James Deetz

James Deetz was an American anthropologist and archaeologist, born on February 8, 1930, and died on November 25, 2000. He is widely remembered for helping build the field of historical archaeology and for bringing fresh attention to the material details of colonial American life.

He taught anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley from 1978 to 1994 and also directed the university's anthropology museum, then known as the Lowie Museum, from 1979 to 1988. His research was especially associated with Plymouth, Massachusetts, where his interpretations of Pilgrim life became especially influential.

Deetz is best known to many readers for In Small Things Forgotten, first published in 1977. In that book, he argued that everyday objects and built spaces can tell rich stories about the past, helping turn archaeology into a more intimate way of understanding how people actually lived.