Robert Heizer
Robert Fleming Heizer (July 13, 1915 – July 18, 1979) was an archaeologist who conducted extensive fieldwork and reporting in California, the Southwestern United States, and the Great Basin.
Background
Robert Fleming Heizer was born July 13, 1915, in
Career
Upon receiving his doctorate, Heizer taught for a year at the University of Oregon. During World War II, he worked at the Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond, California, as a marine pipefitter. After the war, he taught at the University of California, Los Angeles (1945–46) and then began his thirty-year career at Berkeley, going from Assistant Professor (1946) to Associate Professor (1948) and finally full Professor (1952). While teaching, he worked closely with both undergraduate and graduate students, who helped inspire A Guide to Field Methods in Archaeology (1949) and The Archaeologists at Work (1959). He also organized and directed the University of California Archaeological Survey (1948–60), which conducted many major excavations and various field studies around the state and produced 75 volumes in its Reports series. Dr. Heizer retired from teaching in 1979 and died later that year at the age of 64.[4]
Awards and honors
Heizer received many awards and honors during his lifetime. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Sciences from the
Key excavations and studies
Heizer's excavations included the Cooper-Molera Adobe Project in Monterey County, California, from 1971 to 1978.
Research emphases
Most of Heizer's research was in prehistoric and historic Native American peoples of the western United States, particularly in Nevada and California. He conducted numerous analyses of preserved materials from the caves in Nevada, particularly fossil feces or
Selected works
Heizer wrote hundreds of different works in the course of his lifetime. He wrote 415 papers, reprinted papers, reports and prefaces. He also wrote 30 books (authored and co-authors) and 53 different book reviews, and was a part of 2 films.[4]
Selected articles and monographs
- A Unique Type of Fishhook from Central California 1937 Southwest Museum The Masterkey 11; 96-97
- A "Folsom-like" Point from the Sacramento Valley 1938 Southwest Museum The Masterkey 12; 180-182
- A Complete Atlatl Dart from Pershing County, Nevada 1938 New Mexican Anthropologist Volume 2: 70-71
- A Note on Folsom and Nepesta Points 1940 American Antiquity 6(1): 79
- The Origin and Authenticity of an Atlatl Dart from Lassen County, California 1941 American Antiquity, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 134–141
- The Use of Narcotic Mushrooms by Primitive Peoples 1944 Ciba Symposium vol. 5(2):1713–1716
- Archaeological Dating by Chemical Analysis of Bone, by Cook, Sherburne Friend Heizer, Robert Fleming 1953 Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 231-238
- A San Nicolas Island Twined Basketry Water Bottle 1960 University of California Archaeological Survey pg 1-3
- Specific and Generic Characteristics of Olmec Culture 1958–60 Proceedings of the International Congress of Americanists . v. 2. pp. 178–182
- Inference on the Nature of Olmec Society Based upon Data from the La Venta Site 1961–62 Kroeber Anthropological Society 25:43-57
- Archaeology of Hum-67, the Gunther Island Site in Humboldt Bay, California: Correspondence 1948–66 Reports of the University of California Archaeological Survey 62:5-122
- Biological and Cultural Evidence from Prehistoric Coprolites 1969 Science Vol. 165 no. 3893 pp. 563–568
- A Question of Ethics in Archaeology—One Archaeologist's View 1974 The Journal of California Anthropology 145-151
Selected books
- Francis Drake and the California Indians, 1579 University of California Press 1947
- A Manual of Archaeological Field Methods; Prepared for Use by the California Archaeological Survey of the University of California and the Department of Anthropology at Berkeley, edited by Heizer, Robert Fleming The National Press 1949
- The California Indians, edited by Heizer, Robert Fleming and Whipple, Mary Ann 1947–70 University of California Press
- The Four Ages of Tsurai; A Documentary History of the Indian Village on Trinidad Bay, by Heizer, Robert Fleming Trinidad Museum Society
- A Guide to Archaeological Field Methods (revised edition of A Manual of Archaeological Field Methods) The National Press
- The Archaeologist at Work; A Source Book in Archaeological Method and Interpretation 1957–60 Greenwood Press
- An Introduction to Prehistoric Archaeology, by Hole, Frank Heizer, and Robert Fleming Holt, Rinehart and Winston Publisher
- Languages, Territories, and Names of California Indian Tribes 1966 University of California Press
- To Make My Name Good: A Reexamination of the Southern Kwakiutl Potlatch (Original title: Southern Kwakiutl Potlatch) by Drucker, Philip Heizer, and Robert Fleming 1965–67 University of California Press
- Almost Ancestors: The First Californians, by Kroeber, Theodora and Heizer, Robert F. 1969 Brick House Publishing Company
- The Other Californians; Prejudice and Discrimination under Spain, Mexico and the United States to 1920, by Heizer, Robert Fleming University of California Press
- The Destruction of California Indians; Collection of Documents from the Period 1847–1965 in Which are Described Some of the Things that Happened to Some of the Indians of California, edited by Heizer, Robert Fleming Bison Books Publisher
- The Costanoan Indians: An Assemblage of Papers on the Language and Culture of the Costanoan Indians who in Aboriginal Times Occupied San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda and Parts Of Contra Costa, Monterey and San Benito Counties, edited by Heizer, Robert Fleming 1974. De Anza College Press
Death
Heizer died July 18, 1979. He was first put in the hospital in 1978 for cancer, but his health had been declining for several months before. He fought hard against the disease, and despite the handicaps it put on him he continued to teach and conduct research up until a few days before his death.[4]
References
- ^ a b c d e Robert Heizer Obituary Wiley Online Library
- ^ Kroeber, C. B., 1981. A dedication to the memory of Robert F. Heizer 1915–1979. Ariz. West 23:208-12.
- ^ Heizer, R. F., 1970. "Robert F. Heizer". in There Was Light, Autobiography of a University, Berkeley: 1868–1968 Edited and with an introduction by Irving Stone, pp. 207-13. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday.
- ^ a b c d e f Hester, T. (1996). Robert Fleming Heizer. Washington, D.C.: The National Academic Press
- ^ a b Baumhoff, M. A., 1980. Robert Fleming Heizer, 1915–1979. Am. Anthropol. 82:843-47.
- ^ Barker, P. (2011). Robert Heizer. onlinenevadaencylclopedia. from http://www.onlinenevada.org/robert_heizer
- ^ Drucker, P, Heizer, R, & Squier, R. (1959). Excavations at La Venta. Washington: US Government Print.
External links
- A Guide to the Robert Fleming Heizer Papers, The Bancroft Library
- A Guide to the Robert Fleming Heizer papers, University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries (UTSA Libraries)Special Collections.
- A photo of Heizer
- Works by Robert Heizer at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Robert Heizer at Internet Archive
- http://www.scahome.org/
- http://anthropology.berkeley.edu/
- http://www.ancient-wisdom.co.uk/mexicolaventa.htm
- http://www.onlinenevada.org/lovelock_culture
- http://www.archaeologyinfo.com/perspectives001.htm
- Thomas R. Hester, "Robert Fleming Heizer", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences (1996)