The Marley R. Brown School of Archaeology or the Hero’s Quest in California

Summary

Marley had a way of making a bad first impression. So it’s odd that neither Adrian nor I can remember when or where we all met. Marley followed Jim Deetz out West in the late 1970s. While Jim inspired students, Marley did battle with regulators and the under-informed from his job at Interagency Archaeological Services.  Our boss David Fredrickson probably performed the introduction. Marley knew theory like no one else and we could find our way around any archaeological site. We had a brief and productive collaboration before Marley left for Colonial Williamsburg. A reviewer of one of our reports sarcastically referred to the "Marley Brown School," where theory fused with archaeology in the regulatory context, allegedly creating an impossible and inappropriate mix that could not be reproduced elsewhere. Marley and Jim civilized the West for historical archaeology. We will try to do justice to Marley’s contribution to that story. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015   •
• Making waves: A celebration of the scholarship and influence of Marley Roberts Brown III

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 51