Paul Sidney Martin

For the American geoscientist, author of the Ice Age overhunting hypothesis, see Paul Schultz Martin.
Paul Sidney Martin
BornNovember 22, 1898
Chicago, Illinois
DiedJanuary 20, 1974(1974-01-20) (aged 75)
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Anthropologist, archeologist

Paul Sidney Martin (born November 22, 1898[1] in Chicago – died January 20, 1974[2]) was an American anthropologist and archaeologist. A lifelong associate of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Martin studied pre-Columbian cultures of the Southwestern United States. He excavated more than a hundred archaeological sites,[3] starting with the groundbreaking seven-season expedition to the Montezuma County, Colorado in 1930–1938.[4] His research passed through three distinct stages: field archaeology of the Anasazi Pueblo cultures of Colorado in the 1930s, studies of the Mogollon culture in 1939–1955 and the New Archaeology studies in 1956–1972.[5] Martin collected more than 585 thousand archaeological artifacts[5] although his own methods of handling these relics were at times destructive and unacceptable even by the standards of his time.[6]

Martin was elected President of the Society for American Archaeology and awarded the 1968 Alfred Vincent Kidder Award of the American Anthropological Association.[7][8] He trained over fifty professional archaeologists and published more than 200 academic and popular papers.[5] Martin's field expeditions redefined the role of museum anthropologists from the search for exhibits to research-driven field studies.[7]

  1. ^ Nash 2010, p. 105. Nash 2003, p. 165 and the site of the Field Museum of Natural History provide a different date: "Martin was born in Chicago on November 20, 1899" (The Paul S. Martin collection. Biographical statement. Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago. Retrieved 2010-09-18).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference N107 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Nash 2010, p. 104. The site of the Field Museum of Natural History presents a different number: "Paul Martin was involved in single-season and multi-season excavations at 69 sites" (The Paul S. Martin collection. Introduction Archived 2009-03-17 at the Wayback Machine. Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago. Retrieved 2010-09-18).
  4. ^ The Paul S. Martin collection. Biographical statement. Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago. Retrieved 2010-09-18.
  5. ^ a b c Nash 2003, p. 165.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference N116 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ a b Nash 2010, p. 104.
  8. ^ Paul Sidney Martin (obituary). Anthropology News, 1974 vol. 15, no. 3 p. 3.