José Maria Cruxent (January 16, 1911 – February 23, 2005) was a professional
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, ...
considered to be the "Father of Scientific Archaeology" in
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
.
[Gonzalez, Gloria (2010). 'Fundación José María Cruxent: Biografía' at](_blank)
/ref> He was born in Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
, Spain. Cruxent is known for making significant contributions to understanding the cultural history
Cultural history records and interprets past events involving human beings through the social, cultural, and political milieu of or relating to the arts and manners that a group favors. Jacob Burckhardt (1818–1897) helped found cultural history ...
of Venezuela from the Paleoindian
Paleo-Indians were the first peoples who entered and subsequently inhabited the Americas towards the end of the Late Pleistocene period. The prefix ''paleo-'' comes from . The term ''Paleo-Indians'' applies specifically to the lithic period in ...
period to the early Colonial period.
Education
Cruxent was a student in archaeology
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, ...
at the University of Barcelona
The University of Barcelona (official name in ; UB), formerly also known as Central University of Barcelona (), is a public research university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was established in 1450. With 76,000 students, ...
until the Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
cut short his academic career in 1939. After the war, he moved to Venezuela where he eventually gained renown for reshaping its archaeology by applying the scientific method in field work (something that had been rare in archaeological excavations there).
Discoveries
In 1952 Cruxent participate in the Franco-Venezuelan expedition in search of the sources of the Orinoco River and the demarcation of the border with Brazil. the Doctor Marcel Roche
Marcel Roche Dugand (August 15, 1920 in Caracas, Venezuela – May 3, 2003 in Miami, USA) was a physician, scientist and scientific leader.
He was born into a wealthy family of French origin. His father, Luis Roche was a well known urbanist. H ...
invites him to the Archeology department of the Venezuelan Institute of Scientific Research (IVIC); and in collaboration with the American archaeologist Irving Rouse
Benjamin Irving Rouse (August 29, 1913 – February 24, 2006) was an American archaeologist on the faculty of Yale University best known for his work in the Greater and Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean, especially in Haiti. He also conducted field ...
write and publish "Chronological Archeology of Venezuela", in 1958.
Cruxent was responsible for the discovery of archaeological sites at Nueva Cádiz
Nueva Cádiz is an archaeological site and former port town on Cubagua, off the coast of Venezuela. First established in 1500 as a seasonal settlement, by 1515 it had become a year-round permanent town. it was one of the first European settleme ...
and Taima-Taima
Taima-Taima is a Late Pleistocene archaeological site located about 20 kilometers east of Santa Ana de Coro, in the Falcón State of Venezuela. The human settlement at Taima-Taima started about 14,000 years ago.
History of research
The site was ...
. He extended the archaeological evidence for human presence in South America backward into the Late Pleistocene
The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as the Upper Pleistocene from a Stratigraphy, stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division ...
epoch.
It was at Taima-Taima that he discovered El Jobo projectile point
In archaeological terminology, a projectile point is an object that was hafted to a weapon that was capable of being thrown or projected, such as a javelin, dart, or arrow. They are thus different from weapons presumed to have been kept in the ...
s and other stone artifacts dating to as early as 13,000 B.P., a major discovery in Paleoindian
Paleo-Indians were the first peoples who entered and subsequently inhabited the Americas towards the end of the Late Pleistocene period. The prefix ''paleo-'' comes from . The term ''Paleo-Indians'' applies specifically to the lithic period in ...
archaeology.[Oliver, José R. (2003). 'Taima Taima A 13,000 years Old Mastodon Kill Site in Western Venezuela' at ]
Cruxent was later asked to excavate La Isabella, the first Spanish settlement, as well as the tomb of Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...
in the Ciudad Colonial de Santo Domingo.[Daboín, Whylmhar (2012) 'Jose Maria CRUXENT, PIONEER OF ARCHAEOLOGY VENEZOLANA' a]
/ref>
Museum Administration
Cruxent eventually became the head curator and archaeologist for the Museo de Ciencias Naturales and founded the Department of Archaeology at the Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas
The Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (IVIC; ) is a scientific research institute and graduate training center in Venezuela founded by government decree on February 9, 1959. It has its origins in the Venezuelan Institute of Neurology an ...
in Caracas.
Artistic career
In the latter portion of his life, Cruxent became an artist in the abstract expressionism
Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...
movement.[Albornoz, Lina M. and Miguel Angel Prieto (1988).'ARQUEOLOGIA SURAMERICANA : INFLUENCIA DE “EL TECHO DE LA BALLENA” EN LA NUEVA FILOSOFIA ARQUEOLOGICA DEL S.XX.' at https://www.academia.edu/9712196/ARQUEOLOGIA_SURAMERICANA_INFLUENCIA_DEL_TECHO_DE_LA_BALLENA_EN_LA_NUEVA_FILOSOFIA_ARQUEOLOGICA_DEL_S.XX_Lina_Mar%C3%ADa_Albornoz_y_Miguel_Ángel_Prieto_UNOR_1988_] His paintings often depicted his archaeological discoveries and were reminiscent of cave painting
In archaeology, cave paintings are a type of parietal art (which category also includes petroglyphs, or engravings), found on the wall or ceilings of caves. The term usually implies prehistoric art, prehistoric origin. These paintings were often c ...
. He did not stick to one medium, but rather experimented with many different materials and textures. He continued to work as a professor and artist until his death in 2005 at the age of 94.
Publications
Books
*''Venezuelan Archaeology'', 1963
*''An Archaeological Chronology of Venezuela'', V2: Social Science Monographs, V6, 20, 1964
*''Archaeology at La Isabela: America's First European Town'', 2002
Articles
*Early Man in the West Indies, 1997
*Medieval Foothold in the Americas,1997
*An El Jobo Mastodon Kill at Tiama-Taima, Venezuela, 1978
*Archaeology of Cotua Island, Amazonas Territory, Venezuela, 1950
*Determination of the Provenience of Majolica Pottery Found in the Caribbean Area Using Its Gamma-Ray Induced Thermoluminescence, 1975
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruxent, Jose
1911 births
2005 deaths
Venezuelan archaeologists
Spanish emigrants to Venezuela
University of Barcelona alumni
20th-century archaeologists