Emil Haury

Emil Walter "Doc" Haury (May 2, 1904 in Newton, Kansas – December 5, 1992 in Tucson, Arizona) was an American archaeologist who specialized in the archaeology of the American Southwest.

He is most famous for his work at Snaketown, a Hohokam site in Arizona.

Emil was the youngest of four children born to Professor Gustav A. Haury and Clara K. Ruth Haury.

Gustav was a professor at Bethel College a Mennonite college in Newton.

When they were both six, Emil Haury met his future first wife, Hulda Penner, when she and her family visited Newton from a nearby Mennonite community.

After graduating high school in 1923, Emil then attended the University of Arizona where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1927 and his M.A. in 1928.

One of the first field experiences came in 1925.

That year he was apprenticed to Byron Cummings, A.E. Douglass, and Harold Gladwin where their major work occurred at Cuicuilco right outside of Mexico City.

It was at this time that he became one of Cummings' (who was at the time the acting university president) most important assistants.

In 1926 Pleistocene megafauna hunting in the Southwest was proven by the discoveries at Folsom, New Mexico.

That same year Haury alongside Cummings began excavations at Whitewater Draw in southeastern Arizona where they excavated a mammoth skeleton which was above a deposit of artifacts from the Cochise culture.

This was Haury's first experience with Paleoindian archaeology in the Southwest.

It was through connections made through Cummings that Haury was in attendance at the first Pecos Conference in 1927.

It was during the 1928–29 school year that he earned his first teaching position.

In 1928 the New York stockbroker turned archaeologist Harold Gladwin along with Winifred McCurdy started the Gila Pueblo Archaeological Foundation.

In 1930 Haury became the assistant director at Gila Pueblo.

During his time with Gila he was able to expand his work throughout Arizona and New Mexico.

It was through this extensive research that Haury became part of the group that was to define the Hohokam culture.

Thus, it helped Haury in eventually defining the Mogollon culture.

With the assistance and support from Gladwin, Haury was able to conduct large amounts of field research and publish reports.

The 1930s was a time of plenty for Haury and when some of his most famous research was conducted.

Some of the excavations he conducted included the Tusayan Ruins, Canyon Creek Ruin, Mogollon, and Harris Village, and arguably his most famous research at Snaketown.

Between his extensive work with Gila Pueblo, Haury also managed to earn his PhD from Harvard.

His dissertation dealt with the excavations by Frank Hamilton Cushing at Los Muertos, a Hohokam site in Arizona.

One of Haury's passions that lasted throughout his career was the presence of Paleoindians in the Southwest.

He conducted several excavations at Paleoindian sites and subsequently wrote several papers on the subject.

During the late 1930s and early 1940s excavations, led by Julian Hayden and Haury, were conducted in the area of Ventana Cave in Arizona.

Ventana Cave is a rock shelter with extensive stratigraphy of which the lowest layer was attributed to the Cochise culture while upper layers were attributed to more recent inhabitants.

The impact of the work done by Haury and others at Vetnana cave helped in the understanding of Paleoindians in the Southwest.

Haury's work with the Hohokam began in 1930 when he joined Gila Pueblo.

There were many questions surrounding discoveries in southern Arizona beginning with A.V. Kidder in the early 20th century to Harold and Winifred Gladwin's work up through 1930s.

In 1934 Haury earned his PhD from Harvard University.

In April 1952, Haury excavated the Naco Mammoth Kill Site near Naco, Arizona, finding the fossilized bones of a mammoth that had been killed by at least 8 Clovis points about 10,000 years ago.

The Naco site was the first Clovis mammoth kill association to be identified.

The Lehner Ranch site is a mammoth kill site in the San Pedro Valley in Cochise County in southeast Arizona.

In 1952 Haury began investigating an arroyo where a rancher, Edward F. Lehner, had observed bones sticking out from a deep layer.

These bones were identified as mammoth bones.

After excavating several projectile points were found in situ with the mammoth bones.

Also a hearth was discovered.

Lehner Ranch became another one of Haury's seminal works in Southwestern Paleoindian archaeology.