Definition: Americanist archaeologist Gordon R. Willey was truly a pioneer in the field; in fact it's really hard to know where to start. Probably the two most important aspects of Willey's career involved the settlement pattern study he completed in the Viru Valley of Peru during the 1940s; and the work he completed with Philip Phillips on the History of Archaeology.
Willey was educated at the University of Arizona and Columbia; and spent the majority of his professional life at the Peabody Museum in Harvard. He conducted fieldwork in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, Florida, and was a terrific teacher and a writer of mystery novels.
Willey was educated at the University of Arizona and Columbia; and spent the majority of his professional life at the Peabody Museum in Harvard. He conducted fieldwork in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, Florida, and was a terrific teacher and a writer of mystery novels.
Sources and Important Publications
Gorenstein, Shirley. 2002. Obituary: Gordon R. Willey. American Anthropologist 104(4):1254-1256.
Willey, Gordon Randolph 1988. Portraits in American archaeology: remembrances of some distinguished Americanists. Albuquerque :University of New Mexico Press
--- and Philip Phillips. 1958. Method and theory in American archaeology. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press (reprinted several times
--- 1987. Essays in Maya archaeology Albuquerque : University of New Mexico Press
--- and Jeremy A. Sabloff. 1980. A history of American archaeology. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman
This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology.
