Alfred Marston Tozzer (4 July 1877 - 5 October 1954) was an American anthropologist, archaeologist, linguist, and educator. His principal area of interest was Mesoamerican, especially Maya, studies. For the United States holiday, the Fourth of July, see Independence Day (United States). ... 1877 (MDCCCLXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... October 5 is the 278th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (279th in Leap years). ... 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Initiation rite of the Yao people of Malawi Anthropology (from the Greek word , man or person) consists of the study of humanity (see genus Homo). ... Archaeology, archeology, or archology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech/discourse) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, artifacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ... Linguistics is the scientific study of language. ... The cultural areas of Mesoamerica The term Mesoamérica is used to refer to a geographical region that extends roughly from the Tropic of Cancer in central Mexico down through Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua to northwestern Costa Rica, and which is characterized by the particular cultural homogeneity... The Maya civilization is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as its spectacular art, monumental architecture, and sophisticated mathematical and astronomical systems. ...

Tozzer was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, and graduated in Anthropology from Harvard University in 1900. After expeditionary studies in Hawaii and Mexico, he first investigated the Maya culture in 1902 as a Traveling Fellow of the Archaeological Institute of America, where he witnessed the dredging of the Cenote of Sacrifice in Chichen Itza by Edward Herbert Thompson. Over the next three years, he worked as the first ethnological student among the remaining Maya/Lacandon in Chiapas and Campeche, which studies formed the basis for his Ph.D. thesis. Tozzer became an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Harvard in 1905.   Settled: 1629 â€“ Incorporated: 1850 Zip Code(s): 01901-01905 â€“ Area Code(s): 339 / 781 Official website: http://www. ... Official language(s) English Capital Boston Largest city Boston Area  Ranked 44th  - Total 10,555 sq mi (27,360 km²)  - Width 183 miles (295 km)  - Length 113 miles (182 km)  - % water 13. ... Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ... 1900 (MCM) was an exceptional common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, but a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) is a North American is a nonprofit organization devoted to the promotion of public interest in archaeology, and the preservation of archaeological sites. ... Temple of the Warriors Chichen Itza is the largest of the Pre-Columbian archaeological sites in Yucat n, Mexico. ... Edward Herbert Thompson (28 September 1856 - 11 May 1935) was a United States born archaeologist and diplomat. ... The Lacandon people are indigenous Native American Maya people who live mostly in the jungles in Chiapas, Mexico (until 1854 a part of Guatemala). ... Chiapas is a state in the southeast of Mexico. ... The State of Campeche was long a part of Yucatán and shared its history through the mid 19th century. ... 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

In 1910, Tozzer led an expedition for the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University into Mexico and Central America. In 1914 succeeded Franz Boas as Director of the International School of American Archaeology in Mexico. Before and after these events he remained faithful and dedicated to teaching at Harvard and held the Hudson Chair of Anthropology for many years. 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... The Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University was founded by the philanthropist George Peabody in 1866 at the behest of his nephew Othniel Charles Marsh, the early paleontologist. ... 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... Franz Boas Franz Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942[1]) was one of the pioneers of modern anthropology and is often called the Father of American Anthropology. Born in Germany, Boas worked for most of his life in North America. ...

Tozzer held positions as a member of the Academic Board at Radcliffe College, Director of the Harvard Alumni Association, the National Research Council, President of the American Anthropological Association, Faculty Member and Librarian of the Peabody Museum, and Member of the important Administrative Board of Harvard. Radcliffe College is the historical name of a womens educational institution closely associated with Harvard University. ...

Among his popular works was Landa, a translation Bishop Diego de Landa's account of Yucatan in the mid-1500s. His A Maya Grammar remains a classic in linguistic anthropology and resides in the bookshelves of Anthropology graduate students even today. Diego de Landa Calderón (1524 – 1579) was Bishop of Yucatán. ... The Yucatán Peninsula separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico. ...

In addition to his pursuits of study outside our time and country, Tozzer was also an advocate for progressive thought and action, reflected in his series of Lowell Lectures in the 1920s, published as Social Origins and Social Continuities. In this realm, he was a pioneer in the treatment of such still-debated topics as Racial Bias in Standardized Intelligence Evaluations.

In recognition of Tozzer's accomplishments as an educator and as long-time librarian for Harvard's Peabody Museum Library, in 1974 the library was renamed the Tozzer Library. The Tozzer is the oldest library in the United States devoted to collecting ethnology, archaeology, and related anthropological fields. It was founded in 1866 at the bequest of George Peabody. 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... 1866 (MDCCCLXVI) is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... George Peabody (February 18, 1795 – November 4, 1869) was an entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded the Peabody Institute. ...

Tozzer, who served the library from 1935 to 1947, is credited with being largely responsible for building the library's Middle American archaeology and ethnology collection. The library has continued to grow and today it holds one of the largest and most comprehensive anthropology collections in the world.

External links

• Alfred Tozzer on mnsu.edu
• Animal Figures in the Maya Codices - glance.matia.gr