author
Charles Rau
1826–1887
A Belgian-born scholar who helped shape early American archaeology, he spent years studying Indigenous artifacts and bringing those findings to a wider public. His work at the Smithsonian made him one of the best-known archaeologists in the United States in the late 19th century.
1 Audiobook
North American Stone Implements
by Charles Rau
About the author
Born in Verviers, Belgium, in 1826, Charles Rau studied at the University of Heidelberg before emigrating to the United States in 1848. He first supported himself by teaching foreign languages in Illinois and New York City, while steadily building a serious interest in the archaeology and ethnology of Indigenous peoples in North America.
Beginning in the 1860s, he contributed many articles to Smithsonian publications and became widely respected for his research on ancient tools, mounds, and other archaeological remains. In 1875 he was appointed Resident Collaborator in Ethnology at the United States National Museum and helped organize the Smithsonian's anthropological exhibits for the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia.
From 1881 until his death in Philadelphia on July 25, 1887, Rau served as curator of archaeology at the United States National Museum. Later writers described him as one of the foremost American archaeologists of his day, and his papers, library, and collections became part of the Smithsonian after his death.