Donald Freeman Brown (November 26, 1908 – February 21, 2014) was an American archaeologist who pioneered the core boring technique for surveying large archaeological sites, and discovered the location of Sybaris, a 6th-century Greek colony in Southern Italy. He was a founding member of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society, Assistant Curator of European Prehistory at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography, editor-in-chief of C.O.W.A. (Council for Old World Archaeology), and professor emeritus of Anthropology at Boston University.[1]
Biography
He was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, son of Wilford Chapman Brown, an inventor at the Cheney Bigelow Wireworks in Springfield, Massachusetts, and Alma Louise Schuster, daughter of German immigrants. In 1926 he graduated from Classical High School in Springfield and attended Amherst College, and Boston University, and completed the work for his A.B. in Psychology at Harvard College in 1930. Deciding to study archaeology, he entered Harvard's A.M./Ph.D. program.
A founding member of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society [2] in 1939, he belonged to the Willoughby Chapter, which excavated Native American sites in Sudbury, Massachusetts, and there met his wife Linda Easton Smith with whom he had six children, settling in Stow, Massachusetts.
His studies were interrupted by World War II, where he fell in love with Italy while serving in the army there.
Archaeological work
In 1949 he returned to Italy to research the Italian Neolithic for his Ph.D. thesis. While there he decided to satisfy a boyhood dream of finding the “Lost City of Sybaris”, which he had read about as a child in James Baldwin's Wonder-Book of Horses[3] in which the Sybaritic military had trained its horses to dance and consequently lost the colony to their attacking neighbors.
Sybaris was one of the earliest Greek colonies (founded ca. 720 B.C.). It was supposed to be located near the modern town of Sibari in Calabria on the coast of Southern Italy near the Crati and Coscile rivers but eventually was buried by silt. His archaeological and historical research, along with geological and geographical reconnaissance, led him to believe the city lay now on both sides of the Crati. Archaeologists had traditionally used a trench system to investigate sites and in the early 1930s the Italian government had excavated two parallel drainage ditches to alleviate the area of its malarial swamp. In 1950, inspired by methods used by Italian well diggers, he invented the core-sampling method, hiring several well diggers (and their oxen) to pound pipes down into the earth, bring up the pipes and deposit their contents into long wooden boxes to be examined. The fourth boring at its deepest level revealed the pottery of Sybaris, the first evidence in situ of the city.
In 1952 and 1953 he won the Rome Prize, becoming a Fellow in Classical Studies and Archaeology at the American Academy in Rome. With the support of a grant from the Bollingen Foundation, and under the auspices of Dr. G. Iacopi, the Superintendent of Antiquities of Calabria, Brown conducted two campaigns of boring resulting in the partial delineation of the city remains.[4] Full-scale mapping and excavation of Sybaris began in 1961 with the University Museum at the University of Pennsylvania, who eventually claimed credit for its discovery.[5] Upon returning to Harvard he took on the position of editor-in-chief of the Council for Old World Archaeology (C.O.W.A.) under president and founder Lauriston Ward.[6] C.O.W.A. published surveys and bibliographies of archaeological research around the "Old" World.
In 1955 he received his Ph.D. He was immediately invited to Gordion, Turkey, to use his core boring technique on an excavation led by Rodney S. Young of Rodney Young Archaeologists of what was thought to be the tomb of King Midas.
In 1965 he left Harvard to become a full Professor of Anthropology at Boston University, where he also continued with C.O.W.A. until his retirement in 1976.
References
^"Prof. Donald F. Brown". Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC. The Boston Globe. February 23, 2014. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
^"Ward, Lauriston. Lauriston Ward, 1882–1960 Papers, 1936–1960 inclusive: A Finding Aid". Retrieved September 16, 2016.
December 31, 2022
donald, brown, archaeologist, donald, freeman, brown, november, 1908, february, 2014, american, archaeologist, pioneered, core, boring, technique, surveying, large, archaeological, sites, discovered, location, sybaris, century, greek, colony, southern, italy, . Donald Freeman Brown November 26 1908 February 21 2014 was an American archaeologist who pioneered the core boring technique for surveying large archaeological sites and discovered the location of Sybaris a 6th century Greek colony in Southern Italy He was a founding member of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society Assistant Curator of European Prehistory at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography editor in chief of C O W A Council for Old World Archaeology and professor emeritus of Anthropology at Boston University 1 Biography EditHe was born in Holyoke Massachusetts son of Wilford Chapman Brown an inventor at the Cheney Bigelow Wireworks in Springfield Massachusetts and Alma Louise Schuster daughter of German immigrants In 1926 he graduated from Classical High School in Springfield and attended Amherst College and Boston University and completed the work for his A B in Psychology at Harvard College in 1930 Deciding to study archaeology he entered Harvard s A M Ph D program A founding member of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society 2 in 1939 he belonged to the Willoughby Chapter which excavated Native American sites in Sudbury Massachusetts and there met his wife Linda Easton Smith with whom he had six children settling in Stow Massachusetts His studies were interrupted by World War II where he fell in love with Italy while serving in the army there Archaeological work EditIn 1949 he returned to Italy to research the Italian Neolithic for his Ph D thesis While there he decided to satisfy a boyhood dream of finding the Lost City of Sybaris which he had read about as a child in James Baldwin s Wonder Book of Horses 3 in which the Sybaritic military had trained its horses to dance and consequently lost the colony to their attacking neighbors Sybaris was one of the earliest Greek colonies founded ca 720 B C It was supposed to be located near the modern town of Sibari in Calabria on the coast of Southern Italy near the Crati and Coscile rivers but eventually was buried by silt His archaeological and historical research along with geological and geographical reconnaissance led him to believe the city lay now on both sides of the Crati Archaeologists had traditionally used a trench system to investigate sites and in the early 1930s the Italian government had excavated two parallel drainage ditches to alleviate the area of its malarial swamp In 1950 inspired by methods used by Italian well diggers he invented the core sampling method hiring several well diggers and their oxen to pound pipes down into the earth bring up the pipes and deposit their contents into long wooden boxes to be examined The fourth boring at its deepest level revealed the pottery of Sybaris the first evidence in situ of the city In 1952 and 1953 he won the Rome Prize becoming a Fellow in Classical Studies and Archaeology at the American Academy in Rome With the support of a grant from the Bollingen Foundation and under the auspices of Dr G Iacopi the Superintendent of Antiquities of Calabria Brown conducted two campaigns of boring resulting in the partial delineation of the city remains 4 Full scale mapping and excavation of Sybaris began in 1961 with the University Museum at the University of Pennsylvania who eventually claimed credit for its discovery 5 Upon returning to Harvard he took on the position of editor in chief of the Council for Old World Archaeology C O W A under president and founder Lauriston Ward 6 C O W A published surveys and bibliographies of archaeological research around the Old World In 1955 he received his Ph D He was immediately invited to Gordion Turkey to use his core boring technique on an excavation led by Rodney S Young of Rodney Young Archaeologists of what was thought to be the tomb of King Midas In 1965 he left Harvard to become a full Professor of Anthropology at Boston University where he also continued with C O W A until his retirement in 1976 References Edit Prof Donald F Brown Boston Globe Media Partners LLC The Boston Globe February 23 2014 Retrieved March 10 2015 Link label The Baldwin Project The Wonder Book of Horses by James Baldwin Retrieved September 16 2016 The 20Search pdf PDF The 20Search pdf PDF Ward Lauriston Lauriston Ward 1882 1960 Papers 1936 1960 inclusive A Finding Aid Retrieved September 16 2016 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Donald F Brown archaeologist amp oldid 1036839334, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
