George Cowgill facts for kids

George L. Cowgill (born December 19, 1929 – died July 31, 2018) was an American anthropologist and archaeologist. These scientists study human societies and cultures, especially from the past. He taught anthropology at Arizona State University from 1990 to 2005. Before that, he taught at Brandeis University for 30 years. George Cowgill earned his PhD from Harvard University in 1963. His main work focused on the ancient Mexican city of Teotihuacán. He made important discoveries about ancient cities and how to use computers in archaeology.

Early Life and Education

George Cowgill and his twin brother, Warren Cowgill, were born in Grangeville, Idaho in 1929. Both brothers graduated from Stanford University in 1952. George studied physics before becoming an archaeologist.

Archaeological Discoveries

Cowgill was a very respected archaeologist. In 1992, he was chosen as the Distinguished Lecturer in Archaeology. This is a special honor from the American Anthropological Association. In 2004, he received the Alfred Vincent Kidder Award. This is one of the top awards in archaeology for work in the Americas.

Exploring Teotihuacán

Most of Cowgill's work was at Teotihuacán, an amazing ancient city in Mexico. It's near modern Mexico City. With another researcher, René Millon, Cowgill spent many years mapping Teotihuacán. They carefully recorded where buildings and artifacts were found.

In the 1960s, he created a huge database of all the items found during the mapping. This was one of the first large computer databases used in archaeology. It is still used by researchers today!

Later, in the 1980s, Cowgill helped lead excavations at the Feathered Serpent Pyramid in Teotihuacán. His writings about Teotihuacán are very important for understanding this ancient city.

Using Computers in Archaeology

George Cowgill was also a pioneer in using computers for archaeology. He helped develop ways to use databases and math to study ancient sites. For example, he wrote about "seriation." This is a method to figure out the age of sites and artifacts.

He and his students used his artifact database to study Teotihuacán's layout. They could measure how big the city was. They also tracked how it grew and shrank over hundreds of years. This was a new way to understand ancient cities.

Understanding Ancient Societies

Cowgill also studied how ancient states and cities developed and sometimes collapsed. His 1975 work looked at how populations changed in ancient times. He helped connect these ancient population trends to modern ones.

He also helped edit a book in 1988 about why ancient states and empires fell apart. Cowgill wrote many important articles comparing ancient cities from all over the world.

See also

In Spanish: George Cowgill para niños