Alfred Tozzer
| Alfred Marston Tozzer | |
|---|---|
| Born | 4 July 1877 Lynn, Massachusetts |
| Died | October 5, 1954 (aged 77) |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields |
anthropologist archaeologist university professor scholar |
| Known for | Maya civilization archaeology, Mayan language studies |
Alfred Marston Tozzer (4 July 1877 – 5 October 1954) was an American anthropologist, archaeologist, linguist, and educator. His principal area of interest was Mesoamerican, especially Maya, studies. He was the husband of Margaret Castle Tozzer and father of figure skating champion Joan Tozzer.
Alfred Tozzer was born in Lynn, Massachusetts to Samuel Clarence (1846-1908) and Caroline (née Marston, 1847-1926) Tozzer, and graduated in Anthropology from Harvard University in 1900. That summer he entered field as an assistant to Harvard’s Roland Dixon to study American Indian languages of California. The following year he collected linguistic and ethnographic data on the Navajos living near Pueblo Bonito in New Mexico. From these experiences he published his first paper, which he presented at the Thirteenth International Congress of Americanists held in New York in 1902.
In December 1901, he won appointment as a Traveling Fellow for the Archeological Institute of America. He spent several seasons in Yucatán conducting fieldwork among the Maya. He began at the Hacienda Chichen, owned by U.S. Consul to Yucatán Edward H. Thompson, a large plantation that included the ancient city of Chichen Itza. There he studied the Maya language and traveled the countryside collecting folk tales and oral histories. During one of his seasons at Chichen Itza he helped Thompson dredge the Cenote Sagrado; at the end of another, he carried artifacts to the Peabody Museum in his luggage.
...
Wikipedia