Jesse D. Jennings
Encyclopedia
Jesse 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
. Considered an exacting academic scholar and author, he was known for conducting systematic excavations with order and cleanliness.
Jennings was born in Oklahoma City
, Oklahoma
on July 7, 1909 and grew up in New Mexico
. He began his professional studies at the University of Chicago
. In 1935, he married Jane Chase in Washington, D.C. The couple had two sons, David and Herbert. He served in World War II
as a naval officer in the North Atlantic. Jennings died in his home in Siletz
, Oregon
, on August 13, 1997.
in Macon
, Georgia
. In 1938 he and his wife dug with Alfred V. Kidder
at Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala
. His Ph.D. dissertation in 1943 was based on the Guatemala excavations.
In 1948, Jennings left the NPS for the University of Utah
, where he taught until his retirement in 1986. Upon arriving at Utah, Jennings drew on his past experience to initiate a state-wide archaeological survey of the poorly known region through extensive surveys and test excavations. During his career, he conducted research and trained students in sites in the Great Basin
, the Glen Canyon
of the Colorado River
, throughout Utah, and in American Samoa
.
Jennings' work on Danger Cave in the 1950s was considered ground-breaking due to his exacting standards in excavation and data analysis. Relating the archaeological evidence from Danger Cave to an ethnographic model, Jennings framed a new view of the little known Great Basin Desert culture. His work in the 1960s in the cultural region of the Ancient Pueblo People near modern Glen Canyon examined the use of agriculture in the canyon lands of southeastern Utah. In 1973, after a funding and development effort spanning twenty years, Jennings opened the University of Utah Museum of Natural History. From 1980 to 1994, Jennings also conducted graduate seminars as an adjunct professor at the University of Oregon
.
Selected publications:
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...
, Jennings is best known for his work on desert west prehistory and his excavation of Danger Cave
Danger Cave
Danger Cave is a North American Archaeological site located in the Bonneville Basin of western Utah around the Great Salt Lakes region, that features artifacts of the Desert Culture from ca. 9500 BCE until ca. 500 CE...
near Utah's Great Salt Lake
Great Salt Lake
The Great Salt Lake, located in the northern part of the U.S. state of Utah, is the largest salt water lake in the western hemisphere, the fourth-largest terminal lake in the world. In an average year the lake covers an area of around , but the lake's size fluctuates substantially due to its...
. Considered an exacting academic scholar and author, he was known for conducting systematic excavations with order and cleanliness.
Jennings was born in Oklahoma City
Oklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
on July 7, 1909 and grew up in 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...
. He began his professional studies at 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...
. In 1935, he married Jane Chase in Washington, D.C. The couple had two sons, David and Herbert. He served in 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...
as a naval officer in the North Atlantic. Jennings died in his home in Siletz
Siletz, Oregon
Siletz is a city in Lincoln County, Oregon, United States. The population was 1,133 at the 2000 census. The city is located next to the Siletz Reservation and is the site of the annual Nesika Illahee Pow Wow in August.-Geography:...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, on August 13, 1997.
Career
In 1929, Jennings began archaeological excavations in the Midwest and Southeast as a graduate student at the University of Chicago. Jennings took several positions with the National Park Service, including serving as the first superintendent of the Ocmulgee National MonumentOcmulgee National Monument
Ocmulgee National Monument preserves traces of over ten millennia of Southeastern Native American culture, including major earthworks built more than 1,000 years ago by Mississippian culture peoples: the Great Temple and other ceremonial mounds, a burial mound, and defensive trenches...
in Macon
Macon, Georgia
Macon is a city located in central Georgia, US. Founded at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is part of the Macon metropolitan area, and the county seat of Bibb County. A small portion of the city extends into Jones County. Macon is the biggest city in central Georgia...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. In 1938 he and his wife dug with Alfred V. Kidder
Alfred V. Kidder
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...
at Kaminaljuyu, 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...
. His Ph.D. dissertation in 1943 was based on the Guatemala excavations.
In 1948, Jennings left the NPS for 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...
, where he taught until his retirement in 1986. Upon arriving at Utah, Jennings drew on his past experience to initiate a state-wide archaeological survey of the poorly known region through extensive surveys and test excavations. During his career, he conducted research and trained students in sites in the Great Basin
Great Basin
The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds in North America and is noted for its arid conditions and Basin and Range topography that varies from the North American low point at Badwater Basin to the highest point of the contiguous United States, less than away at the...
, the Glen Canyon
Glen Canyon
Glen Canyon is a canyon that is located in southeastern and south central Utah and northwestern Arizona within the Vermilion Cliffs area. It was carved by the Colorado River....
of the Colorado River
Colorado River
The Colorado River , is a river in the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The watershed of the Colorado River covers in parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states...
, throughout Utah, and in American Samoa
American Samoa
American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...
.
Jennings' work on Danger Cave in the 1950s was considered ground-breaking due to his exacting standards in excavation and data analysis. Relating the archaeological evidence from Danger Cave to an ethnographic model, Jennings framed a new view of the little known Great Basin Desert culture. His work in the 1960s in the cultural region of the Ancient Pueblo People near modern Glen Canyon examined the use of agriculture in the canyon lands of southeastern Utah. In 1973, after a funding and development effort spanning twenty years, Jennings opened the University of Utah Museum of Natural History. From 1980 to 1994, Jennings also conducted graduate seminars as an adjunct professor at the University of Oregon
University of Oregon
-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...
.
Publications
During his career, Jennings produced many professional publications, including reports, reviews, comments, articles, chapters, and monographs. He also wrote textbooks and edited volumes on archaeology.Selected publications:
- The Importance of Scientific Method in Excavation (Bulletin of the Archaeological Society of North Carolina, Vol. 1, No. 1), (1934).
- Excavations at Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala. Kidder, Alfred V., Jennings, Jesse D., Shook, Edwin M. Shook, with technological notes by Anna O. Shepard. Carnegie Institution of Washington. Publication 561. Washington, D.C. 1946.
- Danger Cave (Society for American Archaeology Memoir No. 14, 1957).
- Glen Canyon: A Summary (Anthropological Papers No. 81, University of Utah, 1966).
- Prehistoric Man in the New World, edited with Edward Norbeck, (Chicago, 1964).
- Prehistory of North America (McGraw-Hill, 1968).
- Accidental Archaeologist: Memoirs of Jesse D. Jennings, autobiography, (University of Utah Press), (1994).
Honors
- Editor, American Antiquity, 1950-1954.
- Executive Board of the American Anthropological Association, 1953-1956.
- Viking Medallist in Archaeology, 1958.
- President of Society for American ArchaeologySociety for American ArchaeologyThe Society for American Archaeology is the largest organization of professional archaeologists of the Americas in the world. The Society was founded in 1934 and today has over 7000 members. The Society holds an annual conference and publishes the flagship journal of American archaeology,...
, 1959-1960. - Vice-President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1961.
- Section H chairman of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1971.
- University of Utah Distinguished Professor, 1974.
- National Academy of Sciences, 1977.
- University of Utah, honorary Doctorate of Science, 1980.
- Distinguished Service Award, Society for American Archaeology, 1982.
- Distinguished Service Award, Society for Conservation Archaeology, 1982.
- featured speaker, 50th Anniversary of Society for American Archaeology, 1985.
- Jesse D. Jennings Prize for Excellence established by the Great Basin Anthropological Conference, 1990.
- A. V. Kidder Medal for Achievement in American Archaeology, 1995.