Wendell Clark Bennett (August 17, 1905 – September 6, 1953) was an American archaeologist and professor at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. He specialized in the study of

Andean civilizations The Andean civilizations were South American complex societies of many indigenous people. They stretched down the spine of the Andes for from southern Colombia, to Ecuador and Peru, including the deserts of coastal Peru, to north Chile and no ...

and also studied ancient Hawaiian civilization. The

Bennett Monolith The Bennett Monolith is a monumental stone sculpture from the pre-Columbian Tiwanaku civilization, located in present-day Bolivia. Standing approximately 7.3 meters (24 feet) tall and weighing around 20 tons, it is the largest known human-carved ...

is named after him. Yale University maintains an archive of his work.

Biography

Bennett was born in

Marion, Indiana Marion is a city in and the county seat of Grant County, Indiana, United States, along the Mississinewa River. The population was 28,310 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is named for Francis Marion, a brigadier general from ...

and grew up in

Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, adjacent to Chicago. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, 26th-most populous municipality in Illinois, with a population of 54,318 as of the 2020 census. Oak Park was first se ...

. His father, William Rainey Bennett, was a Protestant minister. Bennett studied at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, earning a bachelor's degree in 1927, a master's degree in 1929, and a Ph.D. in 1930. His graduate studies focused on ancient Hawaiian civilization. His master's thesis was titled "An Archeological survey of the Island of Kauai" and his doctoral thesis was titled "Hawaiian

heiau A ''heiau'' () is a Hawaiian temple. Made in different architectural styles depending upon their purpose and location, they range from simple earth terraces, to elaborately constructed stone platforms. There are heiau to treat the sick (''heia ...

s". He received support from the

Bishop Museum The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, designated the Hawaii State Museum of Natural and Cultural History, is a museum of history and science in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu, Hawaii, Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu. Founded in 1 ...

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

to conduct research as a graduate student. After graduation, he specialized in Andean archaeology through his work 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 1938, Bennett became an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the

University of Wisconsin at Madison A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

. He transferred to Yale University in 1940, becoming full Professor there in 1945 and Chairman of the Department of Anthropology in 1949. He was awarded the

Order of the Condor of the Andes The Order of the Condor of the Andes () is a state decoration of the Plurinational State of Bolivia instituted on 12 April 1925. The Order is awarded for exceptional merit, either civil or military, shown by Bolivians or foreign nationals. The ...

by the Bolivian government for discovering and exhuming the

, which was subsequently named after him. He was the President of the

American Anthropological Association The American Anthropological Association (AAA) is an American organization of scholars and practitioners in the field of anthropology. With 10,000 members, the association, based in Arlington, Virginia, includes archaeologists, cultural anthropo ...

in 1952. He died of a heart attack while swimming in South Beach at

Martha's Vineyard Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, lying just south of Cape Cod. It is known for being a popular, affluent summer colony, and includes the smaller peninsula Chappaquiddick Isla ...

on September 6, 1953.

Personal life

In 1925, he married Hope Ranslow. They had two daughters, Lucy and Martha.

Bibliography

* Wendell C. Bennett and Robert M. Zingg, ''The Tarahumara: an Indian tribe of northern Mexico'' (1935). * Wendell C. Bennett, ''Excavations at Wari, Ayacucho, Peru'' (1953).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Wendell C. 1905 births 1953 deaths University of Chicago alumni People from Marion, Indiana Yale University faculty University of Wisconsin faculty