Linton Satterthwaite Jr. (1897–1978) was a Maya archaeologist and epigrapher and is primarily associated with the

University Museum A university museum is a repository of collections run by a university, typically founded to aid teaching and research within the institution of higher learning. The Ashmolean Museum at the University of Oxford in England is an early example, o ...

at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...

. He is well known for his works at Caracol, Piedras Negras, Cahal Pech and Benque Viejo (

Xunantunich Xunantunich () is an Ancient Maya archaeological site in western Belize, about 70 miles (110 km) west of Belize City, in the Cayo District. Xunantunich is located atop a ridge above the Mopan River, well within sight of the Guatemala bord ...

Early life and training

Satterthwaite was born in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. Afterwards, he decided to attend

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

for his B.A. and worked as a reporter from 1929 to 1931. He participated as an archaeological assistant in excavations in Texas, West Virginia, and Guatemala. Satterthwaite was awarded his Ph.D. in Anthropology in 1943.Benque Viejo, Cahal Pech British Honduras (Belize) expedition records. Penn Museum Archives.http://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/ead/detail.html?id=EAD_upenn_museum_PUMu1151

Piedras Negras

In 1932, Linton Satterthwaite was named assistant director for the excavations at Piedras Negras. In 1933,

J. Alden Mason John Alden Mason (January 14, 1885 – November 7, 1967) was an American archaeological anthropologist and linguist. Mason was born in Orland, Indiana, but grew up in Philadelphia's Germantown. He received his undergraduate degree from the Uni ...

left his position as field director at Piedras Negras, and the title was then given to Satterthwaite until 1939. The focus of the expeditions at Piedras Negras was to answer archaeological questions such as establishing building sequences,

stratigraphy Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers ( strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithost ...

, and uncovering architectural remains. This was a stark difference from that of Mason, who focused on monumental sculptures. Acting as director, Satterthwaite was able to excavate eleven temples, seventeen palaces, two ballcourts and multiple sweatbaths. During his time at Piedras Negras, Satterthwaite was very well known for using a diligent and systematic approach in identifying building function. Satterthwaite also mapped many small buildings, setting a standard used by Mayanists to come (Houston et al. 1998). Because of Satterthwaite’s legal background, he was also able to effectively create detailed isometrics that conveyed the substance of excavations and define terms and labels.Houston, Stephen et al.(1998) ''Monumental Architecture at Piedras Negras, Guatemala: Time, History, and Meaning''. Mayab 11:40-56 Although many publications on Piedras Negras came out during his time there, Satterthwaite was still never able to finish all of the reports that he intended to.Piedras Negras, Guatemala Expedition Records. Penn Museum Archives. http://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/ead/ead.pdf?id=EAD_upenn_museum_PUMu1105 One publication that was completed the book ''Piedras Negras Archaeology, 1931-1939''. Among the archaeologists who worked with Satterthwaite at Piedras Negras was Mary Butler Lewis, a leading expert on Mesoamerican ceramics, and the first woman to receive a PhD in Anthropology from Penn.

Caracol, Belize

Initial discovery and research of Caracol, Belize occurred in 1938, when Rosa Mai discovered the ancient ruins and A.H. Anderson did initial research, discovering 8 pieces of stelae in the process.Beetz, Carl P. and Linton Satterthwaite 1981. ''The Monuments and Inscriptions of Caracol, Belize''. The University Museum at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia From 1950 to 1958, Linton Satterthwaite directed three sessions of archaeological work at Caracol, Belize. His concentration at this site was on hieroglyphs and chronology. During this time, in 1955 Linton Satterthwaite became curator of the American Section of the University Museum and Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. He created a systematic locational guide and inventory of the artifacts from the New World. During the three seasons in the 1950s at Caracol, Satterthwaite was able to find twenty-six early classic vessels, nine late classic vessels, but as previously stated most of his time was dedicated to the monumental sculptures. In total, Satterthwaite found twenty stelae and nineteen altars. These monuments were made into casts, photographed, sketched and made into quarter-scale blowups.Caracol, Belize Expedition Record. Penn Museum Archives. http://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/ead/ead.html?id=EAD_upenn_museum_1109PUMu1109 Much of his work at Caracol was published in the book The Monuments and Inscriptions of Caracol, Belize, which is co-authored with Carl P. Beetz. In this book, Satterthwaite and Beetz describe the stelea and altars, from their exact context in the ground to interpretations of the hieroglyphs recorded on these monuments.

Cahal Pech and Benque Viejo (Xunantunich)

At the same time of the Caracol investigations, Satterthwaite was also conducting archaeological investigations at Cahal Pech and Benque Viejo (what is now called Xunantunich). Satterthwaite worked at these sites for two seasons beginning in 1950. It was considered a “housemound project”, and Satterthwaite was able to investigate seventeen structures and five stelae.Benque Viejo, Cahal Pech British Honduras (Belize) expedition record. Penn Museum Archives. http://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/ead/detail.html?id=EAD_upenn_museum_PUMu1151

Tikal

Linton Satterthwaite also served as the project’s epigrapher at

Tikal Tikal () (''Tik’al'' in modern Mayan orthography) is the ruin of an ancient city, which was likely to have been called Yax Mutal, found in a rainforest in Guatemala. It is one of the largest archeological sites and urban centers of the pre- ...

, Guatemala. His heavy interest in Maya chronology and monuments can also be seen in the article entitled, "New Radiocarbon Dates and the Maya Correlation Problem," which he co-authored with radiocarbon-dating specialist Elizabeth K. Ralph, and in which they discuss dates of lintel and vault beams from Tikal.Satterthwaite, Linton and Elizabeth K. Ralph 1960. ''New Radiocarbon Dates and the Maya Correlation Problem''. American Antiquity 26(2):165-184.

Retirement and death

In 1969, Linton Satterthwaite retired as curator for the University Museum and professor at Penn. He did however continue his work on the data at Caracol, Belize and Xunantunich. He died on March 11, 1978.

Legacy

Satterthwaite was able to jumpstart careers in Maya studies, specifically with Tatiana Proskouriakoff, who started her archaeological career in Piedras Negras, Guatemala during Satterthwaite’s tenure there. In the preface of The Monuments and Inscriptions of Caracol, Belize, William Coe and Christopher Jones praise Satterthwaite as a man of "limitless generosity, and, more germanely, his ingrained need to recognize each man's contribution". Linton Satterthwaite is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of Central American snake, '' Tantillita lintoni''.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Linton", p. 159).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Satterthwaite, Linton 1897 births 1978 deaths Epigraphers People from Trenton, New Jersey University of Pennsylvania people Yale University alumni University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology 20th-century American archaeologists Historians from New Jersey