Junius Bouton Bird

1907-1982

    Junius Bird was an engaging man who lead studies in American archeology for nearly fifty years. Appointed curator of South American Archeology at the American Museum of Natural History in 1931, he worked there studying artifacts for the next 42 years. Focusing upon pre-Columbian textiles, Junius Bird was a master of the early cultures of the Western Hemisphere. He made important discoveries in Southern Chile and at Huaca Prieta on the Peruvian North Coast. In Chile, he found Paleo-Indian and mammalian remains and textile fragments at Huaca Prieta. Junius was a guide in the establishment and use of absolute chronologies. He also gathered a large amount of data and material on ecology and climate. His contributions have been recorded by Gordon Willey in the Junius Bird Memorial Lecture at the Center for InterAmerican Relations.

    Bird received several awards for his accomplishments. He was granted the Viking Fund Medal for Archeology in 1956, an honorary D.Sc. by Wesleyan University in 1958 and the Order of "El sol de Peru" from the Government of Peru in 1974. Bird was president of the Institute of Andean Research from 1952 to 1954 and was voted president of the Society for American Archeology in 1961. New York magazine also incorporated him in their list of the 100 "most interesting New Yorkers."

References

Photo Reprinted With Permission From the American Anthropological Association, American Anthropologists 87:1,  (March, 1985)

www.biography.com, (2006)

Written By: Nikki Akins, 2001