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MESOAMERICA'S FORMATIVE SCHOLAR: GARETH W. LOWE, 1922–2004

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2006

John E. Clark ,
Mary E. Pye  and
Fred W. Nelson
John E. Clark
Affiliation:
New World Archaeological Foundation, Brigham Young University, 876 SWKT, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Mary E. Pye
Affiliation:
New World Archaeological Foundation, Brigham Young University, 876 SWKT, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Fred W. Nelson
Affiliation:
New World Archaeological Foundation, Brigham Young University, 876 SWKT, Provo, UT 84602, USA
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Extract

The challenge in summing up the active life and productive career of any famous person is to put the important facts on record while steering a respectful path between hagiography and recitation of his curriculum vitae. We attempt to do this for our esteemed colleague and mentor, one of Mesoamerica's last originals, Gareth W. Lowe (Figure 1). With his death on March 8, 2004, in Tucson, Arizona, at age 82, Gareth left behind a legacy that reaches far beyond his well-deserved international reputation. Gareth spent 50 years of his life working in Mesoamerica, principally on the Formative period in Chiapas, Mexico. He first went to southern Mexico in 1953 as a crew member of the newly organized New World Archaeological Foundation (NWAF). Two years later, the NWAF was rescued by the sponsorship of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and much later (in 1976) it became part of Brigham Young University. Gareth served two stints as NWAF field director (1956–1959, 1961–1975), basically as de facto director, and finally served officially as director from 1975 to 1987. In a real sense, Gareth was the NWAF, and its successes and agenda were largely his. The story of one cannot be understood without the other.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 16 , Issue 2 , July 2005 , pp. 147 - 154
Copyright
© 2005 Cambridge University Press

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References

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