Linton Satterthwaite
Encyclopedia
Linton Sattherthwaite Jr. (1897–1978) was a Maya archaeologist
and epigrapher and is primarily associated with the University Museum
at the University of Pennsylvania
. He is well known for his works at Caracol
, Piedras Negras
, Cahal Pech
and Benque Viejo(Xunantunich
).
and had a public school education in the area. After graduating from Trenton High School, Satterthwaite joined the military and served as a cadet and flying officer for the Royal Navy Air Force during World War I
. Afterwards, he decided to attend Yale University
for his B.A. and worked as a reporter from 1929 to 1931 he participated as an archaeological assistant in excavations in Texas, West Virginia, and Guatemala. Satterthwaite was awarded his Ph.D. in Anthropology in 1943.
. In 1933, J. Alden Mason
left his position as Field Director at Piedras Negras, and the title was then given to Satterthwaite until 1939.
The focus of the expeditions at Piedras Negras was to answer archaeological questions
such as establishing building sequences, stratigraphy, and uncovering architectural remains. This was a stark difference from that of Mason, who focused on monumental sculptures. Acting as director, Satterthwaite was able to excavate eleven temples, seventeen palaces, two ballcourts and multiple sweatbaths.
During his time at Piedras Negras, Satterthwaite was very well known for using a diligent and systematic approach in identifying building function. Satterthwaite also mapped many small buildings, setting a standard used by Mayanists to come (Houston et al. 1998). Because of Satterthwaite’s legal background, he was also able to effectively create detailed isometrics that conveyed the substance of excavations and define terms and labels.
Although many publications on Piedras Negras came out during his time there, Satterthwaite was still never able to finish all of the reports that he intended to.
, Belize occurred in 1938, when Rosa Mai discovered the ancient ruins and A.H. Anderson did initial research, discovering 8 pieces of stelae in the process.
From 1950 to 1958, Linton Satterthwaite directed three sessions of archaeological work at Caracol, Belize. His concentration at this site was on hieroglyphs and chronology. During this time, in 1955 Linton Satterthwaite became curator of the American Section of the University Museum and Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. He created a systematic locational guide and inventory of the artifacts from the New World.
During the three seasons in the 1950s at Caracol, Satterthwaite was able to find twenty-six early classic vessels, nine late classic vessels, but as previously stated most of his time was dedicated to the monumental sculpture
s. In total, Satterthwaite found twenty stelae
and nineteen altars. These monuments were made into casts, photographed, sketched and made into quarter-scale blowups. Much of his work at Caracol was published in the book The Monuments and Inscriptions of Caracol, Belize, which is co-authored with Carl P. Beetz. In this book, Satterthwaite and Beetz describe the stelea and altars, from their exact context in the ground to interpretations of the hieroglyphs recorded on these monuments.
Satterthwaite worked at these sites for two seasons beginning in 1950. It was considered a “housemound project”, and Satterthwaite was able to investigate seventeen structures and five stelae.
at Tikal
, Guatemala. His heavy interest in Maya chronology and monuments can also be seen in the article New Radiocarbon Dates and the Maya Correlation Problem, in which he discusses dates of lintel and vault beams from Tikal.
, who started her archaeological career in Piedras Negras, Guatemala during Satterthwaite’s tenure there. In the preface of The Monuments and Inscriptions of Caracol, Belize, William Coe and Christopher Jones praise Satterthwaite as a man of "limitless generosity, and, more germanely, his ingrained need to recognize each man's contribution".
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...
and epigrapher and is primarily associated with the University Museum
University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, commonly called The Penn Museum, is an archaeology and anthropology museum that is part of the University of Pennsylvania in the University City neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-History:An internationally renowned...
at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
. He is well known for his works at Caracol
Caracol
Caracol is the name given to a large ancient Maya archaeological site, located in what is now the Cayo District of Belize. It is situated approximately 40 kilometres south of Xunantunich and the town of San Ignacio Cayo, and 15 kilometers away from the Macal River. It rests on the Vaca Plateau at...
, Piedras Negras
Piedras Negras
Piedras Negras may refer to:* Piedras Negras, Coahuila, a city in northern Mexico* Piedras Negras , an archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, located in the present-day Petén department of Guatemala...
, Cahal Pech
Cahal Pech
Cahal Pech is a Maya site located near the Town of San Ignacio in the Cayo District of Belize. The site was a hilltop palacio home for an elite Maya family, and though most major construction dates to the Classic period, evidence of continuous habitation has been dated to as far back as far as 1200...
and Benque Viejo(Xunantunich
Xunantunich
Xunantunich is a Maya archaeological site in western Belize, about 80 miles west of Belize City , in the Cayo District. Xunantunich is located atop a ridge above the Mopan River, within sight of the Guatemala border...
).
Early life and training
Linton Satterthwaite was born in Trenton, New JerseyTrenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
and had a public school education in the area. After graduating from Trenton High School, Satterthwaite joined the military and served as a cadet and flying officer for the Royal Navy Air Force during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Afterwards, he decided to attend Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
for his B.A. and worked as a reporter from 1929 to 1931 he participated as an archaeological assistant in excavations in Texas, West Virginia, and Guatemala. Satterthwaite was awarded his Ph.D. in Anthropology in 1943.
Piedras Negras
In 1932, Linton Satterthwaite was named assistant director for the excavations at Piedras NegrasPiedras Negras
Piedras Negras may refer to:* Piedras Negras, Coahuila, a city in northern Mexico* Piedras Negras , an archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, located in the present-day Petén department of Guatemala...
. In 1933, J. Alden Mason
John Alden Mason
John Alden Mason was an archaeological anthropologist and linguist.Mason was born in Orland, Indiana, but grew up in Philadelphia's Germantown. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1907 and a doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley in 1911...
left his position as Field Director at Piedras Negras, and the title was then given to Satterthwaite until 1939.
The focus of the expeditions at Piedras Negras was to answer archaeological questions
Archaeological theory
Archaeological theory refers to the various intellectual frameworks through which archaeologists interpret archaeological data. There is no one singular theory of archaeology, but many, with different archaeologists believing that information should be interpreted in different ways...
such as establishing building sequences, stratigraphy, and uncovering architectural remains. This was a stark difference from that of Mason, who focused on monumental sculptures. Acting as director, Satterthwaite was able to excavate eleven temples, seventeen palaces, two ballcourts and multiple sweatbaths.
During his time at Piedras Negras, Satterthwaite was very well known for using a diligent and systematic approach in identifying building function. Satterthwaite also mapped many small buildings, setting a standard used by Mayanists to come (Houston et al. 1998). Because of Satterthwaite’s legal background, he was also able to effectively create detailed isometrics that conveyed the substance of excavations and define terms and labels.
Although many publications on Piedras Negras came out during his time there, Satterthwaite was still never able to finish all of the reports that he intended to.
Caracol, Belize
Initial discovery and research of CaracolCaracol
Caracol is the name given to a large ancient Maya archaeological site, located in what is now the Cayo District of Belize. It is situated approximately 40 kilometres south of Xunantunich and the town of San Ignacio Cayo, and 15 kilometers away from the Macal River. It rests on the Vaca Plateau at...
, Belize occurred in 1938, when Rosa Mai discovered the ancient ruins and A.H. Anderson did initial research, discovering 8 pieces of stelae in the process.
From 1950 to 1958, Linton Satterthwaite directed three sessions of archaeological work at Caracol, Belize. His concentration at this site was on hieroglyphs and chronology. During this time, in 1955 Linton Satterthwaite became curator of the American Section of the University Museum and Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. He created a systematic locational guide and inventory of the artifacts from the New World.
During the three seasons in the 1950s at Caracol, Satterthwaite was able to find twenty-six early classic vessels, nine late classic vessels, but as previously stated most of his time was dedicated to the monumental sculpture
Monumental sculpture
The term monumental sculpture is often used in art history and criticism, but not always consistently. It combines two concepts, one of function, and one of size, and may include an element of a third more subjective concept. It is often used for all sculptures that are large...
s. In total, Satterthwaite found twenty stelae
Stele
A stele , also stela , is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab...
and nineteen altars. These monuments were made into casts, photographed, sketched and made into quarter-scale blowups. Much of his work at Caracol was published in the book The Monuments and Inscriptions of Caracol, Belize, which is co-authored with Carl P. Beetz. In this book, Satterthwaite and Beetz describe the stelea and altars, from their exact context in the ground to interpretations of the hieroglyphs recorded on these monuments.
Cahal Pech and Benque Viejo (Xunantunich)
At the same time of the Caracol investigations, Satterthwaite was also conducting archaeological investigations at Cahal Pech and Benque Viejo (what is now called Xunantunich).Satterthwaite worked at these sites for two seasons beginning in 1950. It was considered a “housemound project”, and Satterthwaite was able to investigate seventeen structures and five stelae.
Tikal
Linton Satterthwaite also served as the project’s epigrapherEpigraphy
Epigraphy Epigraphy Epigraphy (from the , literally "on-writing", is the study of inscriptions or epigraphs as writing; that is, the science of identifying the graphemes and of classifying their use as to cultural context and date, elucidating their meaning and assessing what conclusions can be...
at Tikal
Tikal
Tikal is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centres of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the archaeological region of the Petén Basin in what is now northern Guatemala...
, Guatemala. His heavy interest in Maya chronology and monuments can also be seen in the article New Radiocarbon Dates and the Maya Correlation Problem, in which he discusses dates of lintel and vault beams from Tikal.
Retirement and death
In 1969, Linton Satterthwaite retired as Curator for the University Museum and Professor at Penn. He did however continue his work on the data at Caracol, Belize and Xunantunich. He died on March 11, 1978.Legacy
Satterthwaite was able to jumpstart careers in Maya studies, specifically with Tatiana ProskouriakoffTatiana Proskouriakoff
Tat’yana Avenirovna Proskuriakova was an American Mayanist scholar and archaeologist who contributed significantly to the decipherment of Maya hieroglyphs, the writing system of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica.-Early life:...
, who started her archaeological career in Piedras Negras, Guatemala during Satterthwaite’s tenure there. In the preface of The Monuments and Inscriptions of Caracol, Belize, William Coe and Christopher Jones praise Satterthwaite as a man of "limitless generosity, and, more germanely, his ingrained need to recognize each man's contribution".
See also
- Maya ScriptMaya scriptThe Maya script, also known as Maya glyphs or Maya hieroglyphs, is the writing system of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica, presently the only Mesoamerican writing system that has been substantially deciphered...
- Mayan LanguagesMayan languagesThe Mayan languages form a language family spoken in Mesoamerica and northern Central America. Mayan languages are spoken by at least 6 million indigenous Maya, primarily in Guatemala, Mexico, Belize and Honduras...
- Mesoamerican chronologyMesoamerican chronologyMesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...
- Pre-Columbian BelizePre-Columbian BelizeThe Pre-Columbian Belize history is the period from initial indigenous presence, across millennia, to the first contacts with Europeans - the Pre-Columbian or before Columbus period - that occurred on the region of the Yucatán Peninsula that is present day Belize.Belize's history begins with the...