Claude Frédéric-Armand Schaeffer (March 6, 1898 – August 25, 1982) was a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

archeologist, born in Strasbourg, who led the

excavation Excavation may refer to: * Excavation (archaeology) * Excavation (medicine) * ''Excavation'' (The Haxan Cloak album), 2013 * ''Excavation'' (Ben Monder album), 2000 * ''Excavation'' (novel), a 2000 novel by James Rollins * '' Excavation: A Memo ...

team that began working on the site of Ugarit, the present day Ras Shamra in 1929, leading to the uncovering of the Ugaritic religious texts.http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/612669/Ugarit ; "Claude Schaeffer", in ''Je m'appelle Byblos'', Jean-Pierre Thiollet, H & D, 2005, p.256-257. After the Second World War he began excavating the Late Bronze Age site of

Enkomi Enkomi ( el, Έγκωμη; tr, Tuzla) is a village near Famagusta in Cyprus. It is the site of an important Bronze Age city, possibly the capital of Alasiya. Enkomi is under the ''de facto'' control of Northern Cyprus. In 1974, Enkomi had about ...

. He was curator for the Prehistoric and Gallo-Roman Museum, Strasbourg (1924–1933) and for the Museum of National Antiquities, Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1933–1956). Schaeffer was an advocate of

catastrophism In geology, catastrophism theorises that the Earth has largely been shaped by sudden, short-lived, violent events, possibly worldwide in scope. This contrasts with uniformitarianism (sometimes called gradualism), according to which slow increment ...

. He argued that on at least five occasions catastrophic events (such as earthquakes) had destroyed Bronze Age civilizations.Palmer, Trevor. (2003). ''Perilous Planet Earth: Catastrophes and Catastrophism Through the Ages''. Cambridge University Press. pp. 120-121.

Selected publications

*''The Cuneiform Texts of Ras Shamra-Ugarit'' (1939)
''Stratigraphie Comparee Et Chronologie De L Asie Occidentale''
(1948)
Note Sur L'enceinte Mycénienne D'enkomi (Chypre)
(1948)

References

External links

Claude Schaeffer – Ancient Middle East Destruction and epic discoveries
1898 births 1982 deaths Catastrophism Archaeologists from Strasbourg 20th-century archaeologists Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy {{archaeologist-stub