Nels C. Nelson
Encyclopedia
Nels Christian Nelson was a Danish-American archaeologist.
, in the Fredericia municipality
in the eastern part of Jutland
, Denmark
. He was the eldest child in a poor family. He was sent to work on an uncle's farm in Minnesota
in 1892. There he started first grade at age 17, graduating from high school in 1901. He rode a cattle car to California
, saved money from odd jobs, and entered Stanford University
about 1903. He transferred to the University of California, Berkeley
in 1905. Nelson earned his Bachelor of Letters in 1907, and an M.L. in 1908.
Nelson became interested in anthropology
, and went to work for John C. Merriam
surveying middens around San Francisco Bay
and on the California coast. Nelson later estimated he walked 3,000 miles for the survey. In 1911, Nelson accepted a job with the American Museum of Natural History
to do an archaeological survey of the upper Rio Grande
valley of New Mexico
. His new wife, Ethelyn Hobbs Nelson, would be his paid field assistant. Nelson excavated a number of Pueblo
ruins in the Galisteo Basin
, many of which were abandoned following the Pueblo Revolt
of 1680. He also did some excavation at Chaco Canyon with Earl Morris
.
Nelson pioneered the technique of stratigraphic excavation in America. During his work in the Galisteo Basin, he dug a series of 1-foot levels in trash mounds at archeological sites, classified all the pot shards he found into seven types, and calculated their frequencies by levels. These resembled sections of normal distribution curves, and demonstrated that statistical analysis of data from arbitrary levels could reveal chronological change just as could data from physically distinct strata. This technique, refined by Alfred V. Kidder
at Pecos
, continues to be used to the present day.
The Daxi culture
, a Neolithic
culture, located in the Qutang Gorge
around Wushan
, Chongqing
, in China
was discovered by Nels C. Nelson in the 1920s. The Nelsons joined Roy Chapman Andrews
on his third expedition to Mongolia
in 1925.
Nelson served as President of the American Anthropological Association
, President of the Society for American Archaeology
, President of the American Ethnological Society
, and Vice President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
. Nelson served in a number of curatorial positions at American Museum of Natural History
(AMNH), ultimately as Curator
of Prehistoric Archeology. He retired from AMNH in 1943, and died in 1964 in New York
, at age 89.
Biography
Nelson was born near FredericiaFredericia
Fredericia is a town located in Fredericia municipality in the eastern part of the Jutland peninsula in Denmark, in a sub-region known locally as Trekanten, or The Triangle...
, in the Fredericia municipality
Fredericia municipality
Fredericia municipality is a municipality on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in south-central Denmark. Its belongs to Region of Southern Denmark, covers an area of 134.46 km², and has a total population of 49,463...
in the eastern part of Jutland
Jutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. He was the eldest child in a poor family. He was sent to work on an uncle's farm in Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
in 1892. There he started first grade at age 17, graduating from high school in 1901. He rode a cattle car to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, saved money from odd jobs, and entered Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
about 1903. He transferred to the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
in 1905. Nelson earned his Bachelor of Letters in 1907, and an M.L. in 1908.
Nelson became interested in anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
, and went to work for John C. Merriam
John C. Merriam
John Campbell Merriam was an American paleontologist. The first vertebrate paleontologist on the West Coast of the United States, he is best known for his taxonomy of vertebrate fossils at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, particularly with the genus Smilodon, more commonly known as the...
surveying middens around San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
and on the California coast. Nelson later estimated he walked 3,000 miles for the survey. In 1911, Nelson accepted a job with the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
to do an archaeological survey of the upper Rio Grande
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...
valley of New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
. His new wife, Ethelyn Hobbs Nelson, would be his paid field assistant. Nelson excavated a number of Pueblo
Pueblo
Pueblo is a term used to describe modern communities of Native Americans in the Southwestern United States of America. The first Spanish explorers of the Southwest used this term to describe the communities housed in apartment-like structures built of stone, adobe mud, and other local material...
ruins in the Galisteo Basin
Galisteo Basin
The Galisteo Basin is a surface basin and a closely related groundwater basin in north-central New Mexico. Its primary watercourse is the Galisteo River or Galisteo Creek, a perennial stream, for part of its course, that flows from the eastern highlands down into the Rio Grande about three...
, many of which were abandoned following the Pueblo Revolt
Pueblo Revolt
The Pueblo Revolt of 1680, or Popé's Rebellion, was an uprising of several pueblos of the Pueblo people against Spanish colonization of the Americas in the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México.-Background:...
of 1680. He also did some excavation at Chaco Canyon with Earl Morris
Earl Morris
Earl Morris became a household word in Morgan County, Alabama high school basketball for 30 years.-Biography:Morris's teams compiled a 590-250 record with three consecutive Alabama state championships 1957-1958-1959 at Austinville, and one at Decatur in 1970...
.
Nelson pioneered the technique of stratigraphic excavation in America. During his work in the Galisteo Basin, he dug a series of 1-foot levels in trash mounds at archeological sites, classified all the pot shards he found into seven types, and calculated their frequencies by levels. These resembled sections of normal distribution curves, and demonstrated that statistical analysis of data from arbitrary levels could reveal chronological change just as could data from physically distinct strata. This technique, refined by Alfred V. Kidder
Alfred V. Kidder
Alfred Vincent Kidder was an American archaeologist considered the foremost of the southwestern United States and Mesoamerica during the first half of the 20th century...
at Pecos
Pecos National Historical Park
Pecos National Historical Park is a National Historical Park in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is located about east of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The site was originally designated Pecos National Monument on June 28, 1965. In 1990 new lands were added to the park and the official designation was...
, continues to be used to the present day.
The Daxi culture
Daxi culture
The Daxi culture was a Neolithic culture centered in the Three Gorges region, around the middle Yangtze River, China. The culture ranged from western Hubei to eastern Sichuan and the Pearl River Delta. The site at Daxi, located in the Qutang Gorge around Wushan, Chongqing, was discovered by Nels...
, a Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
culture, located in the Qutang Gorge
Qutang Gorge
The Qutang Gorge is the shortest and most spectacular of China's Three Gorges.Immediately downstream of the ancient village Baidicheng the Yangtze River passes between the Chijia Mountain on the north and the Baiyan Mountain on the south...
around Wushan
Wushan
Wushan may refer to the following locations in the People's Republic of China:*Wushan County, Chongqing *Wu Mountains, or Wushan , a mountainous region in Wushan County, Chongqing*Wushan County, Gansu , of Tianshui, Gansu...
, Chongqing
Chongqing
Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities of China. Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities , and the only such municipality in inland China.The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the...
, in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
was discovered by Nels C. Nelson in the 1920s. The Nelsons joined Roy Chapman Andrews
Roy Chapman Andrews
Roy Chapman Andrews was an American explorer, adventurer and naturalist who became the director of the American Museum of Natural History. He is primarily known for leading a series of expeditions through the fragmented China of the early 20th century into the Gobi Desert and Mongolia...
on his third expedition to Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
in 1925.
Nelson served as President of the American Anthropological Association
American Anthropological Association
The American Anthropological Association is a professional organization of scholars and practitioners in the field of anthropology. With 11,000 members, the Arlington, Virginia based association includes archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, biological anthropologists, linguistic...
, President of the Society for American Archaeology
Society for American Archaeology
The Society for American Archaeology is the largest organization of professional archaeologists of the Americas in the world. The Society was founded in 1934 and today has over 7000 members. The Society holds an annual conference and publishes the flagship journal of American archaeology,...
, President of the American Ethnological Society
American Ethnological Society
The American Ethnological Society is the oldest professional anthropological association in the United States.- History of the American Ethnological Society :...
, and Vice President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
. Nelson served in a number of curatorial positions at American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
(AMNH), ultimately as Curator
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
of Prehistoric Archeology. He retired from AMNH in 1943, and died in 1964 in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, at age 89.
Notable publications
- Shellmounds of the San Francisco Bay Region (University of California publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology. v. 7, no. 4. Berkeley: University Press. 1909)
- Pueblo ruins of the Galisteo basin, New Mexico (Anthropological papers of the American museum of Natural History. Vol. XV, pt. I. The Trustees. 1914)
- Chronology of the Tano Ruins, New Mexico (American Anthropologist, vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 159–180. 1916)
- Flint Working By Ishi (Holmes Anniversary Volume. Anthropological Essays Presented to Wm. Henry Holmes. Washington D.C.:397-402. 1916)
- Contributions to the Archaeology of Mammoth Cave and Vicinity, Kentucky (Anthropological papers of the American Museum of Natural History. vol. 22, pt. 1. 1917)
- The New Conquest of Central Asia; A Narrative of the Explorations of the Central Asiatic Expeditions in Mongolia and China, 1921-1930 (with Roy Chapman AndrewsRoy Chapman AndrewsRoy Chapman Andrews was an American explorer, adventurer and naturalist who became the director of the American Museum of Natural History. He is primarily known for leading a series of expeditions through the fragmented China of the early 20th century into the Gobi Desert and Mongolia...
, Walter W. GrangerWalter W. GrangerWalter Willis Granger was an American vertebrate paleontologist who participated in important fossil explorations in the United States, Egypt, China and Mongolia.-Early life and career:...
and Clifford H. PopeClifford H. PopeCliford Hillhouse Pope was a noted American herpetologist. He was the son of Mark Cooper Pope and Harriett Alexander Pope, and grew up in Washington, Georgia. Shortly after his graduation from the University of Virginia, Pope went to the Tropical Research Station at British Guiana, maintained...
. New York: The American Museum of Natural History. 1932) - The antiquity of man in America in the light of archaeology (University of Toronto Press. 1933)
- Notes on the Santa Barbara culture (Essays in anthropology in honor of Alfred Louis Kroeber pp. 199–209. Univ. of California Press. 1936)
- South African rock pictures (American Museum of Natural History. 1937)