Robert Ascher (April 28, 1931 – January 8, 2014) 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, ...

anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

, ethnomathematician, and experimental

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

. He is best known for his contributions to

experimental archaeology Experimental archaeology (also called experiment archaeology) is a field of study which attempts to generate and test archaeological Hypothesis, hypotheses, usually by replicating or approximating the feasibility of ancient cultures performing v ...

and for his collaborative work on ''

quipu ''Quipu'' ( ), also spelled ''khipu'', are record keeping devices fashioned from knotted cords. They were historically used by various cultures in the central Andes of South America, most prominently by the Inca Empire. A ''quipu'' usually cons ...

'' with his wife, Marcia Ascher. He was commonly referred to as "Bob" by friends, colleagues, and family.

Education

He earned his B.A. in anthropology from

Queens College, City University of New York Queens College (QC) is a public college in the New York City borough of Queens. Part of the City University of New York system, Queens College occupies an campus primarily located in Flushing. Queens College was established in 1937 and offe ...

in 1954. After a brief period of service in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, he pursued graduate studies at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

, where he received his M.A. in 1959 and his Ph.D. in 1960. His doctoral dissertation was titled ''The Nature of the Imitative Experiment in Archaeology''.

Career

Soon after receiving his Ph.D., Ascher joined the faculty at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

as part of the anthropology department, where he was promoted to full professor in 1966, and later to emeritus professor in 2002. In the early 1960s, he played a key role in the development of

as a methodological approach in the field. Starting in the 1970s, he also contributed to the study of ''

quipus ''Quipu'' ( ), also spelled ''khipu'', are record keeping devices fashioned from knotted cords. They were historically used by various cultures in the central Andes of South America, most prominently by the Inca Empire. A ''quipu'' usually cons ...

'', an indigenous Andean record-keeping system, in collaboration with his wife, Marcia Ascher.

Death

Robert Ascher died on January 8, 2014, at the age of 82. He was buried at

Lake View Cemetery Lake View Cemetery is a Private property, privately owned, Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Rural cemetery, garden cemetery located in the cities of Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, Cleveland Heights, and East Cleveland, Ohio, East Cleveland ...

Ithaca, New York Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...

Selected publications

* Ascher, Robert. 1961. “Experimental Archeology.” ''American Anthropologist'' 63 (4): 793–816. * Ascher, Robert. 1961. "Analogy in Archaeological Interpretation." ''Southwestern Journal of Anthropology'' 17 (4): 317–325.

Notes

External links

Code of the Quipu: Databooks
– includes descriptions and data for more than 200 ''

s'' studied by Marcia and Robert Ascher. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ascher, Robert 1931 births 2014 deaths American archaeologists American anthropologists Ethnomathematicians Cornell University faculty Queens College, City University of New York alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni