Marion Stirling Pugh ( Illig, May 12, 1911 – April 24, 2001) was an American archaeologist. She is known for her archaeological expeditions to

Tres Zapotes Tres Zapotes is a Mesoamerican archaeological site located in the south-central Gulf Lowlands of Mexico in the Papaloapan River plain. Tres Zapotes is sometimes referred to as the third major Olmec capital (after San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán and La Ve ...

and other sites in Southern Mexico in the 1940s, conducted alongside her husband Matthew Stirling, which according to ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

'' "essentially rewrote Mesoamerican history". Her discovery of a date in the Long Count calendar, corresponding to 32 BCE, on a stela from Tres Zapotes, helped establish the antiquity of the

Olmec civilization The Olmecs () were the earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization. Following a progressive development in Soconusco, they occupied the tropical lowlands of the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. It has been speculated that t ...

for the first time. She also served as the president of the Washington Textile Museum and the

Society of Woman Geographers The Society of Woman Geographers was established in 1925 at a time when women were excluded from membership in most professional organizations, such as the Explorers Club, who would not admit women until 1981. It is based in Washington, D.C., and h ...

twice (1960–1963 and 1969–1972).

Early life and education

Marion Illig was born in Middletown, New York on May 12, 1911 and graduated from

Rider College Rider University is a private university in Lawrence Township, New Jersey. It consists of four academic units: the Norm Brodsky College of Business, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the College of Education and Human Services, and West ...

in 1930. In 1931 she moved to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

to take a position as secretary to Matthew Stirling, the Chief of the

Bureau of American Ethnology The Bureau of American Ethnology (or BAE, originally, Bureau of Ethnology) was established in 1879 by an act of Congress for the purpose of transferring archives, records and materials relating to the Indians of North America from the Interior D ...

. Needing to look up the word "ethnology" in a dictionary before she started the job, she studied anthropology under

Truman Michelson Truman Michelson (August 11, 1879 – July 26, 1938) was a linguist and anthropologist who worked from 1910 until his death for the Bureau of American Ethnology at the Smithsonian Institution. He also held a position as ethnologist at George Was ...

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

to better understand the field.

Archaeological career

Illig married Stirling on December 11, 1933. For their honeymoon, she accompanied Stirling as he traveled around the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...

conducting archaeological excavations for the

Public Works Administration The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Recove ...

. During this time she trained in field archaeology alongside a number of young scholars who would go on to become prominent figures, including

Gordon Willey Gordon Randolph Willey (7 March 1913 – 28 April 2002) was an American archaeologist who was described by colleagues as the "dean" of New World archaeology.Sabloff 2004, p.406 Willey performed fieldwork at excavations in South America, Central A ...

, James A. Ford, Jesse D. Jennings, and Marshall T. Newman. In 1938, the Stirlings visited

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

for the first time. While Marion, pregnant with her first child, visited

Mitla Mitla is the second-most important archeological site in the state of Oaxaca in Mexico, and the most important of the Zapotec culture. The site is located 44 km from the city of Oaxaca, in the upper end of the Tlacolula Valley, one of the t ...

and

Monte Albán Monte Albán is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site in the Santa Cruz Xoxocotlán Municipality in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca (17.043° N, 96.767°W). The site is located on a low mountainous range rising above the plain in the ...

, Matthew traveled eight hours on horseback from

Tlacotalpan Tlacotalpan is a city in Tlacotalpan Municipality in the Mexican state of Veracruz, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1998 primarily for its architecture and colonial-era layout. The town was established in 1550 on what was originally an ...

, to see the Olmec colossal head discovered there by José María Melgar y Serrano in 1862. He found that the sculpture was surrounded by a substantial archaeological site and, upon returning to the United States, the Stirlings obtained grants from the

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and ...

and

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

to explore the area further. Between 1939 and 1946, they conducted eight expeditions to Southern Mexico, which according to ''

'' "essentially rewrote Mesoamerican history". Pugh's role on the excavation was as "housekeeper, bookkeeper, and supervisor of artifact preparation in the field laboratory". Stirling described her as his "co-explorer, co-author and general co-ordinator". Pugh was a member of the

Association of American Geographers The American Association of Geographers (AAG) is a non-profit scientific and educational society aimed at advancing the understanding, study, and importance of geography and related fields. Its headquarters is located in Washington, D.C. The ...

and served as the president of the

twice, in 1960–1963 and 1969–1972. She won the National Geographic Society's Franklin L. Burr Award in 1941, along with Matthew Stirling and Richard Hewitt Stewart, and the Society of Women Geographers' Gold Medal in 1975. She had a long association with the

Textile Museum A textile museum is a museum with exhibits relating to the history and art of textiles, including: * Textile industries and manufacturing, often located in former factories or buildings involved in the design and production of yarn, cloth and clo ...

at George Washington Museum, serving as a trustee, secretary, treasurer, vice president and president, and establishing a fund for the acquisition of Latin American textiles.

Personal life and legacy

Pugh's first husband Matthew Stirling died in 1975. They had two children, Matthew W. Stirling Jr. (1938–1989) and Ariana Stirling Withers (1942–2015). She was married to John Ramsey Pugh, a retired general involved with the Textile Museum, from 1977 until his death in 1994. While in her 80s, she travelled to

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

. She died in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

, on April 24, 2001. The Stirling archives were donated by their grandchildren to the National Anthropological Archives at the Smithsonian Institution in 2006.

Selected publications

* Stirling, Matthew and Marion I. Stirling. "Tarqui, an early site in Manabi Province, Ecuador." Bureau of American Ethnology, Anthropological Paper 63, Bulletin 196 (1963): 1–28. * Stirling, Matthew and Marion I. Stirling. "Archaeological notes on Almirante Bay, Bocas del Toro, Panama." Bureau of American Ethnology, Anthropological Paper 72, Bulletin 191 (1964): 255–284. * Stirling, Matthew and Marion I. Stirling. "The archeology of Taboga, Uraba and Taboguila Islands, Panama." Bureau of American Ethnology, Anthropological Paper 73, Bulletin 191 (1964): 285–348. * Stirling, Matthew and Marion I. Stirling. "El Limon, an early tomb site in Cocle Province, Panama." Bureau of American Ethnology, Anthropological Paper 71, Bulletin 191 (1964): 247–254.

References

External links