Robert Braidwood
1907 - 2003
Born
in Detroit, Michigan
on July 29, 1907, Robert J. Braidwood was educated at the University
of Michigan and the University of Chicago where he studied architecture,
ancient history and anthropology. He is an anthropologist, archaeologist and is
a leader in the field of Near Eastern Prehistory; he is acclaimed for his
investigations into the origins and early consequences of a food producing way
of life. His research consisted of assembling problem-oriented
interdisciplinary teams involving the natural sciences.
In
1933, he earned his M.A. degree at the University
of Michigan and joined the University of Chicago Oriental Institute's
Syrian Hittite Expedition on the Amuq Plain, where he worked until 1938. In
1937, he married Linda and returned to Chicago
in 1938 to pursue graduate degrees. In 1943, he earned his Ph.D. and began
teaching for the Oriental Institute and the Anthropology Department at the University of Chicago, where he remained until his
retirement. Braidwood's scholarly concern with food production developed in his
early teaching career and he did research on the shift from a hunting and
gathering society to village society. By drawing upon the writings of H.J.
Peake and H.J. Fleure as well as V. Gordon Childe,
he set out to fill the gap they had created.
In
1947, the Oriental Institute's Jarmo Project
in Iraq
was launched. It was the first field project dealing specifically with
retrieving evidence of the methods of early food production and solving the
ecological problem of its origin and early consequences. On this project he
employed archaeologists as well as natural scientists who reconstructed the
ancient environment.
The
project was a challenge for Braidwood.; He began by using Childe's "Oasis
Theory." Then, based on the archaeological and paleo environmental
evidence they gathered, he formulated his; "Nuclear" or "Natural
Habitat Zone Theory." This theory was outlined in the book Prehistoric
Investigations in Iraqi Kurdistan. In 1950, his political problem in Iran had come
to an end even though the project had been moved to Iranian Zagros. From this
site it was discovered that occupation of the area dates back to the end of the
Pleistocene which inspired natural scientists to investigate climatic and
vegetational history.
In
the early 1960s, the University of Istanbul-University of Chicago's joint effort was co-directed by
Braidwood and Professor Halet Cambel. From 1963 to 1988, there was a lot of
productive fieldwork in southeastern Turkey which reaffirmed the value
of team effort. Information on early village farming life and the development
of food production was gathered through the excavation of Cayonu Tepesi which
also addressed the origins of metallurgy and architecture.
Braidwood
was active in several professional societies and received numerous honorary
degrees. In 1971, he was awarded the title of Distinguished Lecturer at the
Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological
Association. Braidwood lectured and published many books and articles that
have brought anthropology and prehistory to the attention not only of
historians of the ancient Near East but also to the public. For more
information please visit the University of Chicago, Oriental Institute.
References:
Winter, Christopher, International
Dictionary of Anthropologists. Garland
Publishing, New York & London, 1991.
Contemporary Authors
Dupuis, Diane L. Gale
Research Company, Detroit, Michigan 48226,
Vol. 108.
Written by: Students in an Introduction to
Anthropology Class, Minnesota State University,
Mankato, Minnesota
1998