Robert J. Sharer
Robert James Sharer (born March 16, 1940 in Battle Creek (Michigan) , † September 20, 2012 ) was an American American scholar and Maya researcher.
Life
His parents were Robert E. Sharer and Jessie Tyler. He grew up in East Lansing , where his father ran an evening college at Michigan State University .
His boss, Arctic expert Moreau Sanford Maxwell, piqued his interest in anthropology while doing a vacation job at the Michigan State University museum . During his senior year at Michigan State University in 1960–61, Sharer was unexpectedly nominated for a Woodrow Wilson Graduate Scholarship. Loren Eiseley , invited to dinner, invited him to the University of Pennsylvania , where he studied archeology with Bernard Wailes . An excavation project with Wailes in Cornwell convinced him that his interest lay in archeology. Interrupted by two years of military service, he finished his training (MA) in 1963. Under the influence of Ruben E. Reina , Sharer took a course in Mayan ethnography and went to Guatemala . Under the direction of William Robertson Coe II , he completed his doctoral thesis on Coe's excavation collection from El Trapiche near Chalchuapa . In 1968 he received his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania.
While he taught at Pitzer College from 1967 to 1972 , he carried out field research in Chalchuapa from 1968 to 1970. After Linton Satterthwaite retired from the University of Pennsylvania in 1972, Sharer was initially assistant professor of anthropology and assistant curator at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology .
For almost 50 years he conducted research in Central America, including at the pre-Columbian Maya sites of Quiriguá in Guatemala (1974–1979) and Copán in Honduras (1988–2003). Gordon Willey invited him in 1975 to draw up a master plan for exploring Copán. In 2004 he was accepted as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .
He had three children with his wife, Judith (Judy) K. Sharer. In 1997 he married Loa P. Traxler.
Web links
- Vernon Clark: Robert J. Sharer, 72, Penn archaeologist and curator. In: The Inquirer of September 28, 2012 ( Memento of June 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- Institute of Maya Studies Explorer 41, November 11, 2012 ( September 27, 2013 memento in the Internet Archive )
- Obituary Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania ( January 9, 2012 memento in the Internet Archive )
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Sharer, Robert J. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Sharer, Robert James (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American ancient American scholar and Maya researcher |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 16, 1940 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Battle Creek, Michigan |
| DATE OF DEATH | 20th September 2012 |