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Sylvanus Griswold Morley, 1883-1948

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2017

Ralph L. Roys
Affiliation:
Division of Historical ResearchCarnegie Institution of Washington, CambridgeMassachusetts
Margaret W. Harrison
Affiliation:
Division of Historical ResearchCarnegie Institution of Washington, CambridgeMassachusetts

Extract

The death of Sylvanus Griswold Morley on September 2 brought to a close a brilliant career and probably also an important phase of Maya research. His achievements are outstanding in the fields of archaeological exploration and epigraphy; and he had a talent for imparting to others his intense concern for everything pertaining to the Maya people, whether ancient or modern. All was grist that came to his mill, if it had any bearing on this subject; and where there was an application to the hieroglyphs, he ground to exceeding fineness. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that he has done more to spread an intelligent interest in Maya civilization than anyone since Stephens, over a century ago.

He was a winning and sympathetic person and made friends in every quarter. He was open-handed to a fault, not only with his material possessions, but also with unpublished scientific data that he had acquired the hard way, even when he knew it would be used to question some cherished thesis of his own.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1949

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