Elisabeth Schmid (1912–27 March 1994) was a German

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

and

osteologist Osteology () is the scientific study of bones, practised by osteologists. A subdiscipline of anatomy, anthropology, and paleontology, osteology is the detailed study of the structure of bones, skeletal elements, teeth, microbone morphology, funct ...

. She is best known for her work concerning the prehistoric statue, the

lion-man The figurine, also called the Lion-man of , is a prehistoric ivory sculpture discovered in Hohlenstein-Stadel, a German cave in 1939. The German name, , meaning "lion-person" or "lion-human", is used most frequently because it was discovered a ...

, and for her book, ''Atlas of Animal Bones''.

Early life and career

Schmid was born in

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population o ...

in 1912 and graduated with a phD from the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisg ...

. Over her career, Schmid published over 200 papers and two books. She began studying animal bones from

Augusta Raurica Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roma ...

in the 1950s and her analysis of those bones was the subject of her most well known book, ''Atlas of Animal Bones'', which was published in 1972 and is still used worldwide today. In 1953 she established a laboratory at the University of Basel for prehistoric studies. In 1975-76 she became the first woman dean in the natural sciences faculty. In the 1980s, Schmid became involved with the prehistoric ivory sculpture, the

Lion-man The figurine, also called the Lion-man of , is a prehistoric ivory sculpture discovered in Hohlenstein-Stadel, a German cave in 1939. The German name, , meaning "lion-person" or "lion-human", is used most frequently because it was discovered a ...

. It was first discovered in 1939 in a cave in southwestern

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

by Otto Völzing. Around 30% of the statue is missing and the gender is heavily disputed. German archaeologist, Joachim Hahn, interpreted part of the statue had male genitalia however Schmid later interpreted the same part of the statue as a pubic triangle. Further restoration of the statue began in autumn 1987 by Schmid and restorer, Ute Wolf. Schmid died on 27 March 1994.

References

External links

Tierknochenatlas
(digital edition) {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmid, Elisabeth 1912 births 1994 deaths Archaeologists from Baden-Württemberg German women archaeologists University of Freiburg alumni