Robert J. Sharer Other Projects

Robert J. Sharer, archaeologist and authority on Mayan history and culture, spent 40 years as a professor of anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. He conducted research in Central America for nearly five decades and also served as the Curator of the American Section of the Penn Museum. He published over 25 books and more than 100 articles synthesizing the state of Maya studies and the results of his extensive research.

Sharer was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, on March 16, 1940, the son of Robert E. Sharer and Jessie Tyler. He was raised in East Lansing, where his father was head of the Evening College at Michigan State University. He earned a bachelor's degree in history and anthropology at Michigan State University in 1961. Sharer became interested in archaeology as an undergraduate when he took a summer job at the Michigan State University Museum. When nominated for a Woodrow Wilson graduate fellowship as a senior, a dinner meeting with University of Pennsylvania anthropologist Loren Eiseley, invited to speak at MSU by Sharer's father, persuaded Sharer to choose Penn for graduate school sight-unseen.

Sharer earned a master's degree in anthropology at Penn in 1963, took a two-year break to fulfill his military obligation in the Army, and eventually attained the rank of major in the Army Reserve. He became interested in archaeology through course work and a summer excavation project in Cornwall with Bernard Wailes. He returned to graduate school at Penn in 1965 and his dedication to Maya studies can be traced to the influence of Ruben Reina and summer research in Guatemala in a highland Maya community. With guidance from William Coe, Sharer's Ph.D. thesis research focused on collections from El Trapiche, at the site of Chalchuapa in El Salvador. Sharer was awarded his doctorate in 1968.

His first academic position was at Pitzer College (part of the Claremont Colleges) in California, where he taught from 1967 to 1972 and returned to Chalchuapa for field research between 1968 and 1972. Upon Linton Satterthwaite's retirement in 1972, Sharer was appointed Assistant Professor in Penn's Department of Anthropology and Assistant Curator in the American Section at the Penn Museum. Sharer was promoted to Associate Professor and Associate Curator in 1975; became Professor and Curator in 1984; was appointed Curator-in-Charge of the American Section in 1987; and was made Shoemaker Professor in Anthropology in 1995. His research career focused on two major Penn Museum excavation projects at Maya sites—Quirigua in Guatemala (1974–79) and Copan in Honduras (1988–2003)—as well as Chalchuapa in El Salvador, and a number of smaller projects in Guatemala and Honduras.

Sharer was very interested in researching the Pre-Classic period of Maya history. His other (smaller) projects included Sakajut in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, 1971 and 1988; Tayasal Project, El Peten, Guatemala, 1971; Verapaz Archaeological project (VAP), Guatemala, 1972-73 and 1980-81; Bay Islands Reconnaissance Project, Honduras, 1984-85; North Coast of Honduras, 1986; El Peru, Guatemala, 1987-88; San Pedro Martir, Guatemala, 1989-90.

In 1974 he began excavations at the Classic-period site of Quirigua, Guatemala, in what would become an important six-year study exploring not only its central core but its wider environs as well. It was the first project to explicitly attempt to integrate the dynastic history emerging from hieroglyphic texts with archaeological remains.

After Quirigua he returned to his interest in the Formative era, working on a settlement study at El Mirador, Guatemala, in 1982, an investigation of the earliest habitation and farming at La Venta, Mexico, in 1987, and salvage excavations at Sakajut, Guatemala, in 1988. While still working at Quirigua in 1975, Sharer was invited by Gordon Willey of Harvard University to help develop a master plan for future research at Copan. Sharer's contribution to the master plan included a proposal to investigate the Acropolis area at Copan using a series of tunnel excavations, which could be dug horizontally into the Acropolis from the river-cut side. In 1988, Director of the Copan Archaelogical Project, William Fash of Harvard, offered this tunneling option to Sharer. Sharer's expectations were more than fulfilled, as his team found what appears to be the tomb of Copan's Dynastic Founder, a discovery without equal at any Maya site, as well as revealing the entire sequence of building and rebuilding at the Acropolis by later rulers of Copan.

Bob Sharer's contributions to Maya scholarship are not only to be counted by his excavations and writing. He must also be credited with producing a fine cadre of young scholars. Many have gone on to positions in major academic institutions and leadership roles in Maya research. Sharer received various honors, fellowships, and academic titles over his career, including membership in the exclusive American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Society of Antiquaries of London.

In 2006, Sharer, with his wife Loa Traxler, coauthored and updated The Ancient Maya (Sixth Edition) text, the essential volume for Maya archaeology knowledge used at colleges across the country. He retired and assumed Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and Curator Emeritus of the American Section status in 2009.

Robert Sharer died on September 20, 2012 at the age of 72. He was survived by his wife, Loa Traxler, who participated in the Copan archaeological project with him, his children Jon Daniel, Michael, and Lisa Matusiak, and his first wife, Judith Sharer.

The Robert J. Sharer Other Projects collection was acquired in 1999. The collection spans the years from 1970 to 1990 and contains materials related to Sharer's project proposals, correspondence, archaeological reconnaissance and excavation relating to his smaller scale projects in Guatemala and Honduras. These projects primarily related to his interest in pre-Classic Maya civilization. Sharer's extensive work in Quirigua has been published separately, and Copan analysis is in progress for its own publication. The Other Projects collection is divided into five series: Verapaz Archaeological Project, Bay Islands Reconnaissance Project, North Coast of Honduras, El Peru—Guatemala, and San Pedro Martir, Guatemala. Sharer served as Project Director for these projects. Original order was maintained as much as possible, although there was overlapping of time periods and projects. Correspondence is filed in chronological order.

The Verapaz Archaeological Project, primarily 1970-1973 and 1988, is by far the largest section, with major areas which include files under Correspondence and Administration, Bone Analysis, Radiocarbon Dates, Geology, Field Notes, Artifact Catalogs and Drawings, Ceramics (Type Organization and Read-outs, Vessels and Sherd Drawings), and Reports. Individual site locations include El Porton, Sakajut, and Las Tunas. Sakajut is the most extensive of these, including files of Correspondence, Proposals and Permits, Administrative, Field Notes, Ceramics, Radiocarbon, Maps and Plans, and Photo Record. Two boxes of Operation and Lot Cards are also included.

Series II is the Bay Islands (Honduras) Reconnaissance Project (BIRP) of 1984 and 1985. These files include Correspondence, Proposals and Administration, Legalities, Maps and Plans, IHAH Site Records, and Jade.

Series III consists of the North Coast of Honduras, 1986. This series, called "Proyecto Preclassic," contains files for IDAEH Correspondence, Proposal, NGS Application, Correspondence, Administration, Maps, Survey Field Notes, Colon Registros, Cuyamel Survey Notes, Preliminary and Final Reports.

Series IV: El Peru and Series V: San Pedro Martir deal with other Guatemala project proposals which were made but not approved. The El Peru series includes Feasibility and Approval Process Correspondence, 1987-1989; Administration, and Peter Matthews: Site Q Analysis. Series V: San Pedro Martir, 1988-1989, consists of Proposal, Correspondence—Administration and IDAEH, and Staff Documents.

Robert Sharer's work is also found in additional records located in the Penn Museum Archives under Chalchuapa, El Salvador and Quirigua, Guatemala. Copan records and professional records are retained by Loa Traxler.

Publication Information: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives,

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