Neil Merton Judd (October 27, 1887 – December 19, 1976) 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 studied under both
Byron Cummings and
Edgar Lee Hewett. He was the long-term curator of archaeology at the
United States National Museum
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...
, part of the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...
. He is noted for his discovery and excavation of ruins left by the
Ancestral Pueblo People
The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as Ancestral Pueblo peoples or the Basketmaker-Pueblo culture, were an ancient Native American culture of Pueblo peoples spanning the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southe ...
(also known as
Anasazi
The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as Ancestral Pueblo peoples or the Basketmaker-Pueblo culture, were an ancient Native American culture of Pueblo peoples spanning the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southea ...
) of the
Four Corners
Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. Most of the Four Corners regio ...
area, especially sites located within
Chaco Canyon
Chaco Culture National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park in the American Southwest hosting a large concentration of pre-Columbian indigenous ruins of pueblos. The park is located in northwestern New Mexico, betwee ...
, a region located within the now-arid
San Juan Basin
The San Juan Basin is a geologic structural basin located near the Four Corners region of the Southwestern United States. The basin covers 7,500 square miles and resides in northwestern New Mexico, southwestern Colorado, and parts of Utah a ...
of northwestern
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
. He headed the first federally backed archeological expeditions sent to Chaco Canyon, excavating the key ruins of
Pueblo Bonito and Pueblo del Arroyo.
[Strutin 1994, pp. 20–24.] He was also a member of the
1909 expedition that publicized Utah's Rainbow Bridge.
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Citations
References
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Further reading
*Neil M. Judd, ''Men Met along the Trail: Adventures in Archaeology'', 1968, University of Oklahoma Press. Judd's professional memoirs.
Chaco Culture National Historical Park: A Brief History of Investigations & Excavations in Chaco Canyon: 1877 to PresentRegister to the Papers of Neil Merton Judd National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
External links
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1887 births
1976 deaths
Smithsonian Institution people
20th-century American archaeologists
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