Philip Drucker (1911–1982) was an American anthropologist and archaeologist who specialized in the Native American peoples of the Northwest Coast of North America. He also played an important part in the early excavations under

Matthew Stirling Matthew Williams Stirling (August 28, 1896 – January 23, 1975) was an American ethnologist, archaeologist and later an administrator at several scientific institutions in the field. He is best known for his discoveries relating to the Olmec ...

of the Smithsonian of the

Olmec The Olmecs () or Olmec were an early known major Mesoamerican civilization, flourishing in the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco from roughly 1200 to 400 Before the Common Era, BCE during Mesoamerica's Mesoamerican chronolog ...

culture in Mexico, especially the site of

La Venta La Venta is a pre-Columbian archaeological site of the Olmec civilization located in the present-day Mexican state of Tabasco. Some of the artifacts have been moved to the museum "Parque - Museo de La Venta", which is in nearby Villaherm ...

. Born in Chicago on January 13, 1911, he began his college career studying animal husbandry at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

before switching to Liberal arts and archaeology. He then took further degrees in Anthropology at

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. The main Olmec expeditions were in 1940–42 when he worked for the

Bureau of American Ethnology The Bureau of American Ethnology (or BAE, originally, Bureau of Ethnology) was established in 1879 by an act of Congress for the purpose of transferring archives, records and materials relating to the Indians of North America from the Departme ...

in Washington, D.C. His first Olmec period ended when he joined the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1942, seeing active service until 1945. He then joined the Smithsonian but in 1948 he was ordered to active duty by the US Navy Reserve as anthropologist to the American occupation administration for

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of approximately 2,000 small islands in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: Maritime Southeast Asia to the west, Poly ...

, with the rank of Lieutenant-Commander, serving until 1952. From 1955–66 he largely gave up academic work and farmed in ''Mexico,'' marrying and having two children. From 1968 he returned to academic life at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

, and elsewhere as a visiting professor. “One of the best-kept secrets about Philip Drucker is that his adventures as a rancher in southern Veracruz are wonderfully told in the 1969 book Tropical Frontier, which he wrote and published under the pseudonym Paul Record.” Grove

Bibliography

* Drucker, Philip (1965) ''Cultures of the North Pacific Coast.'' San Francisco: Chandler Publishing Company. * Grove, David C. (2014) ''Discovering the Olmecs: An Unconventional History.'' Austin: University of Texas Press. * McFeat, Tom (ed.) (1966) ''Indians of the North Pacific Coast: Studies in Selected Topics.'' Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. * "Smithsonian
Register to the Papers of Philip Drucker
National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution, with chronology of his life.

References

1911 births 1982 deaths 20th-century American archaeologists 20th-century American anthropologists {{US-archaeologist-stub