William Niven

William Niven
William Niven, mineralogist, circa 1895
Born	6 October 1850 Bellshill, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Died	2 June 1937 (1937-06-03) (aged 86) Austin, Texas, United States
Residence	Scotland, United States
Fields	Mineralogy, archeology
Known for	Mineral discoveries; "Niven tablets"

William Niven (2 October 1850 – 2 June 1937) was a mineralogist and archeologist noted for his discovery of the minerals yttrialite, thorogummite, aguilarite and nivenite (named after him), as well as a set of controversial tablets. Originally from Scotland, Niven came to the United States in 1879, where he became heavily involved in mineralogy and mining.

Niven's first major contribution to mineralogy occurred in 1889 while he was on an expedition to Llano County, Texas, on behalf of Thomas Edison. Niven was looking for the mineral gadolinite, which was used as a street lamp filament. It was on this expedition that he discovered three new minerals, yttrialite, thorogummite, and nivenite.

In the 1890s, Niven discovered the mineral aguilarite while on an exploration trip to Mexico. He also found new deposits of rare minerals in New York and New Jersey.

Niven eventually became interested in archaeology through his travels to Mexico and excavations being undertaken there at the time. Niven began his archaeological work in Guerrero, Mexico where, among of other work, he purchased the first rediscovered Xochipala-style figurine. Due to the Mexican Revolution of 1910, however, he was forced to move to the Valley of Mexico.

The year 1921 brought the first discovery of one of the andesite tablets. The indecipherable markings on these tablets were the subject of much controversy over the last years of Niven's life.