Alfred Kidder

1885-1963

Alfred Kidder was born in Marquette, Michigan on October 29 1885, where he lived with his family before moving out to New England. While Kidder lived in New England received his schooling from Brown and Nicholas School of Cambridge, then moving on to Orchy and Switzerland, before he moved on to Nobel and Greenough School in Boston.

During Kidder's younger-years he like to sit in his father's small library and read. Mostly about books that related to American Indian-history and topics that were related to archeology. While Kidder was in high school he wanted to be a doctor, little did he know that would not happen. In 1904 he enrolled at the University of Harvard wanting to major in pre-med., which would change once Kidder realize that chemistry would soon crush that dream. During his campaign at Harvard Kidder grew a strong interest in the field of Anthropology. Kidder graduated from Harvard in 1908, with a strong passion for anthropology. Two years later in 1910 after he graduated from Harvard he married the mother of his five-children, Madeleine.

In 1914 Kidder went on to become the sixth person in the United States to receive a Ph. D. in archaeology, after the Harvard University accepted his thesis entitled, “Cliff Dwellers and Basket Maker.”

According to the History Channel web page, Kidder conducted excavations for the Phillips Academy, of Andover, Mass., from 1915 to 1929. During this time period it said that he laid a foundation of field research methods for today's archeologists.

According to the web article “Alfred Vincent Kidder 1885-1963”, Kidder made use of the stratigraphic method on a large scale and extended it into a regional strategy of cultural chronological steps.  The method consisted of 5 steps: one was reconnaissance; selection of criteria for ranking the remains of sites chronologically; seriation into a probable sequence; stratigraphic excavation to elucidate specific problems; followed by more detailed regional survey and dating. This five-step method lead Kidder to write, “Introduction to the Study of Southwestern Archaeology,” which is now considered a classic in the world of Anthropology.

In 1929 Kidder became head of the Division of Historical Research where he organized excavations at sites such as: Chichen Itza, Uaxactun in the Yucatan and Kaminaljuya in Guatemala in order to span the chronological range of the Maya culture and gain a new perspective as to their origins. Kidder retired in 1950, but didn't disappear from archeology field, he remained active unitl his death in 1963.

Kidder still to this day is recognized as a major player in setting the ways for modern archeology, in 1986 the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala Department of Archaeology, was established with funds from the Alfred and Madeleine Kidder fund. Kidder has many awards that to this day still bear his name.

References:

“Alfred Vincent Kidder” Alfred Vincent Kidder 1885-1963,” http://www.utexas.edu/courses/wilson/ant304/biography/arybios98/krochenskibio.html

“History Channel”.Http://www.historychannel.com 

Picture source

http://www.utexas.edu/courses/wilson/ant304/biography/arybios98/krochenskibio.html

Author: Todd Guennigsmann