He Perished Ere He Published: Records of the Work of Gary Stockton Vescelius in the American Museum of Natural History

Monica Barnes,Sumru Aricanli

doi:10.5334/bha-588

Abstract

Gary Stockton Vescelius (1930–1982) was an extremely active archaeologist who conducted extensive surveys and numerous excavations in North America, the Caribbean, and Peru. Although he was influential while alive, his almost complete failure to publish the results of his work has caused him to fade into obscurity. The interventions that he made at many important sites have been largely forgotten. However, collections that he amassed have been preserved at Yale University, at the American Museum of Natural History, and in Peru. This paper presents a short biography of Vescelius and evaluates his work.

Highlights

Gary Stockton Vescelius was an almost legendary figure in twentieth century archaeology (Figure 1)
From this paper it should be clear that Gary Vescelius was enormously influential during his lifetime, and even after his death, especially in the fields of Peruvian and Caribbean archaeology
We have identified them from various versions of his curriculum vita on file in the Vescelius Collection of the Anthropology Division of the American Museum of Natural History and from references to them in the published work of others

Summary

RESEARCH PAPER

He Perished Ere He Published: Records of the Work of Gary Stockton Vescelius in the American Museum of Natural History. Gary Stockton Vescelius (1930–1982) was an extremely active archaeologist who conducted extensive surveys and numerous excavations in North America, the Caribbean, and Peru. He was influential while alive, his almost complete failure to publish the results of his work has caused him to fade into obscurity. The interventions that he made at many important sites have been largely forgotten. Collections that he amassed have been preserved at Yale University, at the American Museum of Natural History, and in Peru. This paper presents a short biography of Vescelius and evaluates his work

Introduction

Conclusion