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 of William 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. In a sense, they rejoined Kidder, as he is buried on a hillside not far away, close to Pecos Pueblo.
Family life
Although her name rarely occurred on publications, A.V.'s wife M.A. Kidder worked as an archaeologist along side her husband. Kidder's grandson, T.R. KidderTristram Randolph Kidder
Tristram Randolph Kidder is an archaeologist and geologist specializing in the evolution of human societies in Southeastern United States, especially Poverty Point, Louisiana. Kidder is particularly interested in the dynamics of human settlement in the Mississippi River Valley and how it was...
is a noted archaeologist of the southeastern United States.
Publications
Kidder’s writings include Introduction to the Study of Southwestern Archaeology (1924) regarded as the first comprehensive archaeological study of a New World area; The Pottery of Pecos (2 vol., 1931-36); The Artifacts of Pecos (1932); and Pecos, New Mexico: Archaeological Notes (1958).- Kidder, Alfred V. Prehistoric cultures of the San Juan drainage - 1914. Reproduced in Alfred V. Kidder, by Richard B. Woodbury, Columbia University Press, New York, 1973, pp. 99–107.
- Kidder, Alfred V. and Kidder, Mary A. “Notes on the pottery of Pecos - 1917," American Anthropologist 19(3):325-360.
- Kidder, Alfred V., Jennings, Jesse D.Jesse D. JenningsJesse David Jennings was an American archaeologist and anthropologist. Based at the University of Utah, Jennings is best known for his work on desert west prehistory and his excavation of Danger Cave near Utah's Great Salt Lake...
, Shook, Edwin M. Shook, with technological notes by Anna O. Shepard. Excavations at Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala. Carnegie Institution of Washington. Publication 561. Washington, D.C. 1946.
External links
- Biography - Minnesota State University, MankatoMinnesota State University, MankatoMinnesota State University, Mankato is a public four-year university located in Mankato, Minnesota, a community of 53,000 located southwest of Minneapolis-St. Paul. As of Fall 2011, the student body is the third-largest in the state of Minnesota with over 15,000 students...