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Alfred Tozzer
Alfred Marston Tozzer (July 4, 1877 – October 5, 1954) was an American anthropologist, archaeologist, linguist, and educator. His principal area of interest was Mesoamerican, especially Maya, studies. He was the husband of Margaret Castle Tozzer and father of figure skating champion Joan Tozzer.
Alfred Tozzer was born in Lynn, Massachusetts to Samuel Clarence (1846–1908) and Caroline (née Marston, 1847–1926) Tozzer, and graduated in anthropology from Harvard University in 1900. That summer he entered field as an assistant to Harvard's Roland Dixon to study American Indian languages of California. The following year he collected linguistic and ethnographic data on the Navajos living near Pueblo Bonito in New Mexico. From these experiences he published his first paper, which he presented at the Thirteenth International Congress of Americanists held in New York in 1902.
In December 1901, he won appointment as a traveling fellow for the Archaeological Institute of America. He spent several seasons in Yucatán conducting fieldwork among the Maya. He began at the Hacienda Chichén, owned by U.S. Consul to Yucatán Edward H. Thompson, a large plantation that included the ancient city of Chichen Itza. There he studied the Maya language and traveled the countryside collecting folk tales and oral histories. During one of his seasons at Chichen Itza he helped Thompson dredge the Cenote Sagrado; at the end of another, he carried artifacts to the Peabody Museum in his luggage.
In 1903, Tozzer traveled to Campeche and Chiapas to conduct research among the Lacandon Maya, and lived for several weeks in a small settlement on Lake Pethá, witnessing and even participating in their ceremonies. He returned there during the 1904 season. He wrote his PhD dissertation comparing the ceremonies of the Lacondone Maya with the Yucatecan Maya.
In the fall of 1904, he studied at Columbia University under Franz Boas and Adolph Bandelier. He spent one more season in Yucatán, Campeche and Chiapas, before settling at Harvard in the fall of 1905 as an assistant professor of anthropology.
From the beginning of his professional career, Tozzer began to shift more to archaeology and away from ethnography. During his seasons at Chichen, he assisted Adela Breton with her copies of reliefs, and Thompson who was making paper molds. During his time with the Lacandons he discovered and explored ruins that today share the name of the Rio Tzendales. In the summer of 1907, he joined Dixon, Alfred Kidder and Sylvanus Morley on a purely archaeological expedition to Rito de los Frijoles in New Mexico (today part of Bandelier National Monument).
In 1910 he took a leave of absence from Harvard to lead his first expedition to the ruins of Tikal and Nakum on behalf of the university's Peabody Museum. On this trip Tozzer discovered the ruins of Holmul.
In 1914 Tozzer took another leave of absence to succeed Boas as director of the International School of American Archeology and Ethnology in Mexico. He arrived in Veracruz in time to witness the US Navy shelling of the city. He oversaw excavation of the Toltec site at Santiago Ahuitzotla. Once his term as director expired, he never ventured into the field again.
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Alfred Tozzer
Alfred Marston Tozzer (July 4, 1877 – October 5, 1954) was an American anthropologist, archaeologist, linguist, and educator. His principal area of interest was Mesoamerican, especially Maya, studies. He was the husband of Margaret Castle Tozzer and father of figure skating champion Joan Tozzer.
Alfred Tozzer was born in Lynn, Massachusetts to Samuel Clarence (1846–1908) and Caroline (née Marston, 1847–1926) Tozzer, and graduated in anthropology from Harvard University in 1900. That summer he entered field as an assistant to Harvard's Roland Dixon to study American Indian languages of California. The following year he collected linguistic and ethnographic data on the Navajos living near Pueblo Bonito in New Mexico. From these experiences he published his first paper, which he presented at the Thirteenth International Congress of Americanists held in New York in 1902.
In December 1901, he won appointment as a traveling fellow for the Archaeological Institute of America. He spent several seasons in Yucatán conducting fieldwork among the Maya. He began at the Hacienda Chichén, owned by U.S. Consul to Yucatán Edward H. Thompson, a large plantation that included the ancient city of Chichen Itza. There he studied the Maya language and traveled the countryside collecting folk tales and oral histories. During one of his seasons at Chichen Itza he helped Thompson dredge the Cenote Sagrado; at the end of another, he carried artifacts to the Peabody Museum in his luggage.
In 1903, Tozzer traveled to Campeche and Chiapas to conduct research among the Lacandon Maya, and lived for several weeks in a small settlement on Lake Pethá, witnessing and even participating in their ceremonies. He returned there during the 1904 season. He wrote his PhD dissertation comparing the ceremonies of the Lacondone Maya with the Yucatecan Maya.
In the fall of 1904, he studied at Columbia University under Franz Boas and Adolph Bandelier. He spent one more season in Yucatán, Campeche and Chiapas, before settling at Harvard in the fall of 1905 as an assistant professor of anthropology.
From the beginning of his professional career, Tozzer began to shift more to archaeology and away from ethnography. During his seasons at Chichen, he assisted Adela Breton with her copies of reliefs, and Thompson who was making paper molds. During his time with the Lacandons he discovered and explored ruins that today share the name of the Rio Tzendales. In the summer of 1907, he joined Dixon, Alfred Kidder and Sylvanus Morley on a purely archaeological expedition to Rito de los Frijoles in New Mexico (today part of Bandelier National Monument).
In 1910 he took a leave of absence from Harvard to lead his first expedition to the ruins of Tikal and Nakum on behalf of the university's Peabody Museum. On this trip Tozzer discovered the ruins of Holmul.
In 1914 Tozzer took another leave of absence to succeed Boas as director of the International School of American Archeology and Ethnology in Mexico. He arrived in Veracruz in time to witness the US Navy shelling of the city. He oversaw excavation of the Toltec site at Santiago Ahuitzotla. Once his term as director expired, he never ventured into the field again.