Elisabeth Schmid (1912–27 March 1994) was a German

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

and osteologist. She is best known for her work concerning the prehistoric ivory statue, the

lion-man The figurine, also called the Lion-man of , is a prehistoric ivory sculpture discovered in Hohlenstein-Stadel, a German cave, part of the Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura UNESCO World Heritage Site, in 1939. The German name, , meaning ...

, and for her book, ''Atlas of Animal Bones''. Schmid was the first woman to serve as dean of the

natural sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

faculty of the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis''; German: ''Universität Basel'') is a public research university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest univ ...

. In 1953 she co-founded the Swiss Archaeological Society with Rudolf Laur-Belart.

Early life and career

Schmid was born in

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

in 1912 and graduated with a PhD from the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...

. She was

habilitated Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellen ...

in Freiburg and Basel. Over her career, Schmid published over two hundred papers and two books. She began studying animal bones from

Augusta Raurica Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Ro ...

in the 1950s, and her analysis of those bones was the subject of her most well-known book, ''Atlas of Animal Bones'', which was published in 1972 and is still used worldwide today. In 1953, she established a laboratory at the

for prehistoric studies. In 1975 she became the first woman to serve as dean of the

faculty. She co-founded the Swiss Archaeological Society with Rudolf Laur-Belart in 1953. In 1987 she was made an honorary member of the Swiss Prehistoric Society. In the 1980s, Schmid became involved with the prehistoric ivory sculpture known as the

Lion-man The figurine, also called the Lion-man of , is a prehistoric ivory sculpture discovered in Hohlenstein-Stadel, a German cave, part of the Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura UNESCO World Heritage Site, in 1939. The German name, , meaning ...

. It was first discovered in 1939 in a cave in southwestern

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

by Otto Völzing. Around 30 percent of the statue is missing, and its gender is heavily disputed. German archaeologist Joachim Hahn interpreted part of the statue as representing male genitalia; however, Schmid later interpreted the same part of the statue as a pubic triangle. Further restoration of the statue began in autumn 1987 by Schmid and restorer Ute Wolf. Schmid died on 27 March 1994.

References

External links

Tierknochenatlas
(digital edition) {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmid, Elisabeth 1912 births 1994 deaths Archaeologists from Baden-Württemberg German women archaeologists University of Freiburg alumni