Junius Bouton Bird (1907–1982), born in

Rye, New York Rye is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, within the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area. It received its charter as a city in 1942, making it the most recent such charter in the state. Its area of ...

, was an American

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, ...

who was appointed

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

of South American Archaeology at the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...

in 1934. His contributions to the study of ecology, climate, and

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

archaeology earned him several awards including: ''The Viking Fund Medal for Archaeology'' (1956) and The ''Order of "El sol de Peru"'' (1974). With his excavations e.g. at

Fell Cave Cueva Fell or Fell's Cave is a natural cave and archaeological site in southern Patagonia. Cueva Fell is in proximity to the Pali Aike Crater, another significant archaeological site. Cueva Fell combined with the nearby Pali Aike site have been s ...

in the late 1930s Bird was one of the pioneers of Patagonian archaeology and contributed to the investigation of the earliest settlement of the Americas. His wife, Margaret McKelvy Bird, accompanied him on a number of expeditions and was a close co-worker throughout their life together. In 1961 he was elected as the president of the

Society for American Archaeology The Society for American Archaeology (SAA) is a professional association for the archaeology of the Americas. It was founded in 1934 and its headquarters are in based in Washington, D.C. , it has 7,500 members. Its current president is Daniel S ...

. He studied at Columbia College and was in the class of 1930. Bird has been cited as a possible real-life inspiration for the fictional movie character

Indiana Jones ''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise consisting of five films and a prequel television series, along with games, comics, and tie-in novels, that depicts the adventures of Indiana Jones (character), Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, ...

.
Indy Spirit Awards, Archaeology Magazine, May/June 2008

References

External links

Junius Bouton Bird Web Page
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Junius Bird Biography
��No longer in service. People associated with the American Museum of Natural History American curators 1907 births 1982 deaths Columbia College (New York) alumni 20th-century American archaeologists {{US-archaeologist-stub

See also

References

External links