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Gertrude Bell
After graduating she spent the next ten years traveling the world. Her interest in archeology started when she went mountaineering in Switzerland where she recorded 10 new paths in the Alps. In 1907, she discovered a field of ruins in northern Syria on the east bank of the Euphrates called the Binbirkilise excavation. -
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Gertrude Bell
Although Gertrude was very well-traveled, her most well-received contributions happened in Iraq. She is known for preserving Iraq’s culture and history. She did this by finding Mesopotamian civilization relics and keeping them in Iraq. She created the Baghdad Archaeological Museum later known as the Iraq Museum. She brought in many different collections, one being from the Babylonian Empire. -
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Eulalia Guzmán
Eulalia Guzmán was a Mexican archaeologist who helped excavate ancient Mexican ruins. Guzmán helped discover many Mexican artifacts and historical sites, particularly those of the Aztec empire. She aided in Mexican understanding and directed the Mexican National Library of Anthropology and History. Guzmán was a celebrant of indigenous people and is celebrated for her advocacy. -
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V. Gordon Childe
V. Gordon Childe was a British archaeologist who wanted to investigate the ancient cultures of the western world. His work focused on Europe in relation to the Middle East. He was mainly concerned with the transformation of the hunter-gatherer lifestyle into the settled agricultural lifestyle and helped him develop his 1936 agricultural revolution theory. -
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Alfonso Caso
Alfonso Caso’s work took place in Mexico, believing that studying ancient Mexican civilizations would further the understanding of Mexico’s cultural roots. His goal was to explain the development of Mesoamerican civilizations. He wanted to do it in terms of continuity and internal evolution. Previous theories about cultural change believed that it resulted in trans-cultural diffusion (conceptualized by Leo Frobenius), which was rejected by Alfonso Caso. -
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Alfonso Caso
He wrote books about native Mesoamerican cultures, which included Olmec, Mixtec, Zapotec, and Aztec. He was the first Archeologist to declare that Olmecs were “cultura Madre” or the earliest Mesoamerican civilization One of his significant findings took place at Monte Albán in “Tomb Seven,” where he found several gold pieces and offerings that are shown in the Regional Museum of Oaxaca. He also sought to establish the timeline of Monte Albán’s history and deciphering Mixtec codes. -
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Maria Reiche theories
Maria Reiche studied the geometric patterns and lines etched in the area, and believed them to be an astronomical calendar. Her theory was that the calendar served to deduce the times for harvesting, sowing, and then distributing crops and food. She was able to identify many of the geometric features found in the lines and interpret their meanings to the cultures and beliefs of the Nazca society. -
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Maria Reiche methods, discoveries, activism, etc.
She was able to map over 1,000 of the Nazcan lines with help from the Peruvian government and protected them herself throughout her years in Peru.
She founded several research projects that protected and studied the Nazca area, and when UNESCO decided to declare it a World Heritage site, she was awarded a special medal for her outstanding work and dedication. -
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Tatiana Proskouriakoff's Theories
Proskouriakoff is most well known for her research on Mayan life and culture. She used her knowledge of architecture, and her talents of visualization of ruins to discover and easily render the remains of many Mayan structures. She also spent more than a decade preserving jade artifacts from the Cenote of Sacrifice found in Chichén Itzá, another Mayan city. -
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Tatiana Proskouriakoff methods, discoveries, activism, etc.
She was able to decipher Mayan hieroglyphics that had been believed almost completely impossible to understand. After this work, she aided in the publishing of
She worked in the Mayan site at Copàn, where she also published the “Album of Maya Architecture”, in which her drawings of Mayan architecture from her many excavations and studies, was featured. -
Culture history
This approach used scientific methods as well as interactions with the community, and studies focused on culture and society. Archaeologists that worked with the cultural history method focus on the communities and history of their communities and used artifacts and architecture of the past to understand the people they studied.