Year: 1976
Type: article
Abstract: Caldwell died of a massive coronary in Athens, Georgia.From his early archaeological experiences in the southeastern United States, through his final days as professor of anthropology at the University of Georgia, he was always immersed in the humanistic approach to prehistoric anthropology.Although most widely known among American archaeologists for his theoretical and substantive contributions to the archaeology of eastern North America, he also made important contributions in Near East prehistory.Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Joe spent his formative years of training in Kenmore, New York, as well as in Nice, Biarritz, and Paris, France.He entered the University of Chicago where he bypassed his Bachelor of Arts degree and was advanced to the Master's program.He conducted excavations on the Georgia coast and received his Master of Arts in 1943.Following a period of service with the Smithsonian Institution, the United States National Museum, the National Park Service, and an expedition to the Near East, he returned to the University of Chicago and was awarded his Ph.D. in 1957.Joseph Caldwell's archaeological field exposure began during the late Depression years in Georgia.As assistant archaeologist and subsequently supervisor of WP.A. excavations near Savannah , his eye and mind were sharpened through excavation as well as association with such peers as Antonio ("Tono") Waring, Preston Holder, and Frederick Hulse.Gradually, the fragments of coastal southeastern United States prehistory assumed regularity and resulted in several extremely perceptive publications as well as Joe's Master's thesis (1943).It was in the tradition of "great books," however, that the roots of Joe's anthropological conceptions were founded.Although he had no objections to the use of the hypothetico-deductive method, formidable statistics or computers ("Indeed," he once concluded, "there is much to be said for scientific rigor ... archeology could do with a bit more of the ways of thought so often recommended and so seldom employed... " [Caldwell 1971:412]), his preoccupation with the humanistic approach is understandable when one recalls his eclectic educational background.Upon re-entering the University of Chicago in 1942, Joe Caldwell and Richard "Scottie" MacNeish as roommates became engrossed in discussions of the "Buzzard Cult."It was at this time that the "Chicago School" of anthropology was in full swing.New ideas were in the mixing pot as WP.A. veterans returned from the field seasoned with months of excavations and field crews which sometimes numbered in the thousands.Not only were these young anthropologists armed with considerable field knowledge, but they were thinking "culture-and-continuity" rather than "migration-invasion-extinction."This became an explanatory framework around which the temporal evolution of localities, regions, and areas were studied.Functionalism was in the vogue;
Source: American Antiquity
Authors: Kent A. Schneider, Donald L. Crusoe
Language: English
Subfield: History
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2586982992