Heather Lechtman

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Heather Nan Lechtman (born October 14, 1935 in New York City ) is an American archaeologist and materials scientist ( archaeometrist ). She is Professor of Archeology and the History of Technology (Ancient Technology) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Founding Director of the Center for Materials Research in Archeology and Ethnology , a joint institution founded in 1977 by Boston University , Brandeis University , Harvard University , University of Massachusetts Boston , University of Massachusetts Amherst , Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Museum of Fine Arts Boston , Tufts University, and Wellesley College .

Lechtman peaked in 1956 at Vassar College a bachelor's degree in physics in 1966 at the New York University both a Masters in Fine Arts ( Fine Arts ) and archeology as a well Diploma in Archaeological Conservation (archaeological monuments ). She worked from 1956 to 1960 for the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center , from 1960 to 1962 for the American Institute of Physics and from 1963/64 for the Brookhaven National Laboratory . In 1967 she became a research assistant at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , where she received a professorship in 1974.

From a materials science perspective, Heather Lechtman deals with technology and material culture in prehistoric societies, especially their metallurgy , i.e. she practices archaeometallurgy . Here she was able to contribute in particular to the cultures of the Andean region and prove that metallurgy was already intensively practiced in pre-Columbian times in the areas of the northern coast of Peru and the high plateau Altiplano (from the Bolivian-Chilean-Peruvian border area to northwest Argentina) Spreading north. She found technical differences to European metallurgy.

In 1984 Lechtman was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship ("Genius Prize") and in 1988 was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . For her 50 years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , she received the institute's 50-year achievement award in 2017 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Birth registers from New York, New York, for the years 1910–1965, p. 429. ( Entry at ancestry.de, fee required) .
  2. ↑ Heather Nan Lechtman. In: macfound.org. MacArthur Foundation , accessed February 2, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Book of Members 1780 – present, Chapter L. (PDF; 1.1 MB) In: American Academy of Arts and Sciences (amacad.org). Accessed February 2, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Heather Nan Lechtman 50-year achievement. In: mit.edu. Massachusetts Institute of Technology , May 21, 2017, accessed February 2, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Lechtman, Heather
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lechtman, Heather N .; Lechtman, Heather Nan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American archaeologist and materials scientist
DATE OF BIRTH October 14, 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City